PowerPuff Girls A
by crisisvyper
Summary: For fifteen years, the city of Townsville has been protected by their lovely heroines and they have grown up to be fine young ladies. However Him has returned, and it had returned with a vengeance. And to make matters worse, Him had pulled some other bad company with it. How will the girls react, especially when other unforeseen but familiar faces also turned up in Townsville?
1. Chapter 1: Fifteen Years

Chapter 1: Fifteen Years

 _The city of Townsville!_

 _A nice and friendly all-American city where the birds chirp in unison and...OH MY GOODNESS! TOWNSVILLE IS UNDER ATTACK BY A HIDEOUS MONSTER THAT LOOKS LIKE A BUCKEY WITH NAILS IN IT! OH, LOOK AT HOW IT SPITS THE NAILS EVERYWHERE AND DESTROYING THE BUILDING! FORTUNATELY FOR THE CITIZENS OF TOWNSVILLE, IT'S AIM IS MIRACULOUSLY DESTROYING THE BUILDINGS WITHOUT HURTING ANY OF THE CITIZENS!_

 _OH WHO WILL SAVE THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE FROM THIS DASTARDLY...OH WAIT WHAT'S THIS?!_

 _"Girls, Formation Double Zeta!" A girl's voice, confident and charismatic echoed through the skies!_

 _"Okay!" A bubbly,high pitched girlish voice answered back in response._

 _"Gotcha!" Another voice responded at the same time as the bubbly voice,but the timbre of the voice is more raspy and one might even say that it is femininely boyish._

 _Suddenly the monster was hit by a pink,light blue and lime green streaks of lights which proceed to move around the monster in an elliptical manner. Within seconds, the monster was thrown out from the skies and dissapeared in a broght sparkle._

 _AHA! THE MONSTER WAS STOPPED BY OUR FAIR MAIDEN DEFENDERS, THE POWERPUFF GIRLS! THUS,THE DAY IS SAVED BY THE POW..._

 _WAIT...A ROBBERY?! POWERPUFF GIRLS, HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!_

* * *

[A Few Hours Later...]

It was already dark when the three heroines of Townsville returned home to the Utonium residence, flying through the three holes that they call a 'window' despite the fact that it is more like an access passage for them to fly out and save the day. Before they could even take a breath of relief at being home, the door opened and a tall man with a square-build jaw in a white labcoat and a black tie entered into their room.

"Hello girls,so how was your day?" The man's baritone voice said lovingly.

"Hello Professor..." the three girls said, the fatigue in their voice being very obvious. One of the heroines voiced out her frustration.

"Seriously, why do all monsters think of us as a rite of passage? Can't they go and find some other superhero to munch on?!" The roughest of the girls groaned, instantly reconizable by her lime green pupils, her frown and also her jet black hair. Her undercut and short punkish hair showed her tough and rebellious nature, and the presence of lime green highlights in her hair only served to emphasize her combative nature.

"Now now Buttercup, we can't criticise the cultures of others even if they are contrary to our own.. though I must say that those robbers really need to stop blasting buildings and make a mess out of my hair." The owner of the rather bossy voice belongs to a girl with pink irises and long flowing copper-coloured hair that goes down all the way to the back of her knees, tied up in a large red bow. She pushes some of the dirt from her her cheek length sidelocks and also her frontal fringe.

"Oh Blossom, on the bright side we get to save the day once again!" The blonde girl with twin braided buns, one on each side of her head said cheerfully as she dusts off the debris from her light blue vest and black dress.

As they touched down, Buttercup takes off her vest which is coloured the same as her eyes and throes it down on the floor. The vest emits a loud thud as it lands on their pink floor.

"Buttercup, how many times do I have to say to not throw the Composite Optimized Armored Tank-vest' on the floor? You might damage the floor." The man known as The Professor said sternly but caringly. He knows that the girls are just really tired from their crimefighting and he does not need to rub in more than he should.

Buttercup wanted to snark at The Professor for that comment, but seeing that he means no harm really held her tongue. After all, it is never wise to snap against your own father/creator unless you want to get some sort of punishment.

"Sorry Professor...I'll pick up the C.O.A.T." Buttercup voiced her apology and floats towards her advanced armoured system before picking it up. She then looked at her black dress,and then to the outfits that are worn by her sisters before turning her attention to the Professor once more. Realizing that they are waiting for him to leave in order for them to take their clothes off, the Professor coughed.

"Oh...sorry girls.I forgot that you are still wearing the D.R.E.S.S on. Once you take them off, just put the C.O.A.T, D.R.E.S.S, G.L.O.V.E and S.H.O.E in the Nano-Matrix Bin for repairs. Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes, so freshen up and have a good bath before coming down,okay?" The Professor closes the door and leave the girls alone to undress from their crimefighting gear.

As the girls activated the tinted glass mechanism to seal the 'windows' and started to get undress, they all could see how fatigued they are. The O.U.T.F.I.T system, essentially the compressed portable version of the D.Y.N.A.M.O protection system compressed into their present battle uniform, feels unnaturally heavy and thus when they dislodge one of the parts,they felt a burden on their frame being lifted from their body.

Buttercup being the most lean and toned of the girls suffered the least physically due to her muscles being able to tolerate the weight and punishment of their crimefighting but landing on her toned ass several times during the day really made her curse the part where she have to sit down to take the leggings of the D.R.E.S.S off her legs.

In contrast, Blossom could sit down just fine as she pulled out the leg section of her D.R.E.S.S ( though she honestly felt like it was more like a pantyhose), revealing her slender and shapely legs. If a man were to see Blossom takes those 'pantyhose' out, they would go wild especially how she moves her slender frame forward to pull them out. However her slender arms were sore from deflecting all those .50 cal bullets and RPGs the bank robbers used against her and she could only bear the bruning sensationin her arm. In fact, due to her slender frame she always tend to find the weight of her battle outfit the most burdensome.

However, she knows that her protest would fall onto deaf ears. Also, as they grow older, the threats that they faced are also much greater due to the common knowledge of their weakness to Antidote X which warrants even more protection for the she turned around , she noticed that Bubbles is already trying to take out the top part of her D.R.E.S.S.

The joy and the laughter of the group stretches her curvy frame and legs and several popping sounds could be heard as she cracked her back. It was tough when one of the blast of the RPG slammed her back first against the vault. Bubbles unseals the D.R.E.S.S and immediately her breast clad in her matching light blue frilly bra pops out aggressively from the outfit.

"Bubbles...did you grow a size larger again?" Blossom said as she gaped at the shapely breast of her sister. Among all of them,Bubbles have the largest -sized 'asset', while Blossom have the smallest. Blossom is definitely not happy with this development.

"Now that you mentioned it, it does feel a little tight around the chest. I think I need to ask the Professor to make my D.R.E.S.S larger." The innocence of her sibling only made Blossom sizzle with jealously.

Buttercup noticed the angst of her sister, but choose to not heed it. For all she cared about, she does not have such issues with her own body for she is perfect in every way. She, Buttercup, is a strong, confident woman.

As the sisters continue on undressing and getting ready for their bath, a mysterious shadow floats above their roof listening in on their conversation.

"Hm _...how very interesting. I came back after fifteen years to find the three little bug-eyed fingerless little girls grown up to become such fine women with fingers at that. Interesting how puberty make the body change..."_

The sinister figure said to figure entertained the thought that the Powerpuff Girls are now more like the Powerpuff Maidens, and it is a poignant reminder that time passes on.

"BUBBLES, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO NOT USE MY CONDITIONER!"

"But Blossom,you always use my lipstick! So why can't I use yours?" Bubbles protested but giggling at the same time.

"Geez, would you cut it out!" Buttercup snaps.

The mysterious figure recognize the voice as Blosssom's,the commander and the leader of the Powerpuff Girls. The figure could also make out the other voices as well. The raspy voice of the Buttercup the toughest fighter and the joy and laughter of figure remembered a time where they were cute little girls, but now they are acting like teenagers.

It was surprised that so much time had passed since it last appeared,and finding the adult superheroines is not really a pleasant surprise.

" _No matter, the plan will still move on..._ " The figure then chuckles before dissapearing into the darkness of the night.

* * *

[Mindanao _, Southern Phillipines_ _-11.45pm_ ]

A group of approximately fifty anxious armed men, some with AK-47s and some with RPG-7s are looking out over the river port,looking for something to appear or arrive. The darkness of the cloudy night only served to heighten the tension of the situation.

"When do you think the shipment would arrive?" one of them asked in their Filipino accent in a whisper before he was shushed by the latest shipment of the new combat formula that will be used to empower their resistance would be coming anytime now. Even though they would rather not deal with any drugs of any kind, but the times are desperate enough. Suddenly one of them hissed and points at the river. Slowly but surely, they could see a small barge coming up slowly to their location. The men's heart are already beating like a jackhammer,and now their hearts are beating even faster. The men hoped that they are not spotted by the Phillipine Armed Forces and not have to lose their lives today.

"Hey, what's up doc?" The sudden light-hearted boyish whisper with an American accent suddenly pierced the silence of the night.

To further spook the armed group, a soundtrack was blasted through the forest which pierced the night silence.

 _Your butt is mine_ ,

 _Gonna tell you right._

 _Just show your face,_

 _In broad daylight._

 _I'm telling you,_

 _On how I feel._

 _Gonna hurt your mind..._

Realizing that there is an enemy amidst their group, the anxious men immediately started firing and screaming of people getting hurt by gunshot could be heard.

 _Don't shoot to kill._

 _Shamone(come on)_

 _Shamone (come on)_

As the song played on, a sudden blaze of burning crimson bolt moves in a zigzag pattern amidst the group, causing even more confusion between their ranks.

 _Lay it on me,_

 _All right._

 _I'm givin you,_

 _On count to three._

 _To show your stuff,_

 _Or let it be..._

"SHOW YOURSELF YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" One of the armed men shouted in vain, for the music is still blaring and the chaos of battle is ongoing.

 _I'm telling you,_

 _to just watch your mouth._

 _I know your game,_

 _What you are on about._

Some of the men with the RPG-7s aimed at what they believe is the direction of where the music is coming from. Instead a cobalt blue streak of light impacted upon the ground causing several of the armed men to be propelled upwards into the air.

 _Well they say the sky's the limit,_

 _And to me that's really true._

 _But my friend you have seen nothin'_

 _Just wait 'till I get through_

It was then that the clouds cleared, and as the full moon lights up the battlefield some of the men noticed a surreal sight. The barge they are expecting has already lifted itself from the river and is now hovering up in the sky,defying the laws of gravity.

 _Because I'm bad, I'm bad, shamone_

 _You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it_

 _You know I'm bad, I'm bad, shamone you know..._

"This is bad...really,really bad." The men who noticed the floating barge said in chorus. Some just lost the colours in their skins immediately, while others just crapped in their pants. Others just dropped their weapons and went down to their kness. It was then that their willpower plummeted as they realized that the barge is being thrown at them.

 _And the whole world has to answer right now,_

 _J_ _ust to tell you once again,_

 _W_ _ho's bad?_

* * *

[Townsville _, USA - 7.30 pm_ ]

" So girls, school starts within a week. Any aspirations for the new school year?" The Professor asked the Powerpuff Girls,all whom are now eating their dinner, a simple dish of some shrimp aglio olio and some Waldorf salad. Blossom, being the most prim and proper among them, eats her meal with grace and elegance befitting a lady. Buttercup on the other hand is eating her in a more haphazard manner, but nice enough that the Professor can tolerate it.

"For me, I really hope that we can go on a road trip to somewhere. It would be nice to see new things." Bubbles said as she munched down on her salad.

"That sounds nice, next few months will be rather hectic but I think I can manage a trip for all of us." The man of the house smiled, and Bubbles smiled back.

"For me I really hope that I could get that scholarship for Harvard University." Blossom said with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice. Professor Utonium always knew that among his daughters, Blossom is always the most insecure when it comes to anything pertaining to her intelligence, hence why she puts in even more diligence and hard work into her studies. With every increase in her grades, the more the pressure builds for her.

"You will be fine Blossom, and honestly you need to loosen up a little. Too much stress will make you more worn out, which will affect your mental capacities to retain important data." The Professor said, with hopes that by reasoning to her with science she would loosen up. Blossom always functions at her best best when things are put into a rational perspective.

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Blossom said,her voice a little chirpier.

"Well I hope for this year we don't have to deal with anything worse than some monsters this year. It was a nice thing to know that a few of the villains are either retired, 'retired'," Buttercup mockingly emphasized with her fingers, "and some di-"

"Buttercup!" The pink-eyed girl admonishes her sibling.

"Well, it is the truth." Buttercup muttered. It is true, as the Amoeba Boys essentially broke down into oblivion due to someone accidentally pouring a new super antibiotic while they attempted to get the girl's attention by robbing a pharmaceutical.

"Evem though it is the truth,I will not tolerate speaking about anything violent while we are having our meal. You girls have enough violence to last a lifetime and more." Professor Utonium said with a voice of concern in his voice.

"Yes Professor." Buttercup groaned. Despite her general annoyance at her siblings and family, but deep down she knows that they only got each other, especially when they are unlike any other human being.

"Now, as for me I really hope that I am able to further make this already beautiful world a little better. Like the new thing I am inventing..." As the Professor continues on with the small talk, deep down inside him he knew that his world is already perfect but it is the challenge of maintaining the pristine nature of this world that counts now.

It is true that his intention to create the perfect little girls is in order for him he could teach his creations right from wrong and make a change in this once dastardly town. It is also true that the girls have exceeded his expectations and more but at the cost of more or less their little kindergardener should be burdened by the responsibility of saving the world from the forces of evil, but that is also a side effect of the accidental dose of Chemical X into his formula for the perfect little girl and also their in-built sense of good and justice. With that accidental dose, he essentially created what people call demi-gods and they are an awe-inspiring and and fearful thing. This makes the world a little tougher on the girls and even now there are those that still feel that they are freaks. To him, they will always be his darling little daughters and nothing in the world will change that fact. The fact that they are all teenagers only served to enforce the point that he was doing the right thing with them. The least he could do is to give them a semblance of a good and caring home with lots of love and free from the dark topics of the world.

All is good in the Utonium household, where family values are cherished and upheld, and needs not to be spoken out loud.

* * *

[Mindanao _, Southern Philippines - 12.15 am_ ]

"BOOMER!" The resonant tenor-like bark echoed throughout the pier and also the forest. The smoking battlefield is littered with mutiple groaning and still bodies, with a barge lodged into the ground pointing skywards.

"Hm?" A young man in an onyx and electric blue-striped hoodie with short sand blonde spiked hair was picking up his boombox when he heard his name being called by a dominating voice. He looks at the originator of the voice with his cobalt blue eyes, wondering why he was being summoned.

The owner of the voice is wearing a blood red cap facing backwards, which covers the top of his head. His long and sharp flowing mane of fiery burnt orange flows down his back, and his outfit is a faded dark maroon long-sleeved turtleneck accented by his entirely black slacks. However it appears that the turtleneck and the slacks are torn in several places showing his lean body.

"Have you seen Butch?" The cool demeanor of his brother contrast with his brother's bright crimson glowing eyes. The blue-hued brother knows that whenever his red brother's eye is glowing, he is either very excited or very pissed. Boomer noted with amazement that in this hot and humid weather, his brother is still wearing his turtleneck. As stupid as his brothers called him, Boomer knows enough that it must be unbearable in that turtleneck. Perhaps that is why he is so angry.

"Nope." Boomer responded. His voice is but a whisper and has an boyish timbre which often make him more childish. In contrast, his brother's resonant tenor is more like a cold and ruthless snarling predator ready to attack his prey.

"I can't find him."

"You're pissed." Boomer voiced his observation.

"Very." Brick snarled, showing a little of his teeth.

"Why?" Boomer asked.

"That idiot threw a boat at me!" Brick barked at his blue-eyed brother. Boomer could only shrug.

"To be fair, you did throw a Su-30M Flanker at him before." Boomer said nonchalantly, as he straps on his boombox on him. His fiery redhead brother wanted to say somethibg but decided not to pursue the matter. Boomer had learned that refuge in audacity allowed his a certain amount of snark if he disguised it as a casual remark. Works well with his brother's perception of his intelligence.

"What do you want?" A husky but warm voice answered. From the bushes, another young man with slicked hair pulled back by a hairband with dark green tank top and camo green army pants appeared. His more muscular and atheletic frame marks him out among his brothers and his tanktop only accentuate his physique. His forest green eyes looked at the red-eyed boy, as piercing as the forest leaves around them.

"Butch..." The anger in Brick's voice is apparent and Boomer whistled at the tone of his brother's red-maned boy walks towards the green boy and punches the green one with enough force that he stumbled down on the ground.

"You idiot! Throwing that boat nearly destroyed the important cargo within for our client! Do you realize what happens when we screw up the mission...HUH?! ALSO YOU DESTROYED MY FAVOURITE OUTFIT!" Butch turns up and look at his brother, annoyed at his pettiness. However, his brother is not done yet. Oh no, when the Rowdyruff Boys are at it, it can turn ugly. Especially when it is regarding the most trivial things. On cue, the red one kicked him in the stomach, but Butch did not flinch.

"Urgh...luckily for us the package is stored in a shock-absorbant box so the package is safe. But next time...you ain't going to go off that easily." Brick snarled at his brother on the ground.

 _Boys, Boys...don't need to be soo feisty over a small matter._

Brick, Butch and Boomer recognized the echoing sweet discordant voice and they are on alert now. Where the heck is that voice coming from, and how did it find them?

 _Oh boys, you think you can keep your secrets from your Father?_

" To be honest you are more like our mom...Him." Butch snarked back.

 _Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree?_ _Everybody is looking for something..._

"What do you want?" Brick asked. Brick knew that the embodiment of evil does not just appear after leaving them alone for ten years for just some simple chit chat.

The large lobster-like pincers for hands appeared out from the darkness in a puff of red smoke which envelopes the green Rowdyruff Boy. Before he could even react, a pair of red claws came out and and sensually caresses Butch's chest which unsettled the Rowdyruff Boy deeply. Butch can also feel the long and slender legs of Him and the smooth leather boot touching his leg in a suggestive manner and he is utterly freaked out. As suddenly as it appears, the limbs and sensation dissapeared in a wisp of pinkish red mist.

 _Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used._

Boomer's is the next to be assaulted, for the discordantly sweet voice echoed through his ear. He could feel the breath of the being blowing into the canals of his ears, giving him an eerie tingling and sensous feeling that is not of this world. It is a rather masochistic feeling to feel pleasure from such a demonic voice but that is exactly how Boomer felt.

 _Some of them want to abuse you,some of them want to be abused._

Brick is now looking around for the voice had dissapeared from Boomer's side. Even though his brother s may be idiots, but he still has the responsibility to protect them from Him. it was then that the face of the nefarious being appeared before him in its infernal majesty,or to be exact its infernal gaudiness. The black widow's peak hair, long black eyelashes with the long curled beard contrasts greatly with his lobster red skin, rosy pink cheek makeup and glowing emerald eyes.

Brick's eyes digested the image of the crimson red ladies trenchcoat with the pink feathered scarf that drapes over Him's shoulder down to its knees. The red dress with its pink tulle at the collar and hemline, a black leather belt with a bronze buckle is even gaudier than he last remembered. As the figure steps down to the earth from its floating stance, the earth scorched itself black. As Him stands up to its full height, he dwarf the boys by at least two heads.

" _I have a job for you boys_." The voice that exits Him's black smiling lips growled in a deep demonic baritone.


	2. Chapter 2: New Kids On The Block

Chapter 2: New Kids On The Block

 _The city of Townsville._

 _It is the first day of highschool at Townsville High and already we can see so many students having different reactions to the first day of school._

 _Some, like Blossom are in top shape and are already participating in their classes. Some are already catching up with their old friends over the long break, like our dear friendly Bubbles. Last but not least, some of the students are suffering from their 'school blues',groaning as they wished school is already over. This includes one of our heroines, Buttercup._

* * *

[First period,Townsville High]

She is sitting at the second last seat from the window and she is looking outside seeing the many students having their gym classes at the school field. For today,sl she is just wearing a simple dark blue T-shirt with some jeans as her favourite outfit is being cleaned at home and she is not the type that would use makeup to make herself the most beautiful girl in the party. As she played with her fringe, she could not help but to be annoyed by the monotonous tone of her teacher. Mrs. Mupples. Mrs. Mupples is a kind old woman, with thick-rimmed spectacles and pure white hair tied up in a bun, wearing a dress with sunflower patterns. Buttercup does not hate the old lady per se, but she really wished that the teacher could speak with more zest in her voice.

"Urgh...why am I sitting here again?" the lime-green eyed girl groaned softly as she sit through the first class of the new semester. And as if heavens were to mock her, the class just has to be the subject she has grown to hate: Math. Buttercup decided to filter out the old lady's voice in her head with the thoughts on the Mixed Martial Arts club's sparring matches after school as it is the only hing that will ground her in this class and the other classes for the rest of the day. Her normal tendencies for boring classes is to just move at the speed of light, and spend the time doing other stuff while her afterimage lingers on. However, when Blossom found out about it one day, she was grounded for a month by Professor Utonium. He was very dissapointed in her as the 'Utoniums pride themselves in their pursuits of knowledge' or so he said. It is made apparent to Buttercup that the Utonium lineage are perhaps one of the most gifted lineages on earth, and the Powerpuff Girls are no exception to the rule. With the home tutelage of Professor Utonium and also their inherent superhuman abilities, they have the innate ability to place themselves within the Advance Placement classes with Blossom is in almost every A.P classes, while Bubbles is in all the language and arts A.P classes.

Alone among all her sisters, Buttercup was the only one that chose to not put her into the A.P classes. The reasoning for this is simple ; Buttercup learns the world with her body along with her sharp and pragmatic intuition. Thus she compensate by being the only person in American history to receive sports scholarships for all categories that she was allowed to compete in without using her powers. Ever since the training with the Tibetan monk in the mountain on patience and inner peace when she was a kid, she learned how to flow the path of least resistance in her martial pursuits. In this regard, Buttercup is way ahead of Blossom and Bubbles, but in return for this scholarship security she just needs to get the grades needed to maintain her sports scholarships. Of course that does not make her feel any better as she is still bored out of her mind. So she decided to entertain herself with thoughts of ground grappling in the MMA hexagon right as she pounds her opponent to submission. Her inner sanctum of thoughts is suddenly interrupted by the tide of murmur washing through the class. This raises a red flag in Buttercup's mind for this class is usually this class is duller than an abandoned graveyard.

"Huh, that's odd." As her lime green eyes traces around the classroom, she soon focuses her attention to her teacher . The old lady have just opened the door and walks right out of the class. She guessed that this is the source of the sudden distraction. As her class murmurs, Buttercup decides to use her superhuman hearing to spy on what is going on outside the class. She could hear their conversation through the wall like any other normal conversation happening around her.

"Hello , I am dearly sorry for the interruption but the new students are here now. You know, from the ones that have just arrived today." Buttercup recognizes the voice as those of Mister Rodriguez Ayala, the Fine Arts tracher.

"Oh, the new students are here. Well, let me inform my class." Mrs. Mupples turns around and the door to the class opens, revealing the old Math teacher. The old lady then leaves the door open before proceeding on. Being Buttercup, she is rather apathetic about new arrivals as long as they do not bother her. As her teacher stands before the class, the students myrmurs are getting louder and despite best efforts, she could not bring her class to attention. Buttercup, ever the pragmatic one decided to make this go along smoothly.

 _You owe me one ,_ Buttercup said inwardly. Buttercup cleared her throat loudly and soon enough the murmur died down.

"Um...thank you Buttercup." Mrs. Mupples thanked her. Personally she just want her to finish her class as soon as possible for her to move on to the next dreadfully boring subject but she will take whatever credit that comes her way.

"No problem teach. Just get me a good grade and we call it good." Buttercup said cheekily. The class laughed at Buttercup's response.

"Really funny Buttercup. Anyway class, it seems that you would be having new classmates today. Come on in dears." beckons in the newcomers.

As everyone's eye turns to the door, the anticipation grows until several figures entered through the door. Immediately some of the girls in the class started squealing. Buttercup is used to her sister's sonic shrieks, so the girls' screaming is not as bad to her. However she could see why they are screaming; their new classmates are a trio of boys and they are gorgeous. The first to turn to the class is a sand blonde boy, clad in urban-styled clothing with a black hoodie with the hood laid back and dark blue baggy cargo pants with a electric blue headphones strapped across his neck, and his dark sapphire eyes are as piercing and serene as an arctic ocean. His near pale complexion only enhances the beauty of his eyes and his short spiky hair.

 _Hm, looks like Bubbles' kind of boy. Kinda cute. Especially since she has a fondness for blondes..._ _Wait a second_. _Hold it._

Buttercup noticed something and immediately she scans the newcomers. As the gears in her mind starts to spin, she could help but to have a feeling that something about the boys reminds her of an event a long time ago in her life. As she looked on, she noticed that the girls are now oggling one of the boys and she could hear them whisper.

"Check out that tanktop hunk."

"Oh my god, that hairband look is hot."

" Can I sleep on that chest every night?"

" Those green eyes..."

Buttercup's attention is now upon the object of the girls' lustful contrast to the pristine coolness of the blue-eyed boy, the tranquility of the tallest boy in the group is something else entirely. Clad with a viridian green hairband on his head, the muscular physique of the boy rivals that of the best mixed martial arts athletes and he is wearing a green tanktop that is just essentially shrinkwrapped around his body, showcasing his physique further. His green camo-styled shorts is completed with what appears to be boots, though those boots belong more in the military than in a school. All this are complemented with a black leather jacket, which somehow managed to look good with the nearly military styled clothing of the jadeite-eyed student.

 _You have to admit Buttercup, that greenie has all the right stuff. But for some reason, those eyes... they_ _looked familiar_ , Buttercup said to herself.

The last boy of the group is about the same height as the blue-toned boy, but where the blue-toned boys is as cool as ice, instead one could see the fiery energy of the last boy. Wearing his blood red cap backwards, his long burnt orange hair is tied in the form of a long braid that would look girlish but suited him rather well. His black turtleneck is accented by the muted maroon red vest and slacks. The term tall, dark and handsome applies very generously on the ruby-eyed boy and the boy smirked as he leans against the board, his blood-red ruby eyes is now looking directly at fully expecting her to say something to quicken the process.

"Alright class, the boys have just moved from...um...where are you boys from again?" Mrs. Mupples turns her attention to the boys

"Just came back from the Phillipines this time round thought we originally came from Townsville. Our family moves a lot due to the nature of their jobs." The red-eyed student said with a clear charming and rustic voice, though Buttercup could hear the predatory undulating subtone in his voice.

"I see. So boys,please introduce yourself to the class." The trio looks at the class and introduced themselves one by one.

"Just call me Brick." His clear and boyish voice breaks out charmingly.

"Boomer's the name, nice to meet you all." The voice of the blue-eyed boy is clear and as soft as snow.

"Butch." His husky tenor-timbre is strong and deep as an oak. All the girls in the class screamed once more. All except Buttercup.

 _Oh great_ _, now I remembered who they are._

At the utterance of their names her memory hits Buttercup like a wrecking ball; The Rowdyruff Boys. Their mirror opposites and nemeses. Buttercup could only remember what they had done before they mysteriously dissapeared from Townsville.

"Good, now take your seats boys. There are three empty ones around Buttercup." points towards the three empty seats surrounding Buttercup. Buttercup cursed under her breath.

 _Crap, crap, crap._

With her best poker face, she nonchalantly looked at each one of the boys as they passed by her to sit at the empty spots. Butch, the last of the Rowdyruff Boys to pass by Buttercup suddenly started twitching. Suddenly the tranquil green giant turns his attention towards Buttercup.

To her surprise, Butch's expression contorts itself into a rather friendly smile. Or at least it appears as such for the normal students of Buttercup, she can hear his rumbling infrasonic voice loud and clear.

 _Hello, Powderpuff_ _. Looks like we will be having a lot of fun stuff ahead of us._

Buttercup gulped. This is not good, not good at all.

* * *

[Townsville High Cafeteria-12.30pm]

Blossom's first day in school is fantastic, for it is her first day in her A.P Mandarin class, and she is quite fond on how similar and dissimilar it is to Cantonese. Right beside her is her friend, classmate, and neighbour robin, and they are both chatting excitedly over the A.P class.

"The tonal qualities of Mandarin is so much different than English. Didn't know that a language can be so lyrical." The brown-haired girl said to Blossom. Her eyes are a light blue and her pink hairband really completes the girl's cute appearances.

"I know right? Robin, I did not know that Cantonese and Mandarin are essentially different languages despite being in the same language family. And they always call them dialects but that is rather inaccurate as the differences are significan enough that...' Blossom's excitement came to an abrupt halt when Blossom heard the familiar raspy voice of her sister.

"Hey Bloss, can I talk with you for a moment? Sorry there Robin, need to speak with my sis for an moment." Buttercup said politely.

"It's okay. Anyway Blossom, talk to you later " Seeing that it could be some serious talk between sisters, Robin decided that it is best she leaves the sisters alone and walks away. Blossom would like an explanation from her lme-green sister as to why she had shooed away Robin why they were talking about the nuances of Mandarin language.

"Buttercup,I really hope that you have a good..."

"The Rowdyruff Boys are back." Buttercup intercepted her sister firmly. Blossom's face contorts into an expression of surprise as the news registered in her mind.

"Wait Buttercup..." Blossom attempted to feign ignorance over the matter, but Buttercup is not having any of the usual lecture of finding out things before jumping to conclusions.

"I know you heard me right the first time Bloss. And they are sharing classes with us in this school. Me at least. They shared Math, Geography, and American History with me. Saw them with my own eyes thrice. If yoy see what I see you would be flipping out." Buttercup points her index finger and middle fingers at her eyes, and then points those two fingers towards Blossom.

"Hey girls, what's up?" Bubbles joined into the conversation. Her two sisters looked at each other before they looked at her. They have quickly decided that it is best to cut cut to the chase with their rather ditzy sister and prepared themselves accordingly.

"The Rowdyruff Boys are back in town." Blossom and Buttercup said in unison. Before Bubbles could scream out her disbelief, Buttercup and Blossom covered her mouth. Fortunately for the rest of Townsville High, their cafeteria will not be imploding this time around. Only until Bubbles looked at her sisters with an annoyed look to let her. speak that they let their hands off their sister's mouth.

"Didn't they like...dissapeared when we were eight or something?" Bubbles hissed in a whisper. Her sister looked at her with concern.

"Well, now that they are back we need to know what they are up to this time. Buttercup, since you are the only one who have seen them before, how do they looked like now?" Blossom asked the green Powerpuff Girl.

"Well..." Buttercup hesitated,but then the chorus of girls screaming resolved her hesitation for her. Buttercup then points towards the screaming cascade.

"Follow the yellow brick road they say, or in this case the screaming fangirls." Buttercup said sarcastically. As the other two Powerpuff Girls turned their attention to the direction where Buttercup is pointing, they too were quite surprised by how the boys aged over the years.

"Is that...Butch?" Blossom pointed at the tallest and the hunkiest one of the boys. Blossom has got to admit that the roughest of the boys is now a god-sculpted Adonis walking among mortals. Her pink eyes starts to scan the rest of the boys and she noticed that each one of them have their own draw that she could appreciate. That delicate fragility of Boomer's complexion and his crystal-blue eyes makes him more like a doll than a boy, while their leader really fits the description of the 'tall,dark, and handsome' idiom and with that smile of his, it really shows the vibe of a dangerous look that girls dig.

"Wow, I kinda like Boomer's style." Bubbles said with a hint of surprise. When she was much younger,she always considered the blonde one as cute, but this time around, she noticed that his brothers are all also kinda cute. In the case of Butch, he is rather steamy.

"Girls." Buttercup attention is entirely on her sisters and she could not believe this. Not her sisters. Bubbles is already having that smile when she sees boys that hits her checkboxes of things she looked for in a boy.

"Girls..." Buttercup tried another time to snap her sisters out of their stare. However she could see that Blossom's eyes are in their obsessive-compulsive analytical mode. Not good for this situation.

"GIRLS!" Buttercup snaps at her sisters, bringing them back to reality. Buttercup starts to wonder if she is the only one immune to their physical charms.

"Buttercup, I think they are coming this way." Blossom points out to the green Powerpuff Girl. Buttercup groaned and wondered if her sister is now delusional. But when she turned around, she realized that Blossom is right. The boys are walking towards their direction.

* * *

[Townsville High Cafeteria - 12.30pm]

"Well, what do you know. Buttercup all grown up." Butch spoke to his brothers as they entered into the cafeteria.

"Well, they can't remain as their little bratty selves. But I have to admit that I dig the green's look." Brick's mind is back to his first look of Buttercup,and he can remember how her natural looks really pleases him. No makeup, but already something amazing as compared to the broads in the class. Her dress style is simple and accentuate her best assets. Hairstyle? She definitely got his approval,and the undercut short hair with green highlights suits her to the tee. And those legs are impressive to say the least. But if kicking villain's butt and also bashing monsters don't tone up your body,nothing else will.

"Eh, too muscular for my own good." Bommer shrugged as he pushed the door to the cafeteria. He always prefer something more feminine,but his brother is right. If the most tomboyish one of the lot turned out this well, what would be in stall for the rest of them?

The sound of screaming girls impacted Boomer's eardrums like a jackhammer pointing towards his ears and he despised it. Among his brothers, he is always the most sensitive to sounds. After all, his mirror in the Powerpuff Girls made him into the sonic specialist he is today. He puts on his headphones with music to drown out the screams. Nothing like a good 'Billie Jean' to block out the plebians. It was then that he noticed something from his vision. He noticed three distinctive girls that are now looking at them from the distance.

Boomer recognized one of the girls as Buttercup, as her undercut onyx short hair with bright green highlights is prominent even within the midst of the whole cafetaria. At closer observation, he noticed that perhaps his initial assessment of Buttercup having too much muscle is more a matter of seeing her in a seated position. Being upright, he could see how toned she really is. Her atheltic look really fits her aggressive nature. Just right for the toughest fighter. Her posterior is realy noticeable in those jeans of hers, and as he looked around he could see a number of the boys are already looking at that thick-bottomed girl. However, his belief that Buttercup is essentially Butch in female form is well justified now more than ever. It was the other two girls that caught his attention.

"Brick." Brick heard a whisper and received a nudge from his blue-clad brother, and as he notices his brother's glance, he sees what Boomer sees. Brick's eyes are now upon the first Powerpuff Girl that is looking at their direction.

He could recognize the light blue eyes and yellowish-blonde hair anywhere. The braided pigtails spun into a bun is a nice adult touch to her, albeit still showing that Bubbles is still the girlish one of the Powerpuff Girls. But that is the only girlish part of Bubbles that Brick could recognize.

 _Wow, Bubbles. You have hit the jackpot._

Bubbles have a very curvy and voluptous body, and her assets are very impressive indeed. He wanted to say that her cups are C-cups but he believe that they could be larger than those. Her hourglass figure is pretty impressive, and her chubbiness only made her more attractive. Her cute little white dress with frills at the skirts really accentuates her innocence and joyful nature and immediately he finds that the look is impressive given that girlish girls are not his type. For Bubbles he could make an exception.

 _Good job Bubbles. I salute you. Now where is Bloss... Wow._

Brick is surprised by the last Powerpuff Girls; The commander and the leader Blossom. Blossom's hair is as long as he could remember it, its copper hue flowing down lusciously and her red ribbon marks her out very easily. Her most remarkable bodily feature aside from her looks are her slender and long, shapely arms and legs and Boomer thinks that they are quite remarkable. Given that he could only remember the time where the Powerpuff Girls only got near sausage-like pegs for arms and legs, her growth is very impressive. Brick could not help but to scan her figure; like a runway model, but filled at the right places to make her even more attractive. Her almond-shaped eyes and pink-hued irises are surprisingly unique and precious and supplemented her appearance. Doesn't help that she got that smart, intellectual look that...

"Oh no. " Brick lamented. Blossom's look is exactly how Butch imagine his perfect girl to be, colours aside. And Butch is usually very obsessed about what his preferences are.

"Is that Blossom?" Butch said to his brothers before suddenly moving towards the Powerpuff Girls without warning.

"Butch!" Boomer moved first and already at the heel of their tallest brother. Brick could only sigh and trail behind his brothers. Within a few short moments, the Rowdyruff Boys are already face to face with the Powerpuff Girls. The Powerpuff Girls are all a head shorter than the Rowdyruff Boys, with the exception of Butch which is at least two and a half heads taller than the girls.

"So we meet again...Blossom." Butch said in his husky tenor timbre. Blossom is visibly uncomfortable by the presence of what is arguably the most intimidating of the Rowdyruff Boys. As a reflexive response, Blossom replied with her prejudices infused.

"Well, that is a sight. I was not expecting the return of the Rowdyruff Boys in town. Are you lost?" Blossom retorted in a somewhat condescending way, her voice clear and concise. Seeing that something is going on between the newcomers and the resident superheroes of Townsville, the voices within the cafeteria immediately dies down and everyone's eyes are now upon the pair of trio. Boomer takes out his headphone as he knows that this is not the best time to listen in to his music. Besides, Brick would backhand him if he does not pay attention now.

"Well Floss, here we are. What are you gonna do about it?" Brick said to Blossom with a snarl, a snarl that is less of a threat and more towards a mocking snarl. He noticed that the red-haired Powerpuf Girls have hurt his brother feelings more than he puts on, seeing that he could see the telltale sign of his brother being hurt emotionally.

"Well I don't know Brick, perhaps you could tell us about it? Unless you got shits for brains." Buttercup snarked. The tense atmosphere between the two trios grows thicker with every moment.

"Buttercup!" Blossom reprimanded her sister's language.

"Shut up, He-man!" Butch barked at Buttercup. Butch is now very pissed that his initial conversation with Blossom turned sour due to her comment and Brick jumping in and escalating it at a worse direction. To further agitate the jadeite -eyed boy, Buttercup unwarranted interruption have struck Butch's nerve.

"What did you just call me Limpy!?" Buttercup barked back at the green Rowdyruff Boy. Realizing what she meant, Butch's muscle tensed up and he started twitching.

"You heard me the first time He-Man, or should I just call you a wh-"

"No one calls my sister a wh-" Blossom blew up at the namecalling, interrupting the green Rowdyruff Boy. However, she was in turn interrupted by her red counterpart.

"Well she does look like one." Brick just added fuel to the fire. The word wars went on, and before long the other students are slowly backing away from the pair of trios. If anything were to go down, they do not want to be casualties in this fight. The only two of the trios that are not embroiled in this messy situations are thinking the same things separately.

 _Oh no, Blossom and Buttercup are always the ones that would rather fight than to reason with when it comes to threats. What should I do?_

 _Ah nads. Brick and Butch are at it again. Just like the time in Kandahar and those dumb Taliban. Looks like I have to do my 'Boomer Bar Special' again._

Seeing that this not going so well and that the Reds and Greens are distracted with each other, Boomer edges closely towards his counterpart. This may be a dumb move the last time he pulled it out in Kandahar, but he sure hopes that it works this time.

"Heya Bubbles?" Boomer whispered to his light blue female counterpart. Realizing that the blue-eyed boy is trying to communicate with her, she hisses back.

"What? Can't you see that this is a bad situation?" She could not believe that Boomer is trying to talk to her when the situation is turning rancid.

"Bubbles, I may be the dumb one...but you know that I know that you know that if this goes on, things going to go down really bad." Boomer hissed quickly and gestured at. The Reds have started a snark war while the Greens are looking at each other with unsurpassed malice and building bloodlust. Bubbles may not like Boomer, but she is willing to work with him if it means everyone else is not hurt. She will grit her teeth for this and suffer the consequences of working with her nemesis.

"Any ideas, Boomer?" Bubbles asked.

"A bad idea. An idea so bad it just might work." Boomer beamed with confidence when he explained.

"What do you mean a bad one?!" Bubbles hissed with distrust in her voice.

"Do you have any other idea?" Boomer hissed back, his eyes asking her to speak now or forever hold her peace. Bubbles is silent, and as she turned her attention back to to Reds and Greens and realized that the powderkeg is about to explode. Blossom and Brick are already face to face, screaming at each other while the Greens are already flexing for a fight. When she heard Buttercup's knuckles cracking, she knows fot a fact it would take her exactly thirty-five seconds before she punches someone or something in the face.

"Alright, alright! So what's the plan?" Bubbles hissed back.

"Follow my lead." Boomer suddenly unzips his hoodie, and to Bubbles' surprise Boomer presents a cobalt blue portable speakers. He zips up his hoodie once more and takes out his smartphone and scrolled through the menu to find something that he believes could solve this situation. Boomer puts the speakers on the nearest table without asking the current occupants for permission. With a quick hop, he ends up on the table and with a press of his thumb on his phone, the speakers started playing tunes to a song. Bubbles is surprised that the sound system from the small speakers are as loud as any concert PA system and the volume of sound system definitely drew everyone's attention. Everyone but the Reds and the Greens.

The song started with a very catchy and raunchy guitar riff. Boomer started tapping his feet and puts his hand up in the air. Then Boomer opened his mouth and started singing.

 _Bubbles, can you handle this?_

 _Blossom, can you handle this?_

 _Buttercup, can you handle this?_

 _I don't think they can handle this!_

Blossom and Buttercup immediately peeled their attention away from Brick and Butch respectively at the very mentiom of their name and greeting their sight is a Boomer dancing and singing sensually for everyone to see. Brick and Butch also turned their attention to Boomer and their jaws dropped. Bubbles of course is just stunned beyond compare, for his actions is not what she expected when he said that he thought of a bad plan to stop their siblings from erupting into a full-blown but surely he started unzipping his hoodie sensually and he revealed his lean body in a tanktop for the girls to see.

 _Better move, 'cause I've arrived._

 _Looking sexy, looking fly._

 _Baddest dude, dude inside._

 _DJ, jam tonight._

Though his physique is not as fully sculpted like his brother Butch, but it is a very fine body that can make a girl feel hot and bothered. As he slips his hoodie down to his wrists while shaking his hips, he looks at Bubbles and with wink he points at her.

 _Spotted me, a tender thang_

 _There you are, come on baby_.

"Hold on..." Bubbles said, not prepared for the sudden turn of events in this bizarre show. Suddenly he jumps down from the table and he throws the the sleevess of his hoodie comes around and binds her to him. Bubbles immediately tried to escape but the clothes material is made out of much tougher stuff than she expected.

 _Don't you wanna dance with me?_

 _Can you handle, handle me?_

With a devilish smile, Boomer pulles her towards him. Immediately she realized that she is now lying on his chest while his hips is moving around her, guiding her own hip movements as well. The cafetaria burst into a cacophony of hollering and whistling at the rather sensual dancing act with a hoodie.

"I am not ready for this!" Bubbles squealed in embarassment as her sisters watched. Blossom and Buttercup wanted to act and take the idiotic wannabe-stripper off their sister, but such was the impromptu hoodie binding that they worry that they might hurt Bubbles.

 _You gotta do much better,_

 _if you gon' dance with me tonight._

 _You gotta work your jelly,_

 _if you gon' dance with me tonight._

Boomer lets the hoodie slides from his wrist and essentially unbinds the blue Powerpuff Girl from his embrace. However he then grabs her arms and started to move into a dance. Bubbles could only squeak as she was led into a controlled, but partial, fall within the embrace of Boomer to almost touching the ground with their back, and one arm stretched out towards the blue-eyed boy. As she looked at him and as his face comes closer to her own, she could feel the heat of the blushing in her cheeks as he edges ever closer. She immediately noticed how fair his skin really is, and how his sapphire eyes glow with such brilliance. She can also hear her heart pounding like a jackhammer, uncertain about what will happen next with this most unpredictable Rowdyruff Boy.

 _Read my lips carefully if you like what you see,_

 _Move, groove, prove you can hang with me._

 _By the looks I got you shook up and scared of me,_

 _Hook up your seat belt, it's time for takeoff._

"Wait what do you mean by take-E-E-E-E-EEEEEEEEEEE!" Bubbles was immediately propelled to the air spinning like a top, and it was only thanks to her dedicated training to the arts of dancing, cheerleading activities and also crimefighting that she is able to spin with such grace, elegance and power.

"Bubbles!" Blossom and Buttercup exclaimed and immediately speed of as streams of light. They grabbed their sister by the arms and landed somewhere a few feet from the blue Rowdyruff Boy.

"Are you okay Bubbles? Did that maniac hurt you anywhere?" Blossom asked her sister with a very concerned tone in her voice. Buttercup on the other hand is already ready to pounce on the blue Rowdyruff Boy when Bubbles pulled both her sister's arms. Brick, Butch and Boomer realized that Bubble's action is the exact moment toale their exit. With a nod, the three brothers dissapeared in three streaks of viridian, cobalt and crimson lightning bolts. The cobalt streak of light passes where the hoodie and the speakers are located before following the rest of the streaks of lightning bolts out the cafeteria door.

As the thunderclap of their exit echoes throughout the cafetaria, the Powerpuff Girls could only hear Boomer's voice when his voice fades away.

 _I don't think you're ready for this jelly_

 _I don't think you're ready for this jelly_

 _I don't think you're ready for this_

 _'Cause my body too bootylicious for you babe._...

The silence within the hall lasted only a few seconds before the rest of the students started murmuring about what has transpired in the cafeteria. Blossom and Buttercup however are more concerned about their sister's well-being.

"I am okay, girls. Boomer was just trying to stop you guys from fighting the other Rowdyruff Boys."

"BY FLIPPING YOU IN THE AIR?" Buttercup's raspy voice shows her disbelief and anger in her voice as she lifts her hand up in the air.

"Well it worked doesn't it? Otherwise it would have gone way worse." Bubbles said gently. Bubbles could not help but to think that if it were not for Boomer's actions, the conflict between the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls woulf have caused significant collateral damages to the infrastructure and citizens of Townsville Blossom and Buttercup look at their innocent and naive sister with trepidation. Buttercup could not accept that she was about to brawl with Butch at a moment's notice and she immediately felt a sense of regret. Blossom oj the other hand could not believe that she let her prejudices and emotions took over her instead of being rational and reasonable.

"Bubbles is right about Boomer. But how Boomer did it..." Buttercup spat her words out in spite.

"Well girls, the fact still remains that the Rowdyruff Boys are now here and we have to live with it." Blossom said dejectedly.

As the Powerpuff Girls ponder about the significance of the Rowdyruff Boys' presence in their lives, they failed to notice the presence of a red devilish figure above the the cafeteria. It cackles wih glee on the events that have started to unfold in the city of Townsville.

Oh, what is going on in Townsville?


	3. Chapter 3: Parent-Teacher Conference

Chapter 3: Parent-Teacher Conference

[Utonium Residence, Townsville - 4pm]

The city of Townsville.

Down at the Utonium residence, it is a busy but fruitful day for Professor Utonium as he finally finishes his hard-researched theses on various different topics from chemical X-based thermothrophic combustion in a molecular collider construct to his theory on making the perfect little puppy.

He takes out his pipe to take a smoke as he observed all there is in his basement laboratory. He only smokes his pipe when he feels particularly accomplished and when the girls are not around the house. Despite his (as well as the girls) many attempts to stop smoking his pipe, his compulsions only brings him back again and again. Only the girls does not know that he kept on smoking.

"Ahhh...all in a day's work." He sigh in relief as he lies down on his reclining chair and takes his sweet time to relax. It was then that he heard some light subsonic boomimg sounds and that often means that the girls are back home. He takes a few more puffs before cleaning up after himself to rid his body of the smoky smell of the pipe. The girls' hypersensitive smell is something he is familiar with after 15 years of living with them,and his precautions are still fool-proof.

After a few moments, he emerges from his basement laboratory and walks towards the stairs. As he climbed up the stairs, he looks at his watch and noticed that the time is rather early for the girls to return back home.

 _Exactly after school's over. This_ _is new. No crime today nor school activities._

The professor is eager to ask them why are they back so early, and since they are back so early he wanted to suggest that they could eat out for dinner instead. As he knocked on their door, he could hear some muttering voices and commotion going on within the room,so he decided to ask.

"Girls,are you back home?" Immediately he could hear the muttering becoming more frantic and discordant. Seeing that there is something odd going in the room, he decides to exercise his special right as a better way than to announce it?

"I'm respecting your privacy by knocking but asserting my authority as your father by coming in anyway!" Professor Utonium barges into the room forcefully and noticed that the girls are now looking at him with abject horror and it seems that they are trying to hide something but they ultimately failed to do so.

"Oh, hello, girls. Home from school soOOOOOOO—" The Professor recoils in abject horror at the small letter in Blossom's hand. As he looked closer,he could see the seal of Townsville High on the letter. Professor Utonium shouts at the girls in a surprised tone.

"JUMPIN' JEHOSAPHAT! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" He points at the letter and with shaking hands he tries to reach for it. Despite his own bodily resistance, he manages to takes the letter gently from Blossom's hand and lifts it to the other facing for a closer look. As his eyes scans through the typed lettering on the other facing, his eyes opened wide and he could not help but to say the words on the letter with disbelief.

"Parent-teacher conference?!" Blossom could only look down in shame while Buttercup turns away while scratching her head, unwilling to look at the professor. Bubbles looks like she is going to cry at any moment. It was then that the professor pulls back into the sky and screams his anguish.

" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As he screams, the world zooms away from the guardian of the Powerpuff Girls and various cosmic scenes are being shown: a herd of horses whinnying and rearing up, a wave crashing violently over the docks, a lightning storm striking a forest and lighting it on fire, several cans of soda bursting and spewing its contents and a soccer ball missing the goal post by mere inches.

* * *

[Utonium Residence,Townsville - 4.30 pm]

Professor Utonium is speaking on the phone as the Powerpuff Girls sat at the dining table. The fact remains that the principal is on the other end of the line did not went well with the girls as they knew that they are in professor said a few more pleasantries before cutting the phone call.

He then puts the smartphone on the table before pulling the chair and takes a sit at the dining table. With his expression hardening, he is now looking at the girls, the letter's content opened before him and the girls.

"I am disappointed in both of you, Blossom and Buttercup. So very disappointed." The Powerpuff Girls visibly winced at Professor Utonium's comments. The content of the letter is regarding the action of the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys in the cafeteria, and it seems that they have caused enough commotion that they require a parent-teacher conference to further speak about their misconduct. Of note are the apparent screaming vulgar verbal fight between Blossom and Brick and also the apparent goading of Buttercup against her male counterpart.

"But the Rowdyruff Boys started first!" Buttercup protested first but was soon stared down by the professor. She meekly looked down once more.

"But eyewitness accounts said that the Rowdyruff Boy called Butch was only saying hello to Blossom before Blossom said a hurtful remark at him." The man of the house said sternly but not raising his voice.

"But!" Blossom tried to protest, but the Professor cuts her off.

"Girls, didn't I taught you girls about evil villains when they are not doing anything evil? What did I say about those villains?" Buttercup rolled her eyes but stopped immediately when the professor shot her a stare that can freeze hell over. Breathing in deeply before they answered the professor, the girls reluctantly said in chorus.

"Evil villains are citizens, evil citizens but citizens nonetheless until they commit a crime. In which case, only are they considered criminals. Otherwise treat them with respect that every citizen deserve."

"Yes, and the Rowdyruff Boys did not do anything until they are provoked. So whose fault is it exactly?" The girls are silent, not daring to say anything to their father figure. The deafening silence caused Bubbles to have cold sweats, and she is definitely very anxious.

"Bubbles."

"Yes Professor?" Bubbles was surprised that her name was called at all. She looked at Professor Utonium with teary light blue eyes, expecting something bad to come out from it. Bubbles remembered the moment vividly as she was forced against her will to dance in a raunchy dance move with Boomer.

The complex emotions within Bubbles of her dislike of the utterly heart-stopping embarassing situation and her dislike where her family is wallowing in this murky depression is visible on her face. But before Bubbles could even say anything, the professor stopped her.

"You may go to your room, Bubbles. I need to further speak with your sisters." The professor's expression softened and he gives the bright blue girl an approving smile. Bubbles looked at her sister with confusion and guilt, but her sisters gives a weak smile and beckons her to leave them with their father. She turns back to the professor and the man makes a gentle hand motion to ask her to leave.

The blue Powerpuff Girl backs the chair from the table and floats away in silence, and heads off to their bedroom. With the softest of the three girls no longer in the room, the professor's expression hardened once more, perhaps just a little bit more than before.

"Now girls, I know your countless bad experiences with the Rowdyruff Boys and you have your prejudices but that does not give you the right to stoop down to a less civilized manner. It seems to me that the Rowdyruff Boys are trying to mend some bridges before you girls refused them."

"They called me nasty things and picked a fight with me, what bridge is that supposed to link Professor?!" Buttercup slams the table and expressing her disbelief at Professor Utonium. Her sister jumped at the sudden outburst, but the professor is not in any way intimidated by the table slam. However Professor Utonium noticed that Buttercup's eyes are tearing up. Whatever the Rowdyruff Boys had said to his tough little girl,it must have hurt her badly if she is teary-eyed about it.

"Yes Buttercup,they are wrong to call you those mean things. But was he like this at the beginning? Bubbles became a victim in all of this." Professor Utonium's remark is even more intense than the Powerpuff Girls' own eye beam.

"No." Blossom said weakly. Buttercup turned her attention towards her sister, not believing her sister's response.

"Very well then. I will be meeting with the principal in a few days for some further preventative measure. We can't risk the school collapsing and causing innocent people getting hurt just because of some immature spat between you girls and the boys. Meanwhile, Blossom and Buttercup, you are grounded for a week and your school have decided to put both of you in detention for a period of time until further notice. of time."

"WHAT?" Blossom and Buttercup shouted at once. Their expression is that of an animal being wounded unexpectedly by a sharp fiery rod.

"But Professor,what about my training for the MMA school championships? Can't you convince Principal Nadia about it?" Buttercup pleads with the professor on the matter.

"No, no,no...the debate club is training for the Inter-school Debate Competition and the Mandarin language society is planning a Moon Cake Festival and if I can't participate, we would not be able to.." Blossom's voice is breaking apart at the sudden turn of events.

"The decision is final, no buts." Professor Utonium voice is resolute and the two girls realized that their fates are sealed.

"I can't believe this!" Buttercup exclaimed in disbelief before she blazes off in a streak of green light. Seeing that the conversation is more or less over, Professor Utonium noticed that Blossom is extremely quiet. He gets up from his chair and walks towards Blossom. He looked at her for anwhile before he tries to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulders.

"Blossom..." But to his surprise, Blossom jerked her shoulder away from his hand and she looked up to the professor with teary eyes.

"How could...how could you..." Blossom is now in tears and Professor Utonium is hurt by her expression. The complex emotions behind the pink-eyed stare is that of shock, disbelief, sadness and betrayal. Blossom immediately gets up from her chair and runs away sobbing.

He wanted to call Blossom's to stop but he stopped himself. Giving out a big sigh,the scientist makes his way towards the laboratory and decided that he really need a puff of his pipe right now. As Professor Utonium descends down the short flight of stairs to his laboratory, he could only wonder how this situation coukd be further controlled or at least minimized.

As he sits down on his reclining chair and takes out his pipe, he wonders if what they are doing to the girls is mentally too much. Professor Utonium know that these activities are very important to them, for it is their only outlet of having a normal teenage life,as the rest of their waking hour is spent on fighting crime and monsters. Especially Blossom.

Among all the Powerpuff Girls, Blossom is perhaps the most outgoing and participative in school, due to her inquisitiveness. She is more or less the perfect student and the perfect friend to all, and she enjoys their company as much as they enjoyed hers. She may be dominating, but she is also a good leader. At the same time,Blossom is the one with the greatest amount of burden on her shoulders, as she is the commander and leader of the Powerpuff Girls and also the leader of many clubs and societies in their school.

But the fact still remains that his girls nearly turned the school into a battlefield. Unlike other teenagers, they are capable of destroying and obliterating the entirety of Townsville if they so wished. Their powers had grown exponentially stronger since their time as pre-schoolers, and each one can individually defeat the US military all by themselves. Such power unleashed with wanton recklessness is something they can not afford and Professor Utonium is forced to act as the girl's warden if the situation calls for it.

But as the girl's father, it also hurts him to see his girls being hurt in such a way, by insulting remarks and disproportionate punishments. Surely they deserved something better for their services to their city and also the world. Despite their superhuman physique and capabilities,they are still teenagers at heart and they have the right to enjoy their youth the best they can.

Professor Utonium inhales his pipe very deeply before exhaling it all with a sigh.

* * *

[Townsville Pier,Townsville- 7pm]

"You idiot! Why do you need to butt into my conversation with Blossom? I could take care of myself Brick!" Butch barked at his ernswhile brother. It was then that Brick graps Butch by the collar and pulls him down to his height. The blood-eyed teenager started to glow with a malefic energy.

"Get off my case, Butch." Brick snarled at his much taller brother. The jadeite eyes of the green Rowdyruff Boy have also started to glow with a sickly green.

"Quit snarling you red rabid dog. You are just as idiotic as Boomer over here. You made the situation worse. At least Boomer's stupidity gave us the distraction we need to get out from the situation." Butch points at their blonde brother with gritted teeth.

"Who was the first one that called one of them a wh-" Brick was silenced by a headbutt to his nose which made a very loud crunching sounds.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Boomer wince in pain as he heard his brother's nose broke.

"Serves you right you little bit-" Butch's smugness was cut short by a rising uppercut, causing Butch's neck to lash upwards violently. Brick followed up immediately by grabbing Butch's head and pulled it doen forcefully to his knee. Angered by his broken nose ,Butch roared and grabbed his brother at the torso before swinging him above his head and slamming his brother to the ground. Soon enough both Rowdyruff boys are down on the ground rolling and trying to kill each other.

"Can't they just get along?" Boomer exhaled his laments. Boomer watches as his brother engaged in what is essentially an unrefined brawl. Seeing that it is just another everyday event for the Rowdyruff boys, Boomer takes a stroll around the premise they call home.

Boomer looked around the abandoned storage area on a pier labeled Pier 39 and wonder what could be done to the empty area. So far the boys have used the pier as a home when they are small little preschoolers. It is a large and spacious structure, enough to store several shipping containers. Still, Boomer admits that it is rather empty as his brothers decided to just move in without anything resembling a place to lay down for the night. When it comes to non-combat matters, Boomer is always the one that looks out for his brothers. Food, clothing, furniture. Those are his forte, and looks like he would have a lot of work to do.

 _I might be able to help with that, young boy..._ Boomer looked around, hearing the discordant echo. His two brothers have also stopped their fighting when they heard the devilish voice.

"Show yourself you crossdressing demon!" Brick's voice echoed throughout the storage area, and was soon answered by a cackling laughter. The space between the brothers soon started frothing with pink fog that smelled of sulfur and molten candy floss. As the fog dissipates, the owner of the voice is now amongst them.

"Oh, don't need for such harsh language my dear boy. You have hurt enough people today as it is." The demonic majesty of the being known as Him said with glee. Today, it appears to wearing a matching black shirt and a red tie with a black business suit draped on the shirt. The smartness of the shirt and suit is accented by a long blood red skirt with frills and onyx coloured high heel boots. Brick is always amazed by the tastelessness of the demon's fashion sense.

"How did you find us?" Butch got up and said in a nasal voice,but by the end of the sentence his voice returned to its normal timbre. The regenerative properties of Chemical X is still astounding for Him to see despite its familiarity of what it can do.

"I know everything about you boys. Also I know for a fact that you need some help as well."

"Help? And what's that?" Brick said as he gets up and snaps back his shoulder in place. The other two boys are confused by Brick's question until Him produces a small letter between its pair of pincers.

" Well Brick m'boy, have you heard of a parent-teacher conference before?"

"Yeah, but we kinda don't have parents remember? A chimpanzee created us and a demon ressurected us. Those are not parents you know."

"That includes guardians as well, Boom-boom. If you do not produce a parent, you will be in a lot of unneccessary trouble." Him said in a playful but cautionary tone followed by the patented Him lascivious smile and the boys are now visibly uncomfortable and felt shivers running down their back.

"So what? We are the Rowdyruff Boys and we got out from worse situations. Ain't that right boys?" Brick said in a cocky manner.

" Well, for one I do not want any hiccups to my plans. And secondly," Him opened the letter and read its content, "You boys are sentenced to detention." The boys raised their eyebrows before realizing what the demon meant.

"That sucks." Boomer said dejectedly as he squats down on the floor, his eyes still looking at the infernal being. Butch's reaction is more restrained,but the displeasure is shown as clear as day on his face.

"Fu..." Brick was rolling the sentence out of his mouth with spite, when the demon interrupted.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk...language, language. I did not resurrect you boys to be such a potty mouth." Brick could not believe that this is happening, as the Powerpuff Girls are the ones that started it.

"Give me that!" Brick takes the letter away from Him.

"What does it say Brick?" Brick tore the envelope and pulls out the paper to take a good look.

"Shut up Boomer. Let's see here...To whom it may concern...yadda yadda yadda...Rowdyruff Boys misbehaved in school...bla bla bla...Powerpuff Girls," Brick hissed at the very mention of the name beflre he continues, "Brick, Boomer and Butch are required to be in detention...yap yap yap...If this reaches you, you are requested to come over and talk with the guardians of the Powerpuff Girls upon further notice...na na na... with best regards, Principal Nadia. Well this is dumb." Brick said flatly.

It is already plain stupid to begin with, and they are forced to be in detention because they are trying to defend themselves. They expect the parents to be able to rein in the superpowered teenagers? It was then that Brick realized something that the other boys have not. If they do not have parents, who took the letter for them? Also Him made the arrangements for their stay in Townsville. So that means that somehow Him arranged for this eventuality as well. Since they are the Rowdyruff Boys,no soul would be mad enough to take them in as one of their own unless something was given. Which means...

"What did you do to put us back in Townsville?" Brick immediately turned to the demon with blazing livid red eyes. The demon is now trembling with excitement over the excitement.

"Well Brick, you have won the main prize! The question is more to who is the lucky soul that will be your parent during your stay...hmmm?" Him purred as he asked the oranged-haired boy.

"You? That didn't work the last time you tried with the monkey." Brick retorted. His distrust of the effeminate lord of darkness is growing with every moment, and this is exactly why the boys left it a long time ago.

"Oh no, even better.. have I got the solution for you!" Him smiled wickedly as he said the words, his tone like that of a swindling salesperson with a deal too great to refuse. Suddenly the boys are covered in a dark red cloud and they fade away in the fog.

With their presence gone, demon cackle in a dark register, the malice and evil in its voice as dark as the dark side of the moon.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville -11am]

Professor Utonium is nervous and uneasy, and his mood is not helped by the sound of the clock ticking on the wall above him, and the sound hysterical crying from inside the principal's office. It does not help that he is the only human presence in the waiting room, alone with his thoughts..

Four days have passed since the commotion in the Utonium household. Blossom and Buttercup have given the professor trouble for the first two days and in return for their sassiness, he had enforced an even more draconian measure on the third day of their punishment: he consficated their smartphones and replaced them with 'dumb' phones. That broke the camel's back and now their are more compliant.

That does not change the fact that he is now in the principal's office of Townsville High for an appointment to discuss about the preventative actions for both the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys. The principal had also informed the man of science that the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys will be coming in to discuss with them about the superpowered teenagers.

"Who in their right mind would take in the Rowdyruff Boys as one of their own?" Professor Utonium muttered in contemplation. That saying, who in their right mind would try to create perfect little girls in a laboratory?

Professor Utonium was brought back from the recesses of his thoughts from the sound of a light thud. As the sound of sound of crying inside the principal's office replaces the sound that snapped him out of his train of thoughts, he turns to his left and realized that the empty space beside him is now occupied.

The raven-black hair woman's hairstyle is styled in a pixie cut and her gray eyes are framed by a stylish oval framed glasses while Professor Utonium notices a beauty mark located at the bottom of her left cheek, close to her lips. Her silver moon-shaped earrings are studded with dark sapphires and she is clad in a dress attire of matching raven-black business blazer covering her prussian blue shirt and onyz-coloured pants. To complete her appearance, her prussian blue high-heels are decorated with some silver glitter that sparkled in the sunlight, enough to make it look like a starry night.

"Oh hello there...Miss..." Professor Utonium tried to be polite by initiating the conversation but he realized that he does not know her name.

"Morningstar, Lilith Morningstar." The woman's voice is as confident as her looks, and as she gives him a small smile, Professor Utonium could not help but to be inpressed by her demeanor.

It was then that his mind registered the identity of the woman and before he could react, the door suddenly opens to reveal a sobbing man and his wife stumbling away, and a beaming young woman pokes her head out.

"Ah,the guardians of the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys I presume?" Realizing that the fine lady beside him is the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys, the professor swallows hard and lifts himself off the seat.

"Principal Nadia I would presume?" The lady sitting beside Professor Utonium got up from her seat and hands out a hand to the young woman.

" Nadia would suffice. Nice to meet you." The young lady nodded and shakes the woman's hand.

The principal is a surprisingly cheery young Latin-American lady with a short hair, and a single line of braided hair runs down from the right side of her head with beads. She is dressed in a very formal office garb with a lavender purple jacket and skirt and white shirt and as she looks at the professor with a smile, he could only try his best impression of a polite response in adverse situation.

"Hello." His voice croaked. With a smile, the principal opened the door to her office wide and beckons them to enter.

"Welcome in,Professor Utonium and Ms. Morningstar." Principal Nadia walks into the room and they both followed her in. Professor Utonium is doing his best to smile cheerfully as he is led to the brown sofa and couches around a coffee table.

"Please. Have a seat." The principal gestured at the sofa. He does so, and followed by . Principal Nadia takes a seat at one of the with nervous energy, Professor Utonium moves his leg and bumps the coffee table. He smiled nervously and laughs, but the principle only nods and smiles. The principal takes the notepad from the table and started writing on it.

His smile gives way to a more anxious expression and he begins to drum his fingers om his knees. The principal continues on writing, her polite little smile never leaving her face, and her eyes never meeting theirs. Professor Utonium is much less composed and sweat starts to pour from his forehead as his eyes darted back and forth. The principle jots one more thing before finally looking up from the board and speaking.

"I am dearly sorry for the behavior of the boys and I promise that I will punish them for the trangression that they had done to the school and also the Powerpuff Girls!" To the professor's surprise, the raven-haired lady cuts him to the chase when it comes to panicked responses. Principal Nadia jumps in surprise as well.

"Wow, that sure scared me!" Principal Nadia said and giggled. The other two adults in the room also laughed, albeit very nervously.

"Sorry." said softly, her cheeks blushing in embarrassment.

"Anyway,Professor Utonium and Ms. Morningstar, you know the reason why we are in this room." The hispanic lady stops and let the implication sink into the heads of the guardians of the most powerful teenagers in the world.

"I understand." Ms. Morningstar said, and Professor Utonium could only nod. Other than the issue of potential irresponsible reproduction, teenagers are just a whole barrel of drama.

"Indeed, the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys as they are known are perhaps the strongest teenagers in the world, and if anything were to happen between them, we may have a disaster in our hands."

"Agreed." The professor nods.

"Professor Utonium, as both the father to the Powerpuff Girls and the foremost expert in Chemical-X enhanced artificial humans,what do you suggest we do?" asked.

"For one, we really need to set some things in stone. Firstly don't put them all in the same class. Having all of them in the same class is as good as providing the launch codes for the nuclear football to detonate."

"Hm...a little too drastic but understood. Speaking about bombs, maybe the boys do not have an outlet for their pent-up frustrations. So I would suggest that they have some school activity to vent out." The principal adds to the conversation.

" Nadia, giving them a way to vent out is good and all but that would not be fair to the girls if we gave them preferential treatment while grounding the girls alone. Also,the boys are not known to play nice with others." Professor Utonium protested.

"In that case, I would suggest that one of the girls will be assigned to one of the boys as their watchdog for the detention." The spectacled lady suggested, causing the other two adults to raise their eyebrows in disbelief and first looked at each other before turning their attention to Ms. Morningstar. The pixie-haired lady gives a small cough before she elaborated further.

"Well,the boys and girls need to learn that thry have to live and face each other in a social setting whether they like it or not. Also by letting them know what is at stake, you will give them an incentive to behave."

" Lilith, I don't think that letting the boys be observed by the girls is a good idea. Based upon past events,they don't take well to such restrictive control." Professor Utonium's calm demeanor failed to conceal the concern slipping through his voice.

"You are absolutely right, but the citizens of Townsville would trust a Powerpuff Girl over a Rowdyruff Boy correct? Besides, based on my own experiences with the boys, the boys are very rebellious." posits before she adjusts her spectacles.

"You know...this may work as it would be in their best interest to behave in school grounds. As for the girls,I would reckon that if the boys are not in any way hostile or up to no good,the girls would think of the boys in a better light." The principal is slowly buying into the idea of letting the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys mingle. The door to the principal's office opens to a tealady coming in to pour the three adults some tea before politely leaving them to return to their discussion. decides to continue on in her explanation.

"What I am suggesting, Professor Utonium and Ms. Morningstar,is that the detention for the girls would be to observe the boys and the boys's detention would be to be observed by the girls during their club activities tryout and first two weeks after that. It may be risky but it is worth a shot." the principal said as she takes a sip of tea.

"How so?"

"Well Professor Utonium, your girls are perhaps the students that are the most familiar with all the afterschool activities and also the only teenagers that can stop the Rowdyruff Boys if they ever go out of control. " The principal looks at the spectacled raven-haired lady.

"Besides, I think it would be a perfect compromise between punishing the girls and also letting them enjoy the afterschool activities and social activities." Ms. Morningstar's looks at the professor and her statement struck a chord with the man in the room. As Professor Utonium ponders on the situation, he knew deep inside that this is better than what he is doing right now with Blossom and Buttercup. He lets out a sigh and nods his head.

"Alright, let's see how this works out. Meanwhile, just to be safe I will see what I can do to superproof the school." Professor Utonium informed the principal.

"Seeing that this could be messy legally if they fight in the school premise,I would do my best in my power as the district attorney of Townsville to provide the legal framework to make things a little smoother."

"Lilith, you are the district attorney for Townsville?" the professor said in a surprised tone.

"Newly-appointed." replied curtly.

"Well then, it appears that we have a plan for the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys after all! I knew that the best scientific mind and the best legal mind inTownsville can come up with something to save the school and my job!" Principal Nadia is giddy at the prospect, while the guardians of the superpowered teenagers looked at each other in bewilderment over the parent-teacher conference.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville - 1.30pm]

As they walked out from the principal's office after the lengthy discussion of their respective teenagers and refining the details of how the 'special detention' would work, Professor Utonium decides to ask the lawyer a question.

"So Miss Morningstar...I would assume that this is your first parent-teacher involving superpowered teenagers?"

"Call me Lilith. And to be honest,this is my first parent-teacher conference ever." She takes out her spectacles and with a silk napkin, she cleans her glasses.

"Ouch Lilith. That is rough."

"Yeah, and I though prosecuting criminals are a struggle. Now I have some former supervillains as my adopted children and I have to take care of them when they are at their most unstable stage; hormone-induced teenager stage." Professor Utonium could not help but to laugh out loud which earned a scowl from the raven-haired lady.

"So I would expect no mercy from you,Lilith if my girls does something to your boys?" Professor Utonium asked.

"Let's put it this way Professor Utonium; If my boys are unjustly hurt by your girls or your girls are violated by my boys,I will make sure that justice is served fairly." That earned an approving nod from the father of three superpowered teenage girls.

"Well since we both are in the same boat now, why don't I buy you lunch ? Maybe we can talk about other less depressing stuff." Professor Utonium tried to give his best boyish smile. To his joy, the lawyer chuckled before nodding.

"Sure, I would love to."

As the two adults walked out from the principal's office, a cackling manic laughter echoes like a whisper casting an ominous atmosphere...

 _With Principal Nadia,Professor Utonium and Ms._ _Morningstar devising a disciplinary system unlike any other ever created,how will the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys react to this most unusual of punishments? Also why are the Rowdyruff Boys with ? Find out next time in Powerpuff Girls A!_


	4. Chapter 4: Getting To Know You

Chapter 4: Getting to Know You

[Utonium Residence, Townsville: 11.00am]

The city of Townsville!

It is a beautiful Saturday morning, and all is good. Peace and quiet, a nice treat for everyone as there is no big catastrophe happening. Everyone is able to sleep in and wake up at whatever time they want to wake up. Suddenly, a very dejected voice echoed from the Utonium household. Let us look at what is going on in the Utonium household.

* * *

"Say what?"

The boyish Powerpuff Girl said to the Professor as Professor Utoniun explained to the girls about their finalized detention plan that was devised by Principal Nadia, the professor and the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys over brunch. She looked at her sister Blossom to elicit a response about the detention plan. The copper-haired lady puts down her toast and gives her raven-haired sibling a very concerned look before she turns to the professor. Both Buttercup and her sister Blossom are ecstatic that they are not grounded at home and are able to have limited participation in club activities once more, but having their detention to also include observing the boys at every moment in their school is a price they are reluctant to pay for their returned freedoms.

Blossom's disapproval is apparent in her expressions but she chose not to voice them out. Between the two Powerpuff Girls, Blossom has the most mixed emotions about the 'special detention' plan. She does not know which is worse; not being able to mingle with her friends and not being able participate in after-school activities or being able to mingle with her friends and participate in club activities and having to also babysit and monitor the Rowdyruff Boys at all times during their waking school hours. Deep down, she knows just as much as the professor that if the Rowdyruff Boys decides that it is better to hurt the city again, the girls will be the first and last line of defense of Townsville. Blossom could only eat her toast in silence as she contemplate how to go about things.

Seeing that her red-haired sibling is quiet,Buttercup groans before taking another spoonful of cereal. Buttercup's state of mind is the easiest to understand and also the most volatile. Having her and her sisters observe the boys during their club tryouts and the following two weeks after that? She honestly could not accept it. It was then that a rather sweet voice interrupts the professor before Buttercup could say anything to further display her displeasure.

"I am not in detention, why am I joining team "Overwatch" as well Professor?" Bubbles asked. Alone among the Powerpuff Girls, Bubbles was not having any form of punishment exacted upon her due to her not being engaged in any misdemeanor and also being a victim of said misdemeanor by one of the Rowdyruff Boys. The blue-eyed blonde, still unable to get over her embarrassing moment a few days ago is now asking the professor for the reason why she is now joining her sisters in this detention punishment.

"Bubbles dear, I understand your reluctance but seeing that there are three Rowdyruff boys and two Powerpuff Girls in detention, there would not be enough eyes to go around if they split up for different activities. So Principal Nadia would like to ask for your assistance for this." Professor Utonium asked the blonde Powerpuff, but it appears that the cutesy teenager with pigtails is not really buying into the idea. The blue-eyed innocent girl looks at the professor with an expresssion bordering on reluctance and down-right resistance.

Professor Utonium is impressed by the other two plan originators' in predicting Bubble's reaction . Nadia and Ms. Morningstar have anticipated that the Bubbles would not see the point of engaging in helping to monitor the Rowdyruff Boys unless there is a good justification for her to be part of it. Professor Utonium saw that it looks like the time to use the 'weapon'.

"Principal Nadia mentioned that if you helped out, this is considered as extra credit for your non-A.P classes~" The professor said sweetly to Bubbles. Immediately the Utoniums saw an expression that they never thought they would ever see in their lifetime.

"Dammit!" Bubbles cursed under her breath. Her sisters looked at each other, and they are surprised that she even cursed at all. Bubbles never ever curses. Sure, she does call them doo-doo heads and all from time to time, but only after someone pisses her off and never anything vulgar. And yet,there it is.

The truth of the matter is a simple one, and one that Bubbles is not fond of admitting. Bubbles have always struggled against arithmetic and science, classes that requires complex calculations and advanced technical knowledge. She could never understand why they need to make the world more complicated than it already is,and for that she always have the tendency to not focus well on those subjects. That in turn caused her grades in those classes to be in a very precarious situation, and to make it worse they affect her A.P classes.

The principal's offer is an offer she found hard to refuse as she require some extra credits to push through some of her non-A.P classes. It is a forbidden fruit that would allow her to get an overall good grade for the recommendations to the art universities she wants to get into and the offer is just too much for her to ignore. Despite being an Utonium and a crimefighter of good, Bubbles could not help but to think of the principal as a manipulative, conniving evil person. The dastardly woman found out her kryptonite.

"Fine...I will do it." Bubbles sighed as she shakes her head in shame. Professor Utonium is definitely impressed by the school administration's power to bend students to their will.

"At least you are getting extra credit for it Bubbles." Blossom unconvincingly tries to console her sister, which makes it even worse for Bubbles. In Bubbles' own mind, she is already a sellout and her sisters know it. Her worth as a person has gone down the drain in a spectacular fashion. For that, the blonde-haired lady pigs out on her blueberry muffins and whatever sweet pastry she could find on the table. She is eating because she is unhappy, and she is unhappy because she is eating. It is a vicious cycle.

"Now girls, the Rowdyruff Boys will be undergoing both the observation and also the normal detention. Be thankful of what you get girls." Professor Utonium said, trying to lighten their ordeal a little. Indeed, Blossom and Buttercup's detention is technically reduced to just another week, which is always better than for a a detention with an undetermined period of time. However, that also means that the final week of detention is going to be hellish, as they are forced to sit in detention with the boys. All three of the girls groaned, not wanting to ruin their morning with this unfortunate turn of events.

Buttercup is the most bitter among the girls, for she is the one that was subjected to being called names by the Rowdyruff Boys. She will not stand up to this injustice and if any one of them provoked her in any way, she would giving them her trademarked dish; a Buttercup knuckle sandwich. Even now, she would like nothing more than to vent out her annoyance and bad temper. As if on cue, Bubbles' phone blared with the ringtone of the Powerpuff Girls Hotline.

"Powerpuff Girls." Bubbles picked up the call. A few unintelligible sentences blasted from the other line,causing Bubbles to distance the phone a little to spare her ears.

"Mayor? Can you repeat that?" Bubbles' inquiry was soon followed by another wave of unintelligible sentences.

"Okay Mayor, we're on our way." Bubbles hangs up the call. Her sisters are now waiting for her to explain herself.

"Well... the Mayor says that the District Attourney would like to see and get to know us. A new friend!" Bubbles exclaimed.

"Very well girls, let's move out!" Blossom said to the rest of the girls. Hearing the position, Professor Utonium realized that he forgot an important detail. He wanted to warn the girls about the district attorney being the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys but the girls dissapeared in streaks of light before he could warn them.

"Oh I hope everything will be okay..." The professor said with a concerned voice.

* * *

[Townsville Hall, Townsville: 11.30am]

"They should be here at any moment now, Lilith." Informs the voice with a throaty, alluring and quite unruffled voice.

"That is much appreciated. Thank you Sara." A calm, strong and confident woman's voice answered.

In the mayor's office, two women are conversing with each other as another figure watches them. The figure watching them is a rather petite old man, with fringes of alabaster white hair around his smooth bald scalp, a thick moustache. His most noticeable features are his black-framed monocle and a small, black top hat that floats just above his head. Wearing a bright violet blazer coat with snow-white turtleneck undershirt, a mustard yellow vest, dark orange stripped trousers, an apple-red bow tie, and onyx and cotton white boots, the man appears to be unnecessarily well-dressed for the occasion. The sky blue sash around his apparel revealed his position for all to see: Mayor.

"Well ladies, I hope that this would be a nice afternoon." said the man with a scatterbrained voice. He really was hoping really hard for his dull afternoon to be nice. To be fair, it is not everyday that mayor of Townsville gets to see not one, but two very stunning women in his office conducting official business. One of them is the Mayor's own assistant, a tall statuesque lady with a curvy and slender hourglass figure with long voluptuous legs by the name of Ms. Bellum . Her skin is tanned to perfection, matched only by her fiery curly ginger hair and her emeerald green eyes, heavy-lidded and seductive with long dark lashes and accented by shimmering lavender eyeshadow. To add to the heat of her sensuality, she is dressed in a warm red dress and similarly matching pumps.

Opposite the Mayor's assistant is a bespectacled fair woman with a jet-black pixie cut hair, draped in a very sharp-looking dark blue business suit jacket and slacks with a black undershirt and a burnt silver-coloured tie. The pale porcelain-like complexion of the lady, in contrast with both 's tanned appearance, highlights the cloudy gray irises of the lady and her beauty mark close to her lips, at the bottom of her left cheek. Her silver moon-shaped earrings studded with dark sapphires completes her overall confident beauty.

"Oh look, the girls are here!" The old man said excitedly.

Three light beams of light blue, lime green and pink landed upon the balcony extending from the Mayor's since the city government realized that the Powerpuff Girls crashing through the ceiling is causing unnecessary expenditure to the Townsville Hall's maintenance, the city government had proposed the balcony to be build to prevebt further incurred costs. The timing for the balcony also coincided with the growth spurt of the girls, which in turn would cause larger holes in the ceiling if they were to enter like how they entered in during their kindergarden days.

"Mayor, The Powerpuff Girls reporting for duty." The first of the girls said as they entered into the Mayor's office.

"Oh Blossom, you girls don't need to be so proper with me. We've known each other for a very long time now." The Mayor said with a smile.

"Well at least it is not a pickle jar this time." Bubbles giggled. The raven-haired lady in the suit gave the Mayor a stare with daggers in it. The Mayor withdraws at the sight of the intimidating stare. Noticing the presence of the unfamiliar face in the room, Blossom walks up and extends her hand in a handshake.

"Hello there my name is Blossom, and you are?" The lady turns towards Blossom and takes her hand.

"Ms. Lilith Morningstar, the new District Attorney for Townsville. Your reputation for directness and willingness to open up to people is a well-informed trait." The district attorney said politely as she shakes the Powerpuff Girl's hand firmly and confidently.

* * *

[Townsville Hall, Townsville : 11.33am]

Lilith Morningstar is glad that she could finally meet the (in)famous Powerpuff Girls. What greeted her sights interests her.

Lilith noticed that the leader of the Powerpuff girls is a slender beauty with very shapely legs and arms, and her long copper red hair runs down smoothly down her back all the way to the back of her knee, held in place by strings of red ribbon which blended in with her hair. Blossom is wearing a hot pink polo shirt with red collar and buttons, a red-striped plaid pink skirt, pristine white tights and black platforms.

Lilith turned her attention towards Blossom's sisters and looked at the raven-haired girl with the undercut and bright green highlights. Lilith's initial impression of the girl is the girl is build to fight and win. Among the girls, she is wearing the most basic plain white tanktop with long baggy green cargo pants. The plainness of her white tanktop however further defines her lean, feline-like poise with her carved wiry musculature being laid bart fo all to see.

"Buttercup I would assume?"

"Yup,and that ditzy one is Bubbles." The raspy girl points at the remaining girl with a tilt of her head.

"Hey!" The last girl protested as she pouted at her sister with bright blue eyes. The most well-dressed among the Powerpuff Girls,she is wearing a light blue frilled dress with a red flower at the chest area with pale yellow boots that matches her croissant-like twirled blonde pigtails. Slung around her arms is a white handbag with bunnies etched on it. Suddenly,the owner of the bag is now looking at Lilith with a bewildered look.

"What's wrong ? You are looking at us with a funny-looking gaze." Bubbles asked. Lilith realized that she is observing them for far too long and she apologized.

"I'm sorry about that, as it is not my intention. But I was expecting matching crimefighting uniforms or something." Lilith responded.

"You mean O.U.T.F.I.T?" Bubbled asked.

"O.U.T.F.I.T?"

" _O_ ptimized _Ut_ ilitarian _F_ ighting _I_ nterface _T_ emplate. It is essentially a fully power armoured combat protection system consisting of C.O.A.T, D.R.E.S.S, G.L.O.V.E and S.H.O.E. We can materialize the suit at any time thanks to particle materialization technology. " Blossom explains.

"Antonio sure is a good scientist and father." Lilith smiled as she adjusts her spectacles. It was then than Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup stared at her like she have just swore at them. Lilith wondered what she have just said to warrant this reaction. It must be something about the words that escaped her mouth. Suddenly she realized what she have said, and before she could explain herself,the girls surrounded her and bombarded her with questions.

"How do you know the professor first name?"

"Where?"

"When?"

"Which?"

" How did you know our dad?"

"Are you his ex-girlfriend?"

"Secret girlfriend"

"Ex-classmate?"

"Secret admirer?"

"Long-lost sister?"

"New-found sister?"

The cacophony of voices overlapped in such a manner that the originator of the question could not be determined,and the barrage of questions slowly erodes the confident composure of the woman. and the Mayor watched from the sideline as they wonder how the new district attorney will handle the Powerpuff Girls in their most inquisitive form. As the district attorney struggle to find some space to breathe,she realized that she is slowly becoming dizzy.

"Girls, girls, girls...GIRLS!" Lilith shouted in desperation to stop the girls. It seems that she succeeded as the girls realized what they had just done and politely give the woman some space.

"Sorry." The Powerpuff Girls said in chorus.

"It's...okay...girls." The smartly-dressed lawyer said to the girls while she pants for air. It seems that the Powerpuff Girls have other means of defeating mortal beings, she noted.

"Are...you..alright, ?" Buttercup asked in her raspy voice.

"I am fine. Anyway in regards to the question of how I know the Professor...The professor and I are working on a few very unique projects." Lilith managed to recomposed herself and answered the girls confidently. She is not lying per se, but she figured that this information would be sufficient enough for the girls.

"Ah...that made sense. But I honestly wished it was something more...romantic." Bubbles said with a dissapointed voice.

"Yeah,it has been a while since he actually dated anyone." Buttercup said dismissively. Lilith is now rather uncomfortable as the girls strayed off to talking about the professor's love life and their daughterly concerns for their father. Suddenly the sound of speeding vehicles, police sirens and heavy machinegun fire passing by the Townsville Hall cuts through the teenage chatter.

"What was that?" Lilith asked. The Powerpuff Girls looked at each other before reaching towards their belt. It was then that the lawyer noticed that they all have a similar looking belt. As they pressed the center of their belt buckle, a bright light flashes throughout the room, blinding the adults in the room.

As her eyes readjusts, Lilith comes face to face with the Powerpuff Girls, but instead of their previous attire,she realized that they have changed to something else entirely. Each one of them are now wearing a pitch-black outfit from that upon closer examination consist of fine fibres of protective fabric. Their arms are encased in plated gauntlets that looks more like long gloves with orbs for each one of their knuckles while their feet are encased armor that looks more like a pantyhose but the smooth curved poleyns, greaves and tapered sabatons cam be made out upon a closer look. The girls have their armoured parts and vest colored based upon the primary colors of the girls: pink fot Blossom, lime green for Buttercup and light blue for Bubbles.

"Alright Ms. Morningstar, we are going to help the police officers in their apprehension of the criminal responsible. It was nice meeting you." Blossom waved before she flies off in a streak of pink light.

"Yeah, nice knowin' you." Buttercup said before she followed her sibling in a streak of green light.

"Bye bye !" Bubbles waved enthusiastically before she flies off to meet her sisters in a streak of blue light. As Lilith looked on as they flew by, figured that it is time to show the attorney what the girls are made of. As the flat screen TV comes to live, the adults are now tuning in to the Channel 4 twelve o'clock live news coverage. The newscaster for the day appears to be a brunette lady with a dark blue business dress, and she is already in midst of reporting the latest scoop.

"...robbery by an unknown gang and they are armed and dangerous. Several police officers are now confirmed to be hurt. Bringing you live to the ongoing car chase is our live helicopter telecast. Tom?" The newsfeed, turns to a live footage of a car chase in progress, with several police cars chasing after a pick-up truck. At the open bay of the pick-up truck, a heavy machine gun is mounted and is facing the back of the truck. The criminals are firing wildly with the heavy machinegun at the pursuing policemen, causing chaos among the pursuers as some of the vehicles are immobilized by the robber's firepower.

"Thanks Sandra, we are live now as the car chase is ongoing with the suspects in the pickup truck strapped with a machinegun and...oh wait, I saw a three streaks of pink, green and blue! The Powerpuff Girls are on the scene pursuing the suspects and - DAYUM! Buttercup just melted one of their tires away and the truck is going out of control, and the machine is confirmed to have flew out of the vehicle and nice catch there Blossom! OH SNAP, Bubbles and Buttercup just ripped the door out from the spinning truck and pulling the passengers out from the vehicle...S-*BLEEP*-T they are shooting at Bubbles! But she dodges the bullets and it seems that the bullet..."

Suddenly a loud screech can be heard over the airwaves of the television set, and immediately the sound was cut. Lilith looked at the Mayor and his assistant, and they gave the female law practitioner a smile. Turning back to the television set, she notices that the newscaster lady proceed to continue on reporting once she reoriented herself.

"Tom, Tom, Tom! Can you hear me? I heard Bubbles' sonic scream just now! Are you alright?!"

"Yes Sandra, I am fine thanks to these mufflers ,but I am pretty sure that the culprits are not fine at all. Some badly ruptured eardrums to say the least. The truck has come to a grinding halt thanks to the screech,and it seems that the chase is over. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are now rounding up the suspects as the cops finally managed to reach them. Right now, some of the cops have come out from their vehicle and are aiming their guns at the suspect. It seems that the situation is all under control now. Oh look, Bubbles is waving at us! Hi Bubbles!

Well, it seems that the case is now being handed to the Townsville police, and look at the girls go! Three beams of light...Sandra, I can confidently say that the day is saved thanks to the Powerpuff Girls and back to you-"

Ms. Bellum turns off the television set and is now looking at the new government official on the job . The pixie-haired lady looks back at the redhead with her best impression of stoicism at the whole event.

"The job for the district attorney in Townsville is a difficult job. With alien invaders,evil supervillains and monsters,we are the city with the most unique crimes in the U.S.A. Welcome to the team." gives the lawyer a smile, and hands out her hand. The bespectacled attorney hands out her hand after a moment of hesitation and shakes the redhead assistant's hands. Meanwhile, the Mayor is trying to open a pickle jar, not giving any bother to the world around him.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville : 7.00pm]

"Oh, the lady's back."

The sand blonde boy with cobalt-blue eyes said out loudly as his ears picked the sound of turning mechanisms within the main entrance mortise lock. The Rowdyruff boy's voice is as gentle as the first drop of winter's snow on Christmas. The other teenager on the opposite couch looks towards the door with disinterest with his jadeite green eyes as he rubs his six-packed stomach. The door opens moments later, and the lady known as Lilith Morningstar walks into the house and takes a seat at the sofa.

"Hello boys." As Lilith takes off her shoes, she looked around her house and she was surprised at the condition of her house. The books on her mahogany racks are untouched, while the glass coffee table and the floor before her is not filled with garbage.

Her imagination tends to run wild when she is expecting the worst, and as her understanding of teenage boys goes that given a chance, they would mess up the house. Of course this is based on her observation of her brother's hyperactive children, but in her case she noticed that the boys known as Butch and Boomer are more or less lying around the couches in her living room. As immovable as a mountain, and as lazy as a sloth.

"To be fair lady, we don't feel like it. Or at least I don't. Boomer tends to get entertained by his own thoughts." The husky tenor of the tank-topped muscular lad known as Butch answered as if he heard her mind's conversation. This reply surprises the lady even more, as the Rowdyruff Boys are more or less known as delinquents at the very least. Very different than when she met them for the first time a few days ago.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville, six days ago: 2.00am]

Lilith Morningstar wondered who on earth is ringing the doorbell in this ungodly hour. She had only just moved into this house a day before so surely she have not made any acquaintance yet in this darn town. Lilith groans as she scratches her head and tries to find her glasses. After discovering where her glassesare located,she puts them on and with a very reluctant mood she lifts herself off the bed.

The pixie-haired brunette walks towards the door and taking the robe thatwas hanging on the door,she grumbled incoherently. She turned on the lights and her eyes felt the pain of the sudden pesence of light in her eyes, eliciting an additional phrase of curses. She wears the robe and digs into her robe'spocket for somethibg. After a while she found ehat she is looking for and drags herself to the entrance wearing only a bed robe with a pepper spray in her hand. If there is one thing working as a lawyer that prosecute violent criminals for a living, it is to be ready for any threats coming her way.

"Who is it?" The lady said half-asleep as she opened the door, pepper spray ready to spring into action.

"Hello there dear Lilith,it's been a while!" The discordant sweet voice of a synthesized sound of a man and a woman woke the lady up and she realized that before her is a bright deep red figure with a black widow's peak hair, long black eyelashes with the long curled beard contrasts greatly with his lobster red skin, rosy pink cheek makeup and glowing emerald figure is wearing a black suit with a black undershirt with a red tie,accented by a long flowing blood red skirt with frills and high heel boots as black as ink. With a smile on its face, the figure opens its lobster-like arms as if ready for an embrace by the occupant of the house.

"You!" The lady immediately sprayed the pepper spray at the figure's eyes without any hesitation, making it cried out in pain as it covers its eyes with its claw-like arms.

"Seriously,is that how you treat an old friend?" The effects of the pepper spray appears to only work on the infernal lord of darkness for a short while. Obviously Him is not pleased at being assaulted by such a mortal weapon.

"Him,what-are-you-doing-here?!" The lady hissed.

"Oh come on, we are two side of the same coi-urk!" Suddenly the demonic being was pulled by his tie mid-sentence towards the snarling woman.

"Never ever speak of that. Ever." Lilith lets go of the demon and all the demon could do is to readjust its tie and recompose itself.

"Anyway Lilith, I am here for a simple reason; you owe me a service. And I have no doubt you will repay it. Now my friend, are you ready to do me the service?" The demon's voice is now sinister and menacing. However, to Him's surprise, the pixie-haired lady in the bed robe is not afraid nor impressed.

"Yes, what do you want me to do oh great evil one? How may I take your order?" Lilith said with a large dose of sarcasm.

"First things first; may we come in?" Him's tone changed to a more jovial tune as it asked the lady politely.

"We?" Lilith inquired and the demon stepped aside and Lilith saw three young men standing before her. As three eyes of fiery ruby, jadeite green and sapphire blue are looking at her, she wondered what in the devil's name is Him doing with these boys. Seeing that there is no harm doing so, she responded by spraying another round of pepper spray in Him's eye.

"OUCH!" Him shrieked, and this time the response elicit a chorus of hysterical laughter from the boys.

"Him, do you realized that you are in breach of Act 18 of the U.S Code section 1201 right? And where on earth did you get these kids from?" Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and right now she tranquil fury is enough to freeze hell over. Just as Him opened his eyes,the lady sprayed another round of pepper spray into his eyes. Another round of shrieks, and a thunderous wave of laughter from the boys.

"Let me explain will you, and stop doing that!" Him pleaded with the woman and finally after one last round of pepper spray into his eyes ,Lilith stopped and let Him in with the boys. A neighbor of hers opened the window and looked at her direction, and Lilith Morningstar confidently devised a reasonable excuse for her very confused and very awake neighbor.

"An excited relative just came by. Sorry about the noise Genndy." She then closes the door to her home, and looked at her guests with more detail. As usual, Him is dressed in the most gaudy of fashion, but the boys appeared to be decently dressed for their age, though she wondered why there have nothing else with them. As she beckons them to sit,she noticed that the boys appeared to look into her house with a certain measure of interest. That raised a flag in the attorney's mind that these boys had not been in a nice and proper home in quite a long while. She wondered what did these boys went through to have such expressions on their faces. As Him and the teenage boys sat down, she went to the kitchen to prepare some drinks for her unexpected guests. After a while, she appeared before her guests with some tea and served it to them.

"So, Him. What are you doing here?" Lilith Morningstar takes a seat on the remaining couch that is unoccupied. Her voice is now much calmer than before, but her displeasure is apparent for all to see.

"Hm...as I said before I-"

"You have a service you want from me. Is that related to the boys?" She glanced at them, but her expressions with them is much more gentler than those she gave to Him. She takes a sip of her tea as she waits for her response.

"Yes...I would need you to take care of them for me." Lilith immediately spits out her tea and looks at the demon with disbelief.

"Wait...WHAT?"

"Yes~, These boys needed a home and I figured that they needed a proper women's touch. There had been too much men and events happening in their lives." Him said with a smile, and he takes his cup of tea with his pincers and takes a sip.

"Why don't you just sent them to someone else, or even foster-"

"Because they are special. I can't hand them to just some random Tom, Dick, And Harry. Do you understand what I mean?" Lilith was about to say something in regards to Him's comment, but then she took a good look at the boys once more. She noticed that the boys have a little bit of an edge around them, and she recognized that particular edge that they had. It is something she had felt once and she knew that the boys are not like any other. Him smiled innocently, but was bombarded by another round of pepper spray into his eyes, and he choked on his tea which caused no certain amount of agony on the infernal being. The boys are now laughing once more at the misfortune of the demonic being. She gave them a deathly stare and the boys immediately went silent. She puts her palm on her face, shaking her head. Lilith could not believe the audacity of the demon, let alone the perception that these young boys before her are super-criminals and he wanted them to take care of these little urchins. She is honestly regretting the decisions she had made in the past with Him for this to happen in the present.

"I can't believe this...Boys," Lilith asked sternly, and the boys' attention is now on her, "What happened to you and what did this conniving demon told you?"

The boys are initially very confused and also very reluctant to tell the lady about what Him had informed them. But seeing that this reality-bending demon is being bullied by a mortal woman, they figured that their chances with her would be close to nil if they chose to not answer the lady truthfully. But how much do they need to tell her? The boy with the fiery orange hair and red turtleneck decided that perhaps he would be the best to explain the situation.

"Miss, before I explained why we are here, I would need to explain our relationship to Him. Him in many ways is like a parent to us, since he did resurrect us from the dead and all and took care of us for a while before we decided to make our own path in this world." The red-haired boy paused for a while before continuing on.

"I mean, for three superpowered beings, there isn't much we could do when we are born in prison thanks to a mutated chimpanzee that speaks unnecessarily long sentences flushing armpit hair of criminals, snails from the prison cafetaria, and the tail of a talking dog down a jail cell toilet that contained the apparent potency of Chemical X. Our birth is not a normal one, and we are born to destroy the Powerpuff Girls. Then we got destroyed thanks to a kiss from said Powerpuff Girls, and then we are ressurected by Him to fight against the Powerpuff Girls."

"Carry on...what is your name again?" The lady in the bed robe beckons the red-dressed boy to continue.

"You can call me Brick. And as I was saying, we left Him's care in Townsville when we were eight-years old -" Suddenly another round of something spraying and an anguished scream interrupted the boy, but the perpetrator of Him's situation lets him continue on, "So we traveled around and due to our superpower gifts, we just fall right in to all these 'jobs' that require our powers..." It was then that the lady stood up and moved towards the demon and pulled him up at the collar.

"I had enough; I will take the boys. Now get out from my house and leave the boys alone." Him cleans his eyes and his bright luminous emerald eyes are looking at the lady with a frown. But suddenly Him's mood lightens up and he hands a letter over to the lady. As Lilith picks the letter from Him's pincers, a fog of pink smoke came out from nowhere and shrouds the demon before it dissapears, him's voice being the last thing thing to leave the house.

 _Well then, I would suggest that you resolve the issue in that letter first if you want the boys for yourself..._

Lilith read the letter and realized that it is a letter for a parent-teacher conference. First day in school and the boys are already in trouble. She turned her attention to the three boys. The fiery red-haired boy that spoke to her appears to be the most dominant among the boys, and as he looked at her with ruby-red eyes, she wondered if he is ready to just attack her. However, based on his polite mannerism, his predatory appearance is perhaps a product of his upbringing. Next to the one called Brick, Lilith looked at the toned, well-build boy with the green tank top and raven-black hair. The viridian-eyed boy appeared to be the most withdrawn, his temperament are tranquil as a silent forest. Last but not least, she saw a sand blonde boy already asleep on her couch.

"Well boys, time to get some rest. Perhaps tomorrow we get to know each other a little better." Lilith said to the boys, pitying their situation.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville, present day: 7.05pm]

And that is how the Rowdyruff Boys are living in her home; rough but well-behaved. An individual with long unkempt red-hair enters into the living room with a carton of milk in one hand and a glass in the other.

"Oh hi Brick." The redhead nods in acknowledgement as Ms. Morningstar mentions his name.

"So how's your day, miss? I recalled you went to meet the Powerpuffs today." Brick said politely as pours the milk into the glass and takes a sip. Lilith always find the red one a little too fierce for his own good, and despite his politeness his tone still has a rather predatory presence.

"Well Brick, I must say that the girls are very approachable and inquisitive. Perhaps too inquisitive."

"Well to be fair, they are quite overbearing when they swarm you." Brick shrugged as he takes another sip of milk.

"How did you -?"

"Well miss, I would say that when you said 'too approachable' they kinda invaded your personal space. Well that is what you get when you tried to be friendly with the Powerpuff Girls." Brick mentioned as he pours another glass of milk.

"Perhaps you are right." Lilith grumbled.

"Got milk?" Butch asked, but Brick shows the gesture that the carton is now empty.

"By the way, how do you boys know what is on my mind all the time?" Lilith asked. She had always been curious about their uncanny ability to deduce her moods. She wished that she could be as accurate as them, as it would help her tremendously in her profession.

"Hm...I don't know what you mean by mind reading, but observation? Sure, I guess we Rowdyruff Boys do lots of it. Always helps when you are in a sticky situation. Logic, reason, keen observation skills, and an eidetic memory helps. Boomer has a photographic memory, so I guess he is better than the rest of us in reading people but he is a cloudcuckoolander." Brick shrugs as he throws the carton into the is surprised that he is letting out this much information to a stranger.

"Fair enough. Since you boys are such mindreaders, let's play a game; who knows what I want to eat for dinner tonight? Whoever gets it right get to ride shotgun in my Mercedes." The raven-haired lady said to the Rowdyruff Boys. That piques the boy's immediate attention as Lilith's AMG C63 Coupe is an awesome sports car.

"Hm...Steak?" Butch shakes her head.

"Chinese cuisine." Brick said with confidence as he washes the cup that he drank his milk from, but was soon proven wrong by the lady. His brother snickered at him ashis cheeks reddened.

"Tacos! Best food ever!" Boomer said with glee.

"Seriously Boomer?" Butch said in disbelief,while Brick shakes his head in dissapointment. Boomer is clearly dejected from the responses of his brother.

"With guacamole." Lilith replied.

"Yes! Boo-yah!" The other two are surprised that she wanted to eat tacos and dissapointed that their brother gets to ride in the front seat of her sweet ride,while Boomer pumps his first in excitement. As the lady beckons them to get out of the house, Brick take his cap from the table and puts it on his head.

"I'll bring you guys to this taquiera I found near my workplace." Immediately the boys started asking the lady about their dinner.

"So where is this taco place?"

"Is it Chipotle?"

"Do they have carnitas?"

"Do they have burritoes?"

"Do they have Quesadillas?"

"Do they have all-you-can-eat-tacos?"

The merging piling questions from the boys brought a chuckle from the female boys all stopped their line of questioning and wondered what is so funny about their questions.

"Well, I must say that after getting to know you boys and seeing the Powerpuff Girls, you guys and the girls are more alike than I thought." Brick choked his saliva, and immediately coughs in pain. The forest green Rowdyruff scowled as he glares at the attorney. Only Boomer is the one smiling before he was hit in the head by his muscular brother. The lady smiled and ruffles the hair of both Butch and Boomer,causing them to protest.

As the woman and the three Rowdyruff Boys exits the home, Brick wondered why he and his brothers felt a little more cheerful and relaxed when they are around her. Mojo Jojo and Him did not even made them feel like how Morningstar made them. What make this woman tick and why? She is just someone they are staying in for their stay in the city. Nothing more,nothing less. This would require them to know her a little more, one small bit at the time.


	5. Chapter 5: Something There

Chapter 5: Something There

[Townsville High, Townsville: 10.00am]

 _The city of Townsville!_

 _It is the first day of the unique detention program for the Rowdyruff Boys and it appears that Brick and Bubbles are in the same class of A.P Art History. Bubbles is now looking at the Rowdyruff Boy with the long fiery red hair as her Art history lesson went by._

 _How will the day turn out for the softest of the Powerpuff Girls and the most intimidating Rowdyruff Boy?_

* * *

Honestly Bubbles wished she would be assigned to monitor Boomer, but the arrangement was made as it was known that Bubbles had once said that the 'blue one' was cute and thus to prevent any biases, they have matched them accordingly. To her displeasure, she was assigned to Brick. Among the Rowdyruff Boys, Brick is the most intelligent of the lot and he had qualified for a number of A.P classes. Thus, his participation in the A.P classes had warranted the combined responsibility of observing Brick is split between Blossom and Bubbles. However, to Bubbles, she is not surprised at all and the same goes for her sisters. The Rowdyruff Boys are among their most powerful opponents, and they always tend to be more powerful and faster than the is only due to some quick thinking that they even prevailed at all. Brick in particular proved to be a thorn on the girls side, as he is perhaps the most devious and cunning among the boys and by extension he is Blossom's counterpart in the Rowdyruff Boys. While he would lack in true finesse and long-term planning as compared to Blossom, he truly shines in more pragmatic plans and predatory cunning. Brick's extensive knowledge of tactics others may consider as dirty, his innate instinct to easily adapt to any situation and his willingness to use those tactics to achieve his goal makes him perhaps more well-suited to the chaotic battlefield than Blossom. This is perhaps a stronger skill to have, and this is why Blossom tends to have difficulty fighting against him as he will always does things that Blossom failed to take into account into her plans.

 _I just didn't expect him to be the studious kind_ , Bubbles thought as she watches the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys. He is participating class eagerly and the teen with the maroon turtleneck eagerly jots down the notes and looking really contented in the class. Bubbles watched as his long ponytail moved aling with the motions of his head. It seems that during the weekend he had changed his hairstyle to a short-haired cut with only a long braided ponytail bound in red cloth, letting the rest of his hair running down his back and down all the way to the back of his knees. Thanks to his new haircut the female admirers of the 'Red Cyclone', as they would call him now due to his apparent temperament and also his blood ruby eyes and his fiery orange hair, are even more enthralled with his looks.

Bubbles wished she could be that attracted to her nemesis but the fact still remained that she was assigned to report on Brick,the most intimidating of the Rowdyruff Boys. She remembered the slimy, icky sensation of the giant mutated slug on her back when they first fought after their resurrection from the dead. She shuddered at the though, and she do not and will not be in such a situation once more.

So far all is quiet in the Art History class and Bubbles hopes that it remains that way.

Of course, she wondered what made him focus on his A.P subjects the way he did, as his particular focus in the A.P classes are not the scientific courses, but instead he had taken all the A.P classes that touches on history and political science. When they first found out that he had also taken art history, it had taken the girls by surprise. But what has been done has been done, and she watches him as he immersed himself into his lesson. Honestly, Bubbles find this side of Brick rather refreshing as this is the only time she ever seen his expression softened to something akin to a normal teenager, even dorky.

Seeing that he is behaving for the time being, she went back to paying attention to her teacher's lecture and writes the notes for her class with a smile on her face.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 11.00am]

When the Art History class is over, she notice that Brick is already darting out of the class and that causes her to rush out of the class. Their next class, English literature and composition, is located at the other block of the school. She noticed the orange ponytail and red sweatshirt of the Rowdyruff Boy moving away from her and she know that she have to keep up. Suddenly Brick bumped into a larger student.

"Hey, sorry man." Said the large African-American student as the student looked at the redheaded teenager. Brick looks up at the student and glares at the student as if the student had just violated one of the ten commandments of the bible and wished divine retribution upon the student. Brick's cracks his knuckles as he clenches his fist, as if to signify that Brick is very tempted to crack the student's skull with his fist.

"What's your problem man?" The black student asked the red-capped student with a ponytail, his voice faltered a little. Seeing a moment of weakness, Brick smirked at the student, and his overwhelming aura of intimidation increased tenfold. Bubbles sensed the overbearing presence and as she watches the commotion, she realized that with a single spark the red-headed superhuman would seize the initiative in this situation. Realizing that this could mean trouble, she dashes in a streak of light towards the two individuals.

"Stop!" Bubbles cried out, seizing the initiative. The two students immediately turned towards Bubbles, one visibly annoyed while the other a little taken aback by her sudden appearance. Some of the nearby students noticed the commotion. Brick felt that she should just back off, but Brick's pragmatism informed that there are several onlookers watching them already. Brick may be an angry person,but he is not stupid. Given his odds, is not worth the hassle and definitely it is never good to take on a Powerpuff Girl, even if the Powerpuff Girl present is perhaps the weakest among the three.

"Fine, Parole Officer Utonium. I am leaving now for my class. Happy?" Brick said sarcastically before peeling away from the controntation. Bubbles looks at the red-capped Rowdyruff Boy as he walks away.

"What's his problem Bubbles?" The student asked the blue-eyed superheroine, cold sweat running down his temple. Even the student knew that he had just escaped from the jaws of something really bad.

"I honestly don't know, Chapelle. I honestly don't know." She shaked her head with a very perplexed look on her face. Why does he have to be so mean?

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 12pm]

 _Alright Brick, let's get this over with._

Brick is now in the cafeteria, and he knows that he is not welcomed here. But nonetheless he would try to get his food as soon as possible and get out of the cafeteria . As he tries to queue in line to get a sandwich from the cafeteria counter, he realized that the other students gave him a wide berth for him to get his food. As he walks towards the counter, he glared at them with annoyance as he knew that he is being treated like a wild animal on a leash. The students, seeing his intimidating stance and behavior, gave him further space and as he passed by, the students murmured and looked at him with disapproving eyes. Brick rolled his eyes as his superhuman hearing catches on the murmurs. He takes the sandwich and made the payment before he leaves the cafeteria line to eat his lunch in peace. Unbeknownst to the anti-social teenager, another teenager is looking at the whole scene from afar.

 _Poor Brick_ , Bubbles thought to herself. It seems that everyone is intimidated by the oranged-haired teenager or in the case of the boys,they downright despised him. His argument with Blossom (which in itself is declaring war upon the Beauty Beauty Blossom Fan Group) and also his general attitude towards people have made him enemies without even trying. She could not blame them for feeling that way as his red coloration and his attitude combined gives off a very dangerous,predatory and intimidating vibe. Even the girls who are his fans, dare not come close to him in fear of him biting back and prefer to watch him from afar.

"Bubbles, want to join us for lunch?" A voice asked the Powerpuff Girl. Bubbles' attention on the question is fleeting as Bubbles noticed him exiting the cafeteria. She is compelled by her duty to observe the Rowdyruff Boy, but at the same time that motivation is now a secondary one. Something else within her soul is asking her to follow the Rowdyruff Boy for an entirely altruistic reason. Her mind tries to reason, but the voice within her soul barked for her to give chase.

"Sorry girls,but I need to check up on something." As she politely refused her friends, Bubbles turned her attention to getting out from the cafeteria. Even though Brick may be a villain or maybe a former villain (she really have no clue yet), no one truly deserve to be socially isolated. She moved towards the cafeteria door and as she opens it, she saw a glimpse of his ponytail turning around a corner of the school hallway. She tries her best to keep up, but as she looked around for the boy, she wondered if he is behaving in such a manner because of his nature or because of how the world treated him. Or even both. As she turned around the corner, she noticed a tanned, tubby Latin-american student and seeing that she recognized the international transfer student she strikes a conversation with the student.

"Lo siento Pablo, ¿has visto a una estudiante vestida con una gorra roja y un jersey de cuello alto rojo con una larga cola de caballo y ojos rojos?" Bubbles speaks in Spanish as fluently as she could.

"Hola Bubbles, vi a una persona así yendo por allí." The toffee-coloured student points towards the courtyard of the school grounds. But of course, Bubbles thought. The school courtyard would be empty as of this moment, and is the perfect place for a loner like Brick to disappear to.

"Gracias." As she waves goodbye to Pablo, her thoughts and her heart started to collide to give her an emotional ride. This roiling emotions made her realize that she is also partially at fault for this situation. Her own biases had prevented her from interacting with him in a normal way and this have caused a great amount of animosity between the Rowdyruff Boys and also her sisters. And by interacting with the Rowdyruff Boys in such a fashion, the Powerpuff Girls have also set the precedent for the other students to act accordingly towards the boys. She thought that perhaps she would need to change things somehow for everyone, including herself. Of course, she knew that it will take time and it will be a very rocky road ahead, but if there are any consolidation to her effort, she could have said that she tried to make the bridge to connect them all. As she entered into the courtyard, she looked around and to her relief she saw the Rowdyruff Boy is just getting ready to lie down under a tree. With that, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

[Townsville High Courtyard, Townsville: 12.10pm]

Feeling a little tired, Brick lies down under a tree in the courtyard of the school. Today's classes are bearable but the students are a different matter entirely. He had been receiving anonymous insults and love letters and confessions on the other, but honestly he knew that these empty letters are the only thing they could do against him. He is essentially a god among men, and no one can ever threatened him barring other super-powered beings or cosmic horrors. Even then he had defeated a few of those before. As the whole school knew about his past along with his brothers,they kept a distance away from him. It does not help that being told that his daily life in school is being monitored as well as grounding them as a form of punishment is also stacked on for further measure, making the impression that the Rowdyruff Boys are irredeemable. He utterly hate normal humans.

And then there is the other thing with Him. What on earth is the job? When he asked Him for further detail after completing his Mindanao mission and receiving the payment for the mission , they are teleported to Townsville and were informed that they had to return to school and also to be under the care of , the district attorney for the city of Townsville . To be fair to Ms. Morningstar, she is a nice lady and anyone that can mock Him to a pathetic puddle of incompetency earns cookies from his list of things to respect. Still the devil play for keeps and despite being sprayed in the eye with pepper spray,the demon did successfully pulled the plan to provide them with a cover more or less by forcing the attorney to take them in. What on earth did the attorney did that could force her to take them in?

With situation becoming more unbearable by the day, Brick hoped that one of them is dumb enough to confront him. But who would be that dumb to confront him?

"Heya Brick,can I join you for lunch?" But of course, Brick thought,there could only be one fool that would engage him directly. And here she is; Bubbles. The bubbly, blue-eyed blonde girl asked the Rowdyruff Boy lyrically. Brick looks up and he saw those sky-blue eyes looking upon him from an angle that made her appear upside down. Her twirled pigtails follows the fall of gravity and dangles on him like blonde stalactites. As he scans the bubbly figure, he realized another thing, to be exact a pair of things, that are following the laws of gravity underneath her pristine white dress. Before he could even dare gawk at them, he focuses his attention back to her eyes.

"What do you want?" Brick asked, his voice a little annoyed as he turned sideways. Firstly to avoid further eye contact with the girl and secondly (perhaps more importantly) it is to avoid his own eyes gazing at her chest. Bubbles, knowing that she would have to press on with her assault, tries a little harder to bridge the gap with the next phase of her very improvised plan.

"Well, I asked if I can sit here, silly." She answered the red Rowdyruff Boy. Brick groaned, but he figured that if he said no he could be in trouble. After all,he and his brothers are briefed by Lilith that they will be observed by the Powerpuff Girls for the next three weeks. Not worth making the softest one cry as the other two sisters will make him pay for it. One Powerpuff Girl is already a lot to chew on.

"Do what you like." He sighed. He could feel a presence sitting next to him under the shade of the tree. As he lied down in silence, he could hear her sing a tune. Brick would have to admit that her voice is sweet and pearl-like in its clarity, but despite her beautiful voice Brick's moment of tranquil peace and quiet is interrupted by the chattiest of the Powerpuff Girls. He wondered if she would ever leave him alone to begin with. Perhaps he should eat his meal and just leave takes out the ham sandwich he brought from the cafeteria and takes a bite. He immediately regretted buying the sandwich as it feels dry and tasteless in his mouth. But no matter,he just need to sustain himself for the rest of the day. Bubbles stops her singing and noticed his soured expression as he takes a bite from his sandwich.

"Your sandwich looks horrible. Personally I never buy anything from the school cafeteria. For me,I like to bring my own food from home." Bubbles chatted away.

"Good for you." Brick snidely replied. Personally he tend to never think highly about the blonde, as he finds her annoying. Even though he considered her to be physically attractive,but honestly he considered her as being too noisy for his own liking. Bubbles noticed his antagonistic behavior and she wondered why is he always like that. Brick's self-defensive tendencies are a little extreme in her opinion and she gives him a piece of her own kind.

"Y'know Brick, you would do better in school if you stop being a douche. " She frown as she said her opinion. Brick shot a glare at her.

"Bite me Bubbles, you suck." Brick snarked a remark at her.

"Nah, I will pass. Cockroaches at least taste better than your attitude." She flawlessly replied back at the ruby-eyed boy. Surprised at her comeback, Brick could not help but to be impressed.

"You're good Bubbles.I'm impressed." He is honest in his compliments. He was expecting her to react in a ditsy manner or even cry, but she earned another respect cookie from him. The first cookie is for her stunning looks.

"Thanks." It was then that Brick smelled something really good. He smelled the fragrant aroma of some eggs, cream, smoked bacon, some Parmesan cheese, Swiss cheese, spinach and some thyme being heated up. He is now definitely curious about what on earth is Bubbles eating, as it smelled way too good for a school lunch meal. He got up from his lying position and sees Bubbles heating up what appears to be a slice of a large tart with her heat vision.

"What's that?" Brick points at the heated tart-like food item. Bubbles could see in his eyes that he is definitely hooked by the smell of her heated food. The edge from his intimidating voice had softened,and Bubbles figured that this is a good chance as any to close the gap a little more.

"Well,it is quiche lorraine." Bubbles said it in a matter-of-factly way. Brick wanted to say something witty, but realized the he had nothing.

"Sounds fancy. You made this yourself?" Brick asked the pigtailed girl. Bubbles shrugged at Brick's question.

"To be fair it is just a big egg and cheese tart with spinach in it. French food tends to sound too fancy for its own good. Besides, I didn't make these. Buttercup did." That elicit a surprised reaction from the red-capped boy.

"Wait...Buttercup can cook? You are joking right? She is like one of the boys!" Brick is surprised at Bubbles when he blurted out his statement.

"Yeah, she surprises people that way. In fact among all of us sisters, she is the best cook.I can cook as well,but not like Buttercup. She can make a full course French dinner all by herself if she wanted to." Bubbles replied.

"What about Blossom?" Bubble's facial expression suddenly turned a little dark for a moment before she returned to her bubbly self. Brick realizes that perhaps she is having a bad memory about it.

"Restraining order. We never let her into the kitchen to cook,not even to make toast or cereal. She once made cereal and milk, and somehow it caught on fire. Don't ask. It is better that way." Bubbles shuddered as she mentioned the incident before laughing. Brick, wisely, chose to not pursue the matter but still laughed at it anyway. Setting cereal and milk on fire somehow is an improbable and eldritch thing. Both of them are now laughing sincerely for a moment before Brick looked at his tasteless sandwich and Bubbles' quiche. For some reason, he felt a little bitter about Bubbles' meal and his mood darkens. He realize that he should leave Bubbles to her own meal and 'enjoy'his lame meal somewhere else. Brick slowly tries to get up and noticing that the Rowdyruff Boy is not happy about his meal and attempting to leave, Bubbles cuts her qiiche slice into half and offered one of them to Brick. The fiery orage-haird boy with the red cap turns around in abject surprise.

"Here, you can have some." Brick's expression is now of confusion as this is perhaps a trick or something. He looked at Bubbles, wondering if he really could have the slice. Bubbles smiled and beckons him to take the slice. As he takes the slice with his hand from Bubbles' hand, he felt that similar feeling that he felt with when the Rowdyruff Boys and are having their taco dinner together on Saturday. A warm, fuzzy and kind feeling. As for Bubbles, she honestly unsure if her offering would be taken at face value. For all she know, his paranoia would make him do something bad at the very last moment thereby ruining this olive branch. She fully expects him to do so at the very first moment he could find, but she rather believe in the goodness of all mankind, even an apparently non-existent Rowdyruff Boy's kindness. He looked at the quiche lorraine hesitantly and then takes a bite. Bubbles looks at him with anticipation and to her surprise, Brick's face is radiating with an expression she never seen him have before.

"This is some good stuff." Brick commented as he munches on. He noticed that Bubbles is looking at him and he coughed a little before eating in a more refined could only smile as she observes that the most intimidating of the Rowdyruff Boy is now acting like a cute little puppy being treated with a nice snack. There is something sweet and almost kind at his present mood, as he is usually mean, coarse and unrefined towards other people. And now she sees a side that is not there before: he is such a polite darling.

"Well, glad that you liked it." Bubbles said with a nurturing voice. Brick could feel another feeling welling inside of him, the same as that of complimenting him about his skills. He noticed that alone among all the people in this school, Bubbles is the only one that did not recoiled at his presence and she did not look at him like the others. Not to mention that among all the students, Bubbles would be the one with the most reason to jot trust him in any way whatsoever.

He honestly find this refreshing as he is looked upon not as an object of hate or sexualization, but as a living, thinking being. He is curious about what this feelings are and he wondered if he hangs out with Bubbles,would he be able to understand these welling emotions within him. He know that this may be something there that was not there before.

"Thank you, Bubbles for the slice." Brick blushed a little as he said his thanks, and that caught the blonde girl by surprise. As for Bubbles, she found the avenue to befriend the grumpy Rowdyruff Boys and as the saying goes, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well, it is not like they are dating or anything, but she will take the closest idiom that fits the situation.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Townsville: 6.30pm]

As Bubbles made her last patrol of the city, she reflected upon the moment when she had lunch with Brick, and was plesantly pleased with the outcome of it. It was a long shot, but she did managed to start something with Brick, which in her opinion is the hardest to deal with. After the lunch, she noticed that his edgy self had softened a little more, and she figured that given the situation it is the best she could have done.

"Well,Bubbles good job." Bubbles said, feeling proud of herself. As she flies past the coast, she could see the setting sun's glow turning the deep blue sea into a shade of redfish-magenta as it sets. She smiled as she heads home.

As she returned home, she opt for the door today instead of the window. As she rings the bell to her home, she wondered if she could help the professor to prepare dinner. Usually she tends to be the first one back home, as she prefer to take a nice relaxing bath before her dinner. The door to the Utonium residence opens to reveal a man in a white lab coat with onyx hair and a square jaw looking at her with a smile.

"Welcome home Bubbles, you are the last one back. Your sisters are already doing their homework at the dining table."

 _Well that's new. Even Buttercup?_

Buttercup usually comes back precisely around seven o'clock in the evening, as she always have a lot of things happening in her social life. As she masked her surprise, Bubbles hover towards the kitchen table where her sisters are now doing their homework. Or appeared to be doing their homework. Bubbles had grown up with her sisters for far too long to notice the little things that her sisters do when they are distracted or contemplating she made contact with her sisters, her positive mood immediately takes a plungd.

 _They are at it again_ , Bubbles said to herself. She realized that her sisters are in somewhat of a bad mood, and she would have to thread carefully. Blossom has a very bad tendency to repeat her actions if it is repeatble if she is contemplating something. And it appears that she is on overdrive today as her copper-haired sister is clicking on her pen furiously as she flips the same page a few times. Bubbles turns to her other sister and also realized that Buttercup is contemplating something of her own. Unlike her copper-haired sister,Buttercup tends to snack on junk food when she is pissed at something. A large bag of Lay's Barbecue chips and a cylinder of Pringles are right next to Buttercup as the short-haired girl munches on. Bubbles looked at Buttercup's impulsive snacking of chips with utter disgust. All those junk calories and all those artificial flavoring. Bubbles felt a gagging feeling deep in her throat,but she managed to control it. Bubbles looked at the Professor, and as he noticed her glances he motions for her to handle her sisters.

 _Sigh, do I have to do this all the time when it happens? Be strong Bubbles, be strong for the Utonium family._

She knows that both their actions are driving her crazy right now, and she would prefer to end this awkwardly tense moment. She breathes a heavy sigh before she decided to take the plunge into the mine field. With a smile on her face, she opened her mouth.

"Hey girls, how's your day?"


	6. Chapter 6: Flirting Without a Cause

Chapter 6: Flirting Without A Cause

[Townsville High, Townsville: 9.00am, 9 1/2 Hours Ago]

Today's P.E class is swimming, perhaps her least favourite of the P.E classes.

Truthfully speaking, Blossom never liked P.E classes as she is particularly conscious of her body. Even in her most modest garb, the boys are starting to pay more attention to her as she grown older. In P.E, they tend to look at her with great attention, and in this particular P.E class, the fact that it feels like the only thing protecting her from the rest of the world is a single piece of swimsuit is something the most prim and proper of the Powerpuff Girls is not comfortable with. Trying to cover herself and be modest about it, she sits down on the bench with her knees to her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. However Blossom being Blossom, she had failed to realized that by doing so she is showing what is perhaps her most potent asset as a woman; her slender arms and legs.

The boys are already looking at Blossom as she stretches her legs and arms umcomfortably. The boys in her gym class are treated to a show that they never knew they need. With that smooth slender body clad in that one-piece swimsuit of hers to complement her arms, legs, long smooth copper-coloured hair,smooth and pink jewel-like eyes, she can outclass a Sports Illustrated model with ease.

The boys' attention are broken however by the sudden screaming and squealing of the other girls. The boys and Blossom turned to see the source of their hysteria and realized that the girls in the gym class are literally drooling over the fact that they get to see the most physically attractive Rowdyruff Boy in his swimming trunk coming out of the water. His well-sculpted body is now drenched from head to toe in water, and as he gets out from the pool,several of the girls are already taking pictures of the emerging wet Rowdyruff Boy, while causing some of the girls who are much more aggressive to come up to the teenager and flirt with him in their school swimsuit.

Blossom could not believe these girls,as she wondered if they even have any decency on them. Even if he physically attractive,that does not mean that they should pounce on him like ravenous leopards. As the designated observer for Butch,she finds it annoying that for such a good looking person,his attitude is utter garbage. She is now staring intently at him, ready to spring into action if he takes advantage of the swarm of girls vying for his attention. This is not lost on the onyx-haired teenager.

Butch noticed that Blossom is watching him, and he could only smirk at the redheaded girl. Honestly, if he were to ask his five-year old self if his five-year old self considered Blossom attractive,he would be faced with his little self spitting on the ground and gagging very hard. Alas, somehow this particular prissy girl became what what he looks for in a woman physically. Especially those legs of hers,as they are to die for. The only issue; her proud nature and condescending nature towards him. That attitude of hers annoys him to no end, and he figured that if she is going to behaving in such a way towards him,he might as well make her life a living hell. At least if his next three weeks would be observed by the Powerpuff Girls,at least he better show them that he is a force to be reckoned with.

 _Time to get to work_ , Butch said to himself as he ignored the swarm of girls around him. As they looked at him with longing and confusion, he slowly made his way towards the pink-eyed lady sitting on the bench.

"Check it out, there's something about to happen between Butch and Blossom." One of the students whispered to another student. Before long, the whispers have spread throughout the swimming pool and the other students from the other P.E classes sharing the swimming facilities are now focused on watching the two super-powered being in anticipation. Noticing the jadeite-eyed male coming towards her,she braced herself instinctively in anticipation of the things he would be doing in her presence. As he finally stands before her, she looks at him with a mix of curiosity and also dislike.

"What do you want Butch?" She said, with tranquil dislike in her voice.

"Well, noticed that you're not swimming. Please don't tell me you can't swim." Butch lightly goads the redhead. Butch is able to see the entire well-balanced physique of the commander and the leader of the Powerpuff Girls in all its swimsuit glory. As she stands up to looks up to him, he noticed even more things that he should not have about her; Her fine jawline, natural pouty lips, fair unblemished skin, slender neck, feminine shoulders,her well-shaped chest. The list goes on and on and as Blossom looked at him with her pink, radiant jewel-like eyes ,he could not help but to be mesmerized.

"I am not falling for this Butch. You know we are both grounded." She tilted a little with her hands on her hips, and Butch struggled to keep his mind focused as he realized her lovely curved back arch and also her frontal curves. The heavens above really do want him to falter in his task. Alas, his mind told him that he is here to make her life a little harder for what she had done to him. His mouth jumps into action.

"Personally I don't mind being grounded if you are planning to stop me in that swimsuit. At least please grapple my arm in those arms and legs of yours." Butch said with a straight face. This elicits a blush from the Powerpuff Girl and Butch could not help but to smile at Blossom's reaction. It is the honest truth, thought Butch. Even if his arm broke in pieces, it would have been worth it as he could feel the sensation of her divine body in his arm before it breaks apart.

"Pervert!" She growled disapprovingly and she brings her body upright once more and bringing her arms upwards to wrap her torso, inadvertently showing off both her forearms and also her chest in a prominent manner. Butch seriously wonder how is this girl so oblivious and defenseless in showing her sexuality, and how she is a death trap for teenage boys.

"You know... it is not nice to call people names Blossom. Didn't your father told you that?" Butch puts one of his arms around his hip while combing his wet hair with his other palm. Blossom take some glances of the tone teenager and could not help but to notice that the way he brushes his hair is surprisingly charming, and upon close-up, she could see why the ladies are swooned by his physical attributes. His physique was lean and muscular, but not in a try-hard fashion that a lot of bodybuilders had. He had just the right amount of muscle, and to be honest if it were not for her experience in gauging bodies in order to strike at their most weakest point, she would have dismissed his body as utterly useless and just for show. Alas, she can see that it is a body type designed for stamina and endurance, with the capability to be explosive at a moment's notice. Those core muscles have just the right amount of torque to focus his energy into either his ferociously strong legs or arms and ...

 _Blossom, no. Don't. Don't do this now,_ Blossom immediately realized that she is going into her full analytical mode once more. It has always been both a good and bad habit of hers to over-analyze something that piques her interest, especially if she can understand the complexity and beauty of the mechanism. But no, she would not want to give Butch the honor of piquing her intellectual interests with his body. She refocuses her attention to the jadeite eyes looking at her.

"Says the one that called my sister nasty things. Pot calling the kettle black." Blossom looks at Butch nastily. He is quite impressed that her tongue is as sharp as her looks, and he decided that he would just say what is on his mind right now.

"Sadly enough, your tongue taints your loveliness, Blossom." Butch remarked with a rather debonair tone. His cheeky manner does not go well with Blossom at all.

"You better keep that mouth shut and...did you say lovely?" Blossom was taken a little bit by surprise over the current exchange of words, and so did the rest of the class. As the banter continues on, it soon come to the realization of the class that the way they are gauging each other and the way they are bantering looks like flirting. Some of them have started to take their seats nearby the two teenagers while others have brought out some snacks from their bags. Some prescient students are already recording the incident from the very beginning. This banter is going to be good, everyone else thought as they tune in to the growing sexual tensions between the Rowdyruff Boy and the Powerpuff Girl.

"Lovely yes, but too goody two shoes for your own good. Just let it go once in a while and it will be liberating. Maybe I can help you relieve that chip in your shoulder with a nice shoulder massage." Butch said with a smirk as he gestured the motion of his fingers squeezing her shoulders. For some reason, he is enjoying this moment as he goaded her on. Blossom on the other hand, is not enjoying his motion of touching her body one single bit.

"Spare me your morality and talk, Butch. Or perhaps I should slice that tongue of yours off to silence that insolent tongue. Or perhaps I should slice something more than that tongue or yours?" Blossom asked curtly causing the male students to wince in imaginary pain and to breathe in deeply. At the same of the other students are already in disbelief that they are hearing Blossom saying such words. Did Blossom just threatened to cut out Butch's...?

"Easy there tigress. No one's slicing any part of me off. If you want me, you've to take the whole package." Butch gestured to his whole body. Blossom could not believe the audacity of the raven-haired male. Blossom admits inside her own heart that his outward package is really good, but his attitude and personality spoils the whole thing and she snarled back at him

"Sorry but I don't take rotten goods Butch."

"I would consider myself as a well-aged product Blossom. Surely you know about fine wine don't you?"

"You? Fine wine? Please Butch! Put yourself into a recycling plant, at least they would melt you up to become something useful. Or would you preferred to be shattered to a thousand pieces? I would personally prefer you to be skinned alive." Blossom spat with venom in her tone. The antagonism in Blossom is apparent for all to see, but at the same time the crowd is entertained by this exchange, for it is the first time they see Blossom being so flustered. To all of Townsville High, she is the paragon of pure, feminine beauty with a brave, daring, and indomitable intellectual spirit and essentially an unassailable fortress. But here they are, seeing the fortress being torn down by a daring and dashing man of danger.

"Wow Blossom, I must say that given your mannerism right now, I would say that you have chosen the wrong career. You would be a fine villainess, in which the world would never see before." Butch folds his arm and smiles at Blossom devilishly.

"Well I make exceptions to particular scumbags like you." Blossom snarled.

"Blossom, Blossom, Blossom...I am honored that you would make such an exception for me. I would reckon we can be perfect partners in crime. With that 'creativity',we would be the perfect power couple." Unfolding his arms, he animates his arm around to convey his points across by handing out an arm for her to grab on.

 _Can't she see that Butch is trying to get her attention_ , some of the female audience are watching this banter thought with a little bit of jealously at the pink-eyed,copper-haired girl. The way he is talking to her now is much more animated than when he talked to them over the past few weeks. Indeed, in his usual state of being, Butch is essentially a very laid-back individual with a cool attitude. But here he is, lit in the fires of lively passion and enthusiasm as he breathes in the moment. Blossom slaps his hand away, and points at him.

"I am servant of justice, and justice is always looking for new recruits. Give up your life of crime and allow me to help rehabilitate you instead." Blossom said,eliciting a whistling sound from the green-eyed superhuman. Unperturbed, the jadeite-eyed, black-haired youth folds his arms back on himself.

"How would you rehabilitate me Blossom, if you don't mind sharing? If it is too much, I must resist." Butch commented as he points to her and then to himself, before resting his chin on one hand, while the hand was supported by his arm wrapping around his torso. For some reason, this conversation between the two had escalated to something unexpected and the crowd is eager to how it progresses.

"By colllaring you first, Butch." Blossom said with a very malicious and playful smile, shocking the crowd. Blossom's smile is something the other students have not seen before and for some reason, it is a very interestingly attractive and alluring smile. Some of the students are already cheering on Blossom,while others are cheering on Butch. Some are even booking people's bets to see what will come out of it, with various outcomes from Butch winning the banter to both of them engaging in sexy kissing in the pool.

"Ooo...feisty. No handcuffs for the criminal?" Butch said mockingly as he held his hands before him as if gesturing Blossom to handcuff him. Blossom is not pleased by his sassiness, and she answered sharply and points a finger at him aggressively, while her other arm rests on her hip.

"The way you are behaving, a collar with a leash is appropriate. And perhaps you would need a whipping too." Blossom remarked and she whips her pointing arm aside. The other students are now looking at this exchange and realized that she had just suggested something rather kinky to the raven-haired teenage boy.

"Whipping me? Are you sure you can do it?" Butch ask suggestively, and he points at her.

"I don't think you could even handle me, Butch." She said confidently back at him, and the crowd gasped. The crowded is now cheering them on, but the two superhumans are now in their own world as they continued with their increasingly escalating banter.

"Oh really Blossom?" Butch responded by challenging the red-haired superheroine.

"Really Butch."

"Well I don't believe you, goody two shoes. You don't have the guts." He puts both his arms on his hips and pops his chest proud, with one of his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face daring the pink-eyed Powerpuff Girl to make good on her threat. The Powerpuff Girl walks up to the Rowdyruff Boy, and for the first time in the whole incident, she points and pokes at his chest before she moves it upwards on his chest slowly before she brings her finger back in a beckoning gesture.

"Want to try it out now, Butch? Come and get it." Blossom's pointing, caressing and beckoninggesture, her apparently flirty facial expression, and the line she had just said literally blown the crowd's mind off their crowns and everyone's jaw dropped including Butch's own. No one expects Blossom to come up with such a blatant declaration and definitely no one expects her to be have such a sexually playful expression and gesture. A mental image of Blossom as an eager dominatrix and Butch as a submissive is almost impossible to imagine initially, but with the dams broken down the boys (and some girls) are now imagining Blossom in a skimpy leather outfit showing off her legs in sexy tight leather boots as she punishes her pet Butch with a whip and pulling on his collar. For many reasons, it will be a prevailing guilty fantasy for many students sharing the P.E period with those two super-powered individuals for the coming weeks.

Suddenly a man's booming cough interrupted the banter between the viridian-eyed male teenager and the copper-haired female teenager and caused the crowd to fall silent immediately. Blossom and Butch turned around to the source of the booming cough and facing them is a well-build man with a barrel chest and balding hairline in a sweat shirt and sweat pants. Immediately, Blossom's expression turned from confidence to something akin to abject horror.

"Excuse me Mr. Morningstar and Ms. Utonium." The teacher's baritone is deep and thick like oil.

" !" Blossom exclaimed as she comes face to face with the boy's P.E Teacher. Butch immediately tensed up, as this could mean a lot of trouble for himself. The barrel-chested teacher looked at the two sternly, before he broke out in a cheeky smile and folds his arms.

"Please stop flirting, will you? You two are distracting my P.E class." asked, and waiting for both of them to react. Blossom was wondering why he said that until her mind jogs to remember what she said. As the pieces fell into place, the panic and embarrassment siren in Blossom's mind started blaring. She immediately realized how her apparently witty banter and actions looked like to the rest of the students and her cheeks turned a rosy red. As she looked at Butch, the dark-haired teenager could only smile devilishly at the Powerpuff Girl.

"I am sorry, Mr. Flannigan. I was just playfully bantering, but it somehow escalated thanks to Blossom. I did not know that she would go to such heights." Butch decided to preempt the Powerpuff Girl with his _coup de grâce_ , thereby ending this _pièces de résistance_ on a high note. It seems that his calculations are on point, as Blossom's tongue was caught by her rising mix of emotions.

"Oh, no... I...He..." Blossom stuttered as she turned her attention towards Butch. She stammered as she could not respond properly at the realization that she had been goaded and outsmarted by the brawn of the Rowdyruff Boys. This can not be happening to her, for she is the smartest of the Powerpuff Girls,strategist and tactician extraordinaire! Outsmarted by a brute like him! And the collar,leash and whip part! She could not believe that she blurted that out from her lips! It made her sound like one of those sexually promiscuous deviants! Blossom said to herself. Her pride had literally shattered.

"Well if you want to flirt, do it after school. And please use protection if it goes a little out of control after your bondage play." The gym teacher nudges at Blossom's shoulder and winked at the two students. The rest of the class burst out in laughter as they hollered and cheered at the two teenagers. Blossom is now red from both anger and embarrassment, and she could not even form any more sentences. With a swagger, Butch walks up to her and whispered to her ear.

"1-0." Butch said before he walks away to which the male students cheered even harder than before. Butch glances back at Blossom and finds her in a particularly adorable form; embarrassed and defenseless. Inside Blossom's collapsing sense of self, she could only think of one thing only.

 _Someone please kill me now._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Townsville: 5.00pm]

 _How do I get back at him? That green-eyed devil is going to pay for this..._

Blossom plots in her mind, not willing to admit debacle for the morning pulses in her mind,and she need to get back at the brute. As she clicks her retractable pen and flips the pages of her textbook, the gears in her mind are moving to bring about Butch's downfall.

"Hey girls, how's your day?" Blossom snaps out from her thoughts as the voice of her bubbly sister pierced through her line of thoughts. She looked around her and she realized that her sisters are all already back home, and based on Buttercup's behavior and the presence of half-eaten junk food on the table it seems that at least one of her sisters is already sitting on the same table for quite a while. Seeing that she had literally let the thoughts from this morning to consume her, she realized that she would need come back to real-life once more. She turned to Bubbles and sighs.

"Well,Bubbles...not very good at all. I was ..." Suddenly, Bubbles' phone rang, and her blue-eyed sister turned her attention to her phone. Blossom is relieved that the phone rang, for she hoped that she did not have to describe the whole ordeal to her. Of course, if something was wished upon, there will always be a force that would take it as a challenge to ruin a person's desire. Unfortunately for Blossom, Bubbles played a video from her phone, and to her horror she recognized the voices within the video. Blossom's face was drained of all color, as she realized that to her horror that the swimming pool moment was recorded for the world to see and immortalized.

"Hm...this video is forwarded by Robin, saying that this involves me somehow and it is amazing...wait that's Butch," Bubbles reasoned out loud, " And the girl is you Blossom. Hm, in swimsuits too. Okay you guys are fighting I guess. Wow, you guys are going at it...wait..." Bubbles is narrating the video, and Blossom had decided to bury her face into her palms, not willing to look at her innocent sister in the eye. This is getting worse by the minute for the commander and the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, for her image of being a reasonable sister figure is now going down the drain. From the spaces of her finger, she saw Bubble's face in utter shock and excitement.

"Oh my goodness, are you two flirting? Oh my goodness,you are! Flirterer! Wow...that is steamy. A collar,leash and whip huh? Very steamy! Blossom I didn't know you had it in you! Really kinky what you did there!" Bubbles' expression of disbelief is plastered on her face as she teased the red-haired girl. Blossom could only groan in utter shame. As Blossom was about to ask her blonde sister to stop playing the video, Buttercup gets off her chair and takes her bag of Lay's chips and also Pringles with her. Buttercup did not even bat her eyes at the whole commotion, and this in itself sparked a flag within the embarrassed Powerpuff Girl. Her boyish sister would already be jumping onto Bubbles to see the video and guffawed at her misfortunes before consoling her, but that did not happen at all. Blossom then realizes something noticed that she had seen a few moments ago but failed to tabulate within her mind. Blossom remembered that her boyish sister is perhaps the one with the healthiest eating habits among the three sisters,and she only indulged into such artificial gastronomic excess when she is upset.

"Well,she did munch down on two different types of chips in one go. It must be really bad." Bubbles whispered to Blossom. Blossom got out from her chair and touches her now silent sister on the shoulder. Bubbles puts her hand on Buttercup's other shoulder.

"Buttercup?" Both Bubbles and Blossom asked.

"Yeah?" Buttercup answered in a whisper,which further worries her sisters. There is no fighting spirit nor hot-bloodedness in her voice, instead there is just frigid calmness in her voice. Her usually vibrant eyes are glass-like and nearly lifeless.

"What happened to you?Is it Boomer?" Blossom asked. At the mention of Boomer's name, she could not help herself but to somehow give a broken smile and her mouth opens up and the sound of hollow laughter blows into their ears like a soft autumn's breeze. Blossom and Bubble are now looking at each other, wondering about what Boomer has done to essentially broke their sister down.


	7. Chapter 7: Buttercup's Secret

Chapter 7: Buttercup's Secret

[Townsville High, Townsville: 3.59pm, 3 1/2 Hours ago]

 _Come on, come on!_

Buttercup said to herself as she watches the clock ticking towards three o'clock in the afternoon. The clock face is reflected in her eyes, and the sound of the second hand clicking towards three o'clock is now greatly magnified in her ears. It is Monday, and Mondays are special to Buttercup. She has to be somewhere by 4.05pm. Suddenly, the second hand strikes at the twelve o'clock facing, and immediately the school bell rang. Seeing that detention is over, the students thunders out from the classroom, except for Buttercup. She opts for the window, and as she squats on the frame of the opened window, a croaky voice called her name.

"Buttercup!"

"Yeah Mitch?" She turns around and sees a freckled brown-haired kid with a squint looking at her. His shirt is black in color, with the drawing of a face with a large grin on it with the words "Disturbed" emblazoned on it.

"Don't crash face first!" Mitch Mitchelson called out to the raven-haired crimefighter with his croaky voice.

The green-eyed superheroine salutes her oldest guy friend and she tilts herself slightly and pushes herself with the tip of her toes. Within seconds, she is now feeling the flowing air current over her face as she takes offf in the air. She presses the button on her belt and soon enough she is clad in her combat outfit of black and lime green. As she climbs up to the mesophere, she relaxes herself and her facial expression softens to to a calm and tranquil look. She looked upon her surrounding as she stopped her ascend to the skies, and in the brief moment of weightlessness she looked upon the contour of the spherical earth with its azure blue oceans, verdant green surface with various brown patches, cotton-white clouds, and the vast horizon of the darkness of space. She stalls and begins to plummets down to the earth back first. As she turns naturally towards a dive, she closes her eyes to enjoy the sound of the air rushing around her. As the pace of her heart beats faster and faster, she started counting down.

 _Five..._

 _Four..._

 _Three..._

 _Two..._

 _One..._

Buttercup opens her eyes and immediately pulls up in a rising spin with only a few hundered meters, and she could see her bright neon green trail following right behind her. She really do enjoy the art of flying and as she speeds off towards her intended location, she breaks out in a sincere and genuine smile, at odds with her usually stoic and frowned look.

 _Alright, time to go to Maxwell's_ , Buttercup said to herself before blasting off in a jet of bright green. Finally she gets to drop the facade of Buttercup the crimefighter, and take on the facade of Buttercup the normal teenager. Buttercup has always been the most aloof, boyish and coolest of the Powerpuff Girls,and have both male and female admirers and fans. Indeed, her reputation as the toughest fighter among the Powerpuff Girls is well known. However,underneath that tough exterior lies a soft and gentle soul that is often misunderstood. She may be hot-blooded and somewhat of a tomboy, but she is still a maiden at heart. And as with all maidens, she has her own little secret that she does not want the world to know.

In Buttercup's case, her secret is an admirable thing; She personally allocate every Monday to visit an orphanage called the Maxwell Orphanage at the edge of town after school to play with the kids and help out the staff with any help she could provide before she flies back home around dinnertime. The reasons for her doing such a charitable deed is known only to herself and the head of the orphanage Father Maxwell, but it gives her the greatest joy to brighten the lives of these kids even for a little bit. However, this act of selfless service became her secret due to her unique circumstances. For one, it would affect her reputation as if she was found out it could essentially break down the safeguards that she had put in place and cause more attention than necessary to herself. They literally had paparazzi from time to time, but more often than not the combination of the Mayor's political influences, the Professor's formidable home security system and lastly the girls themselves often would turn away the paparazzi from out of town. For Buttercup, she resolved her problems and her sisters' local paparazzi problems by meeting up with the media moguls of Townsville and gave them an offer they can't refuse, and thus limiting the media to only public matters rather than their most intimate moments. However, the agreement is that if it is a public act, it is fair game. Helping out in an orphanage would be a public act, and thus bring about the tide of the media upon her and the nice people of Maxwell orphanage. Not ever her sisters know about the orphanage.

However, there is a darker reason why she does not want anyone to know about the orphanage; the orphanage could be used against her. In her life of crimefighting, Professor Utonium and the Powerpuff Girls have received many threats from the cesspool of villainy of Townsville and beyond and if it were not for the Professor's home security system and the Powerpuff Girls, they would have been visited by grief far too many times than necessary. She would not let these poor little children suffer because of her. Not on her watch. For that she would rather keep this little isle of simple bliss to herself.

She lands a block away from the orphanage, and presses the button of the belt to change back to her civilian clothing. Today she is wearing a well-worn gunmetal leather jacket on top of her dark green tube top, along with a gunmetal gray skirt and black boots. She have to keep up appearance of being the cool big sister for the orphans, and she wondered if this would be enough. As she looks around the neighborhood to see if there are anyone tailing her, she could not help but to say to herself once more that the orphanage is not in the best part of the city, but it is definitely not in the crime-riddled neighborhood of Townsville. In fact, she honestly believed that the only reason why there is not much crime in this neighborhood is that the perception that she always patrols this area dropped the crime rate down to a reasonably safe neighborhood. Satisfied that no one is following her, Buttercup proceeds to walk down the pavement towards the orphanage. As she walks up towards the gates of the orphanage, she looks upon the structure that houses these poor little children. It is a normal urban institution, as gray and dull as it could ever be with a slightly slanted roof in a contemporary urban planning style. The name of the orphanage is printed upon a billboard on the building, as well as shaped in the weldings of the front gate entrance. Buttercup looks down from the dull building to see the courtyard, where the orphanage truly shines.

Kids of all ages are playing with each other in the courtyard, participating in many different games, such as hopscotch and tag with each other. Some are drawing on the ground with crayons , while others are playing pretend with their toys and dolls. The swings and the slides are filled with happy laughing children as they went about their activities with those structures. It brings a smile to her face, but a sad one as she could only wonder how happy they are despite not having or having lost their parents in tragedies. Of course, Buttercup is not idealistic about the institution being an institution of love, for some of the children are too traumatized by their experiences to accept the love despite the best efforts of the staff.

"HEY LOOK, BUTTERCUP'S HERE!" One of the kids yelled, and immediately the kids stopped what they are doing and they rushed towards the front gates of the orphanage. As the children exploded in excitement, a figure appears from the sides and dressed in a cassock and clerical collar comes forth. His eyes are a light gray,and his hair is a deep brown with some whites in it. He adjusts his spectacles before he turns towards the short-haired teenage girl with bright green highlights.

"Welcome back Buttercup."

"Heya Father Maxwell. Can I come in and play?" Buttercup pretends to be a small kid with her raspy voice. The priest shakes his head and chuckles before opening the gates for the Powerpuff Girl to enter into the courtyard. As the kids rushed around her legs, Buttercup struggles to try and wade through the sea of little children.

"Guys, guys, I need to walk here. Can you guys let go of my legs?" Buttercup said the the children tenderly. Some of the younger orphans are already clinging on Buttercup's leg, and one in particular appears to be hugging her leg. However, the children obliged and they all give the boyish PowerPuff some leg room to move about. Buttercup's head is suddenly being ruffled by the priest, causing her to protest a little. The priest laughed and takes his hand away from her head, and Buttercup immediately tries to comb her hair back with her own hands.

"Well, they really do like your Buttercup. I really don't know how you do it, but they really listened. Must be a superheroine thing." Buttercup blushed as she heard the compliment. Buttercup's surprisingly girlish expressions had never cease to amaze Father Maxwell for she is perhaps the toughest and most intimidating fighter among the Powerpuff Girls.

"Guess so. Anyway Father Maxwell, need me to help you with anything?" The light emerald-eyed girl asked. Father Maxwell shakes his head and gives the teenager a thumbs up.

"No, we are all good today. Just have fun with the kids for me, while I help the staff prepare their dinner."

"Gotcha." Buttercup stretches her neck and cracks her knuckles before the priest interjected.

"And no superpowers Buttercup."

"Fine...have it the boring way." She then rushes towards courtyard, ready to make the kid's stay in the orphanage a little more bearable.

* * *

[Somewhere within the vicinity of Maxwell Orphanage, Townsville :4.15pm]

"I am walking down the street,with nothing to do." The sapphire-eyed teenager said to himself. Boomer has been wandering around town for the past hour or so after his allocated detention hours, and personally he is utterly bored out of his mind. He had wanted to be part of the school clubs, but realized that the club that he is interested in does not meet on Mondays. For that, he had decided to just walk home. But Boomer being Boomer, he had forgotten that he usually flies home, and he is lost. He could always just fly, but where is the fun in that? As he walks down the neighborhood, his ears picked a sound that piques his interest. Among his brothers,his senses are the sharpest and for that simple reason he is the Rowdyruff Boys' designated scout and spy. Looks like he is going to entertain himself by tracing the origin of the sound.

As he navigates through the urban labyrinth, his ears are slowly starting to recognize the nuances and the textures of the sound that piques his interest. He could hear a few high-pitched squeals, and some laughter mixed in it. Then he could hear the sound of footsteps stomping on the ground, and the sound of fabric on clothing rubbing against each other. Before long, he is now smelling the smell of sweat, shampoo, conditioners, dust and dirt. His heightened senses is discerning all of the information and he immediately recognize what the source of these sensory information.

"Hm...children. Lots of them. Looks like they are running around or playing. But what is this?" Boomer asked himself as he picked up the scent of an human-like amalgamation of different kinds of sugar, an assortment of spices and everything nice and with a concentrated amount of Chemical X. He recognized the smell and he sniffed the air as he strides towards the location, and he can now smell that the 'Powerpuff Girl' smell has a stronger composition of spice.

 _Is it Buttercup?_

Boomer wondered as would not match well with the other smells and sounds he heard, doubting his own conclusion. He turned around the corner and heard the cries of little children squealing and laughing. He decides to slow down his pacing and takes small steps towards the source as he noticed the welding of the location on the front gate.

"Maxwell Orphanage." Boomer reads out loud. As he finally reached his destination, he decides to take a look through the gates. A courtyard of children playing could be seen, and several kids are apparently playing a game of tag, which is the source of the squealing. He watches the children running around in a wild and random manner, and he could only smile at their little happy faces. Suddenly something else caught his eye, and he could not believe himself. Boomer watched as a female teenager with short, raven-black hair with bright green highlights is chasing the children. Clad in a gunmetal leather jacket, green tube top, gunmetal skirt and black boots, the figure is contented and there is a soft expression of joy and laughter on her face. The female trips and falls down, but before she could get up the children rushed to her and starts to dog-pile the teenager. As they all burst into laughter and smiles, Boomer is now seeing a side of Buttercup that had never been seen before.

"This is new. I am gonna watch this." Boomer said to himself and sits down on the pavement to watch Buttercup and the children play with each other. As the time goes by, he would observe her squatting down to ask a child something and help the child out. At other times she would participate in their plays, from pretending to be a nurse to a monster depending on the role that was assigned to her. There are times where she would try and stop the fights between the kids, while in others she would console some of the kids. Her light emerald eyes are now filled with a radiant sparkle, and she had never looked more nurturing and if Boomer dared to say it out loud, _truly f_ _eminine_.

* * *

[Maxwell Orphanage, Townsville: 5.00pm]

"Big sis, who is that looking at you? He's been doing that looky thing since a few minutes ago." Buttercup realized that someone is pulling at her skirt gently, and she looked down at to see a girl with twin pigtail looking at her with curious hazel brown eyes. Buttercup remembered the little one as Annabelle,the youngest orphan in the orphanage, barely reaching the age to enter kindergarten. Annabelle is usually the quiet one, and her speaking out her mind is something that Buttercup needs to pay attention to. Buttercup kneels down to the closest she can to make eye level with the little one.

"Sweetie, who's looking at me? Can you point to his direction?" Buttercup is puzzled, as she recalled that the last stalker that tried to stalk her is now behind bars after she busted him open.

"That guy over there." The little girl points towards the gates, and as Buttercup's light-green eyes trailed towards the gate, she sees a person sitting down on the pavement beyond the gate. He is a teenager with a fair complexion and sand-blonde hair styled short and spiky, with radiant sapphire-blue eyes wearing a dark blue hoodie with flames printed on it and black pants and shoes. Buttercup's mind literally raced, as she was not expecting anyone else to be here, especially _him_.

"Kids, get behind me." She said calmly as she gets up. Despite the calmness of her voice, the children could see that she has started to frown. They know that when Buttercup frowns, that means things are not going well and she does not like it. The children all hurdled behind the female teenager. Boomer, realizing that he was found out, gets up and dust his pants. He then waves at the Powerpuff Girl with glee.

"Yo, Butters!"

"What on earth are you doing here, Boomer?"

"I just was walking around the neighborhood, Buttercup. Surely you can't fault me for using this route to walk around right?" Buttercup is speechless as the airheaded of the Rowdyruff Boys makes alot of sense. Buttercup kifeels another pull at her skirt, and she looked down to see Annabelle looking up at her again.

"Big sis, do you know him?"

"Yeah Annabelle, I do...he's a..." In her mind, Buttercup tries to find a word that is not a curse word to describe Boomer,but is failing rapidly.

"Friend?" Annabelle asked innocently.

"Yes, we are gooooood friends!" Boomer interjected before Buttercup could reply. The other kids looked at the sapphire-eyed male with interest before they turned their attention towards Buttercup with eyes so innocent that it metaphorically blinds the Powerpuff Girl. She sighed, before relenting to the peer pressure.

"Um...yeah. He's...a friend." Buttercup finally voiced out reluctantly. Well sure beats what she is planning to say, but now she has to contend with a new issue.

"Can he come in and play? Big sis never brings her friends to come and play before. Can he?" Annabelle,the littlest girl asked Buttercup. The others also decided to join in and asked Buttercup if the Rowdyruff Boy could join them to play. As she is bombarded by 'pleases', Buttercup needs to take back some of the momentum in her favour.

"Nah, he's busy kids." Buttercup tells them all.

"Buttercup, I'm not bu-" Boomer's comment is immediately interrupted by the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl

"Yes you are Boomer. _You are very busy_." Buttercup emphasized the second part very drastically. Bommer decides that now it is a good time to keep quiet.

"Busy with what?" One of the kids asked.

"Busy with stuff." Buttercup answered.

"But he's sitting there for a while. What could he be busy with?" A little girl with two pigtails askes Buttercup. Kid say the darnest things, but also the most piercing questions. Buttercup feels a little cornered by the question.

"Maybe he is busy looking at Big Sis. I mean Big Sis so awesome and pretty too!" A little boy voiced out his opinion, and Buttercup realized that a can of worms had just opened up. Boomer whistled,knowing that the next question would be -

"Are you her boyfriend?" A ginger-haired child asked the sand-blonde teenager.

"Or are you his girlfriend, Big Sis?" A little brunette boy with blue eyes asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"Are you her friend with benefits?" Another little girl with a blonde ponytail and green eyes asked the Rowdyruff from behind Buttercup. Boomer immediately coughed, while Buttercup's face is utterly red and flustered.

"Beatrice, where did you learn that word from!?" Buttercup hissed as she asked the little girl with the ponytail. Where are they learning all of these words anyway?

"From a TV show. It is when a boy and a girl like to go into the bed together but they are not friends. But I don't get it why they are always in bed. What is the benefit in that?" Beatrice commented, and Buttercup was relieved that they did not know anything more than that. It is time to do some damage control on her part and deflect the question before the rest of the kids asked what the 'benefit' really is.

"Well, Boomer here is a boy and he is a 'friend' but he is not my boyfriend. Also don't ever say friends with benefits in front of Father Maxwell, understood?" The kids nodded their heads.

"Good. Anyway kids, go and play. I need to talk to my 'friend'." Buttercup said with a very disarming smile, which the kids smile and then proceed to leave Buttercup alone to play around. Buttercup, realizing that Boomer is not a threat, walks up to the Rowdyruff Boy and speaks to him through the bars in the gate.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now." She spat venomously at the Rowdyruff Boy. The Rowdyruff Boy looks up, deep in though before he answered her.

"You would have a quilty conscience, and you would regret killing me for the rest of your waking days? Also if I die, my brothers may go on a rampaging trail of destruction and revenge... I think?" Boomer smiled crookedly, with a hint of uneasiness in his voice. Boomer thought that if this does not work, he would be dead this moment, after she drags him away from the witnesses.

"You got a point there for the second one." Buttercup said in acknowledgement. Boomer is clearly disturbed that as she silently acknowledges that killing him would not make her feel guilty in any way possible. She folds her arms and looks at him with slightly glowing emerald green eyes. Boomer knows that if a Powerpuff Girl or a Rowdyruff Boy have glowing eyes, it means that their emotions are welling within them. Otherwise known as very bad news for Boomer.

"I always do? Also...you play with the kids huh?" Boomer asked uncertainly as he is now threading on a minefield with every word that comes out from his mouth.

"And?" Buttercup looks at him, the glow in her eye getting brighter and brighter. Bad, bad, bad. He needs to wing his comments. _Now_.

"Well that a nice thing to do, Buttercup. I would think you are a very nasty person with no people skills and all muscle if I didn't see you playing with them today, like pretending to be Mojo Jojo for them to jump on you, and hugging a little girl and telling her that the bed monsters would not hurt her during the night, and uh, hrlping some of the kids to read and stuff and..." Boomer is now wishing hard that he did not step on the landmine that is Buttercup's temper. Among the Powerpuff girls, she is the most violent and heavy-handed in metting out punches. But Buttercup's glowing eyes are now dimming, and Boomer breathe a sigh of relief.

"Damn you Boomer. You really saw the whole thing." The onyx-haired girl scratches her head, not certain about how to act in this situation. Boomer decided that perhaps this is a good moment to compliment her so that her mood is good enough for him to leave in peace.

"For seeing all of this? You should be telling people about this you know. They would be able to see your good side." Boomer suggested. Buttercup glared at him for a moment, her eyes immediately glowed for a second before dimming. Boomer's heart is now beating like a jackhammer, as he nearly stepped into an emotional landmine.

"No."

"Yes?" Boomer exclaimed.

"NO." Buttercup said sternly.

"Yes~" Boomer's soft boyish voice is now even sweeter and he drags the word. He figured that he is just going to wing it for his own freedom and safety.

"No Boomer, this is a secre- Ah crap." Buttercup realized what she had just said and she was about to warn him but she was cut short by Boomer's comment.

"Ah, a secret is it? Well, this will be our little secret Buttercup. Expect some favors soon." Boomer said with a wink before he flies away in the sky in a streak of cobalt blue. As the other kids are in awe over the existence of a male Powerpuff Girl, Buttercup's mind is turning inside out in itself. Boomer knows her one true secret and essentially has what it takes to 'whitemail' her.

* * *

[Utonium Household, Townsville: 6:30pm]

Buttercup's mood is really bad after she had returned from the orphanage. She needs something that is a great distraction from the turbulent nature of her mind. For that she had opened both a packet of Lay's and also a cylinder of Pringles, but her mood have not improved in any way. The artificial taste of the junk food is almost non-existent in her mouth as she is now numb to her surroundings. Her ears are picking up the sounds around the house, but she did not even bother to register that into her mind.

"Hey Girls, how's your day?"

"Well,Bubbles...not very good at all. I was ..."

"Hm...this video is forwarded by Robin, saying that this involves me somehow and it is amazing...wait that's Butch and the girl is you Blossom. Hm, in swimsuits too. Okay you guys are fighting I guess. Wow, you guys are going at it...wait...Oh my goodness, are you two flirting? Oh my goodness,you are! Flirterer! Wow...that's steamy. A collar,leash and whip huh? Very steamy! Blossom I didn't know you had it in you! Really kinky what you did there!"

"Urghhhhhhhhhh!"

 _Bubbles seem like she is having fun at Blossom's expense_ , Buttercup thought to herself. Buttercup decided that she should be somewhere more miserable and just munch down on these bad calories alone in the closet. As she was walking towards the stairs, Buttercup was stopped by two weights on her shoulders. Finally noticing some sensation from her body,she realized that her shoulders are being touched by her sister's palms and she turned around to face her sisters. She is really not in the mood to answer them, as Boomer's discovery of her secret had essentially made her mind blank.

"Buttercup?" Both Bubbles and Blossom asked.

"Yeah?" Buttercup whispered and she saw her sisters looking at each other with concerned expressions. She wondered what her sisters would ask, and she braced herself mentally for the inquiry.

"What happened to you? Is it Boomer?" Blossom asked. Buttercup's mind sunddely went quiet and finally her breakdown echoed through her mind.

 _That's it. Nope, I can't do this. I'm done for today. Screw this, I'm out of here._

The accuracy of Blossom's deduction of the culprit is uncanny and knowing that she can never answer the question is as good as doing the only she hated in life; losing. Buttercup decided that now would be a time to laugh at her utterly pathetic situation,but what came out from her mouth is just a weird hollow sound that wanted to sound like a laughter but became something far more miserable. The emotion of her breakdown is not lost on her sisters, and Buttercup wondered how could she even explain everything if she does not want to tell them her secret.


	8. Chapter 8: Panic At The Dance Floor

Chapter 8: Panic at the Dance Floor

The city of Townsville!

The city where our well-meaning but permanently imperiled citizens are preparing themselves for bed. It is already late at night and even villains need their beauty sleep. As our girls tuck themselves to sleep, knowing well that their day with the Rowdyruff Boys had escalated in many ways, from being very sweet and nice for Bubbles, to being very embarassing and risque for Blossom, and essentially a tense day for Buttercup. As they go to sleep,each one of them could not help but to have flashbacks of their day as they go to bed.

 _I really hope that Brick would be more open and friendlier._

 _I will have my revenge,Butch._

 _How do I make sure that Boomer keeps my secret?_

As they dived deep into their slumber, an effeminate voice could be heard in the air and a pink fog blankets the floor of the Powerpuff Girl's bedroom. From the shadows, the effeminate majesty of the demon known as Him appear, appearing from out of nowhere. Dressed in a black and red chequered harlequin outfit,it hops around to expect something but instead it was surprised by its location and looks around.

 _What's this? I felt extreme emotions and here I am,in the home of the Powerpuff Girls._

It has been a while since the demon had entered their room, and it appeared that even though they shared the same room, but they now have three individual beds and also general 'territories'.

The demon looked around and noticed thst Buttercup's territory is filled with sports equipment, MMA posters, and Rock posters, while Blossom's table is filled with books of many kinds. Bubbles' section is still filled with soft toys, some Japanese graphic novels and some musical instruments.

 _How precious, and they used to share a single bed. I wonder what is the source of their extreme emotions? Let's see here..._

The demon struts towards Blossom's bed, and as it stands before the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl, it caresses her long, smooth copper hair with its pincers.

 _Blossom flirting kinkily? I'd never thought I would see the day that happened_ , Him smiled wickedly as it moves away from the red-haired Powerpuff Girl, and struts towards the toughest it pets her raven hair, she grunts a little before continuing to sleep.

 _Buttercup, how interesting. The secret is just utter gold. And you are right Buttercup, a villain would definitely use this against you. I would_ _, I would, I wo-uld~._

Last but not least, Him hops towards the most innocent of the trio, and arguably the main reason why Him torments them so. It is within the obsessive-compulsion of the demon to corrupt the pure, and Bubbles is as pure as it lightly twirl some of her yellowish blonde hair in its pincers.

 _Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles. How_ _precious,you are the only optimistic and happy one. You managed to open up my boy, Brick. Very impressive_.

Him smiled as he watches the three girls sleeping peacefully. He is quite entertained by these series of circumstances and knowing that the girls are preoccupied with their issues wih the Rowdyruff Boys. Him chuckled to himself as three tiny orbs of lime , light blue and pink appeared between its pincers.

 _I got what I am looking for, sweet dreams girls..._

Him cackles with an increasingly maniacal glee as he fades into the shadows.

* * *

[Utonium Residence,Townsville: 8.00am]

The alarm blared in the room of the Powerpuff Girls,waking them all up. Blossom is the most alert among the girls,and she is already out of the bead and heading towards the bathroom. Bubbles on the other hand is just staring blankly, trying to get her bearings straight for the morning. As for Buttercup,she honestly looked like she have just went through the worst time in her life.

"Why...why do we have to wake up every morning?" Bubbles asked her groaning sister.

"In order to suffer for the rest of the day." Buttercup answered solemnly. Bubbles have to admit that Buttercup is a good philosopher when she wants to be one.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville: 8.00am]

The alarm blared in the room of the Rowdyruff Boys. Each one of them woke up in their own room, with each one of them groaning at the sound of their alarm. However the smell of something cooking got their moods up a little.

"Nice, liver and onions, bacon and eggs with some toast!" Boomer shouted. His brothers could hear him from their own rooms and they are honestly amazed by his sense of smell. Alone among his brothers, Boomer is able to discern the chemical makeup of everything he smells and that ability is often either a gift or a curse depending upon the situation. The blue Rowdyruff Boy is already the first to go to the bathroom to get himself ready. As Butch and Brick exit their rooms, they looked at each other.

"So, I would assume that you had a good dream yesterday?"

"Correction dear brother; a good day and a good dream yesterday. I am pretty sure you would enjoy it too. Play the vid." Butch throws his phone to his orange-haired brother. Brick played the video as Brick watches, his red eyes opened up.

"Butch...is that who I think it is?"

"Yup."

"In a swimsuit?"

"Yup."

"And flirting with you."

"She doesn't know it at the time, but yeah it sure looks like it, Brick."

"Did she just say all those kinky things?"

"Yup."

"Wow, that sexy smile. Never knew she had it in her. Nice work Butch."

"Yup."

"I have to admit. You may be a blunt instrument, but this time you outsmarted her good. Send me the vid later, I need to cherish this." Brick passes the phone back to his brother. Butch knows that Brick and Blossom are rivals in more ways than one, and he would appreciate any deed done to devalue his rival.

"Done and done. Also for this, I want you to buy me lunch." Butch said with a smile. Brick immediately started thinking about Bubbles, and recalled that she had asked him to join her for lunch and he agreed to it. All for the sake of science of understanding what are those feelings he felt the other day. So he needs to get Butch off his back.

"Alright, I will pass you the cash later at the dining table."

"Sweet." Butch commented. When the Rowdyruff Boys are not fighting each other or against other people, they tend to be as close as a pack of wolves. And a pack that hunts together stays together.

"Well time to get ready. Thank god that we all have our own bathrooms. You know when 'High School Musical' starts to sing in the shower,we will never get a chance use the showers." Brick said and turns his back on his brother.

* * *

[Utonium Household, Townsville: 8.30pm]

After taking over an hour and a half to get ready,the girls are now at the dining table facing against what they considered as their mortal enemy; Liver and onions. Even after fifteen years of existence,the girls still hated it. They knew a while back the professor also hated liver and onions, but still prepares it anyway for the girls. Apparently the girls needed more iron than most people due to their unique composition,and thus they forced to have at least three servings of liver and onions as part of their diet every week. Even supplements are no match for the sheer iron levels that liver and onions have. As the lab-coat wearing professor read his news on the tablet, they looked at the dish with disgust.

"Professor, seriously can't you jab us with iron and be done with it?" Buttercup asked with lament.

"Buttercup,you know you have asked that question countless times and you know that the answer will always be the same: Jabbing pure iron is just too much." Professor Utonium said monotonously.

The girls looked at each other,but before they could have any other thoughts about it, Professor Utoniun speaks out again.

"Eyebeams are not silent you know. And you girls need to take things slowly, especially your meals. You don't want to have indigestion."

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville: 8.30am]

As they are digging in on their breakfast, which is exactly as Boomer describe it, the pixie-haired lady looks at them with her piercing gray eyes. If it were not for them having superpowers, Lilith would fully expect them to be normal teenage boys. Also for some reason, they require foods that have a large iron content in it. The only food that has such a high amount of iron are livers and it appears that the boys are quite fond of the dish. Lilith personally would not eat liver and onions, but based on her conversations with Antonio, any being that is composed of Chemical X or has a significant amout of Chemical X in their system require it to function as a living being.

"So what would you boys be doing after school?" Lilith asked as she reads from her tablet.

"Detention." Brick mentioned.

"Detention." Butch answered.

"Glee Club." Boomer said. This caused everyone else at the table to turn their attention to him. Boomer suddenly felt rather uncomfortable as he took his bite of liver and onions.

"What? It is either detention or joining a club while being monitored by the Powerpuff Girls right? That 's the terms of the detention if I remembered it right." Boomer tried to defend himself, but his brothers are looking at him funny.

"Well you are right Boomer, provided that the club activity clashes with the detention. In that case Boomer,when will be your replacement detention period?" Lilith asked the young man.

"Right now I am planning to just join as much clubs as possible and just lump all my detentions on Saturday." Brick and Butch looked at their brother incredulously. That idea is perhaps the stupidest idea ever or the smartest idea ever. Boomer never dissapoints in radical ideas,though its practicality is something to be desired for at times.

"Well boys,if you are done you may leave for school. Have a nice day and take things slowly, okay?" Lilith beckons them. Brick to is the first one to make a move, and he walk towards the window.

"Good bye miss." Brick dissapears in a flash of red lightning striking upwards to the sky.

"Alright, I would be going too. See ya." Butch is the next one to leave the house in a flash of dark green lightning.

"Ah crap, wait for me guys!" Boomer blasted out from the window in a streak of dark electric blue lightning.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 9.00am]

Three streams of rainbows of light green, light blue and pink and three lightning strikes of electric red, electric blue and electric green descended in front of the school as the students are entering the scholl grounds. The two trios of superbeings noticed each other, and there was a short silence before Bubbles broke it.

"Good morning boys!" Bubbles greeted the Rowdyruff Boys politely.

"Morning Bubbles. Oh, morning to you two as well." To everyone's surprise, Brick greeted the Powerpuff Girl back.

"That's new, Brick being polite. Never though I would see the day." Blossom tales a light jab at the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.

"And I find it interesting that you have peculiar tastes for collars." Brick replied back, knowing well that this is the twist of the dagger for her. Blossom immediately blushed.

"Idiot!" Blossom storms off before Bubbles chased after her sister. That leaves Buttercup and the Rowdyruff Boys as the remaining superpowered beings around.

"Well, I guess she got that coming. But try anything funny and I will get you." Buttercup said to the boys.

"And I will ask some favors in return." Boomer said cheekily before he dashes to his class. Brick and Butch have no idea what their blonde brother is saying, but they noticed that Buttercup lost her spunk and looked at the blue-eyed Rowdyruff with great dislike and concerned melded together. Butch leans toward his cap-wearing brother and asked him about the situation that is unfolding before them.

"Wow, how did that happen?"

"Beats me." Brick shrugged.

* * *

[Glee Club, Townsville High, Townsville: 3.30pm]

Boomer waits patiently as the other choir club members and other audiences looked at him with a whole lot of interest. Ever since his 'Bootylicious' scene, many performing arts clubs have took notice of the Blue Rowdyruff Boys's singing and dancing abilities. Of course, Boomer wants to join them all as he personally loves the performing arts. And here he is, taking center stage in the auditorium of Townsville High, auditioning for the Glee Club. He noticed Bubbles is among the panel executive members of the Glee Club. Boomer did not know that the bubbly blue-eyed girl in the nice white graceful dress is also an executive member of the Glee Club. Bubbles on the other hand, is forced to become the observer due to her club membership, and the principal have given her consent that the girls can monitor the boys outside their jurisdiction provided that they are participating in their classes or clubs.

The blonde, spiky-haired teenage boy gives out a sigh and looks at the packed auditorium. Ever since the rumor spread that Boomer is auditioning for the club and knowing that the presence of two blue-eyed blonde superheroes inside the Glee club today caused the auditorium to be filled with students wanting to see how it pans out. To be exact, they want to see if there would be another raunchy scene like those that happened to Butch and Blossom happening. Seeing that there is no point to try and chase the rest of the students out, the Glee Club president decided that it is in her best interest to let them see the audition.

"So, Boomer right?" A brunette girl with blue eyes calls out on the Rowdyruff Boy. She is dressed rather casually, with a gray t-shirt and long jeans sitting at the front-most seat of the auditorium.

"The one and only." Boomer smiled innocently, which brings a few giggles from the girls in the crowd. In the panel of judges, Bubbles watches the Rowdyruff Boy with no certain amount of interest, as she is worried that he might accidentally caused a sonic shockwave in the room. She is ready to react to any unexpected situation, or at least she hope she is.

"Well, Boomer we would like to know if you have what it takes to be in the Glee Club. So right, I need you to sing for me. Three songs, each from a different genre." The president of the club looks at her panel, and they all nod in agreement.

"Um, okay. Sure. If you don't mind, could I sing something rather old school first?" Boomer asked. The presidents gives her consent, and Boomer clears his throat before he started humming. As the crowd spectates, he closed his eyes , taps his foot and snaps his finger. As the president and the other panel looked at each other wondering what is he doing, he starts to sing.

 _Am I Blue?_

 _Am I Blue~?_

 _Ain't this tears in my eyes~_

 _Telling you?_

The panel is immediately taken by surprise and so did everyone else in the crowd. His voice is utterly unique, and unlike his singing voice that the others have heard during his time in the cafeteria. His voice is surprisingly deep but bright, with a smooth and yet trembling smokey ethereal timbre. His voice has a sad, soulful and strong essence, but soft like a soft falling snowflake on a sunny winter's morning. Bubbles is the most surprised among the panel, as she had only ever listened to his voice when he is sonic shrieking at her. This is actually a nice change of pacing, perhaps too nice for the light-blue eyed crimefighter.

 _Am I blue?_

 _You'd be too~_

 _If each plan that you've made_

 _Done fell through~_

Some of the girls and even the boys in the crowd have started sniffing, while others are just literally crying on the spot. Bubbles is now looking at the rest of the students and realized that Boomer had held the crowd under his sway like a maestro singing the song the world wants to hear. She wonders if this is a superpower in itself, but if it is, she would be experiencing some certain side effects like uncontrollable dancing or something like the time with that little gnome with the ripped body.

"Beautiful." The president said to herself. Bubble's superhuman hearing picks up her president's voice and she is now really worried. The president is a hardball when it comes to singing, and the only time she said that is when Bubbles auditioned for the club.

 _There was a time,_

 _I was her only one ~_

 _But now I~_

 _The sad and lonely one._

His vocal runs were never overkill and were rapidly fluid. His ability to hold notes for extended periods without any fluctuation in pitch is impressive, even for Bubbles. His voice is smoldering the crowd in its richness and honey-like texture, and it brings a chill down the spines of all the students that such an angelic voice is now singing before their very eyes.

 _Lordy, was I was gay till today,_

 _Now she's gone_ _and we're through_

 _Am I blue~_

The girls watches as the sand-blonde boy stops singing and and opens his radiant, cobalt-blue sapphire eyes. The sparkle within his eyes are further enhanced by the fairness of his skin, and his utterly childish and androgynous looks only serves to make him something the girls are compelled to protect with their very bodies.

"So, that's my first song. How was it?" Boomer asked bashfully. The slight tint of rose on his cheeks sold the girls that Boomer is officially the cutest boy in school. The president is wiping her eyes with a hankerchief, and passes it to the other panel. Only Bubbles was not in tears, nor is she affected like the rest. It was then that the president's face turned into a smiling rictus and looked at Bubbles. Bubbles, noticing that something is about to happen, looked at her club president with a grimace of wry amusement.

"Well Boomer, for your next song, I want you to serenade to Bubbles." Suddenly the crowd is cheering madly, and Boomer jumped at the sudden cacophony of screams.

"Pres, I don't think that-" Bubbles tried to speak but was cut off by the club president.

"Nonsense Bubbles, we finally got a chance of a male member that could match your own singing voice! I want to see if he got what it takes to serenade now! NOW!" The president's eyes is in a crazed state, and Bubbles is really worried about this turn of events. When President Natalia Romanova becomes like this, there is no stopping her. The crowd starts to chant Bubbles's name in a chorus. She gives out a sigh and gets out of her chair and walks towards the stage where the Rowdyruff Boy is now standing.

The crowd cheered once more, and one of the judges have walked away from her seat and move towards the backstage.

"Heya Bubbs." Boomer greeted the Powerpuff Girl. Bubbles could only give him an awkward wave of a hand and smile. The audience laughed at the interaction between the two super-powered beings. Suddenly from behind the stage, a MIDI synthesizer is being pushed towards the stage. Boomer looks at the instrument and turns his attention to Bubbles, his eyes asking her what is going on. She mouths her response; a 'I don't know". Suddenly a male student appears from behind Boomer and passes him a red vest and a guitar. Boomer looks at the brunette, wondering what on earth is going on with this situation.

"Now I want you to sing 'Despacito' to Bubbles. And yes, I want you to only wear the red vest along with your pants, Boomer."

"Not again!" Bubbles shrieked. The audience cheered, and Bubbles is now mouthing her disapproval at the president but her comments are drowned by the cacophony of excited cheering voices. Bubbles face-palmed as she realized that perhaps the president is just doing it for her own fantasies.

"Wait a sec...Singing Spanish?" Boomer asked.

"Bueno, hablas español?" President Romanova asked the blonde boy.

"Bueno hablas español? ¿Qué crees que soy, un traductor de Google ... Me equivoqué, no? Sabía que no debería haber dejado que mi boca siguiera su curso." Boomer realized that he had just spoken Spanish and immediately facepalmed. Curse his abilities, he thought. Bubbles could understand his pain, as it happens very often to her as well. As she looks on at the crowd, it seems that they would never let this go. Indeed, the students are already blocking their exits, and if she breaks the ceiling with Boomer, it would be bad for the students. She looks at Boomer, and Boomer in turn looks at her. Both of them knows what must be done.

"No." Both of them informed the crowd. A chorus of disappointed voices followed their objection.

"Why not?" President Romanova asked the blue-eyed pair.

"I wearing only a red vest for this. Why?" Boomer asked again, expecting a more reasonable answer.

"You did strip a little last week." The president comments on his question.

"Point taken." Boomer coukd not argue with the president's logic.

"This is ridiculous. Surely this is a form of harassment Natalia. " Bubbles said, not believing that somehow they are being led to this situation. Again. For some inexplicable reason, she is always stuck in this situation with the blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy. It is as if there is a supernatural force forcing them to always be in a musical situation and singing sensual songs. But to be fair, Boomer is quite cute in Bubbles' mind. With his androgynous looks,sand blonde hair and his sapphire blue eyes, he is like one of those Japanese cartoon male characters becoming reality.

 _Bishonen_ , Bubbles thought to herself. She blames her mind for reading far too much _yaoi_ genre Japanese comics for her to even entertain the idea. Somehow she could even imagine him taking off his black and blue hoodie, and he is showing a lot of skin as he takes off his white tank-top and the crowd cheering. She wondered if his fair complexion and his androgynous looks are as she imagined it to be as he started playing a guitar and singing _Despacito_ , and walking towards her in an alluring manner and those sapphire eyes staring at her fiercely.

 _Huh, I could even hear the guitar strumming from the opening of the song. How quaint. Wait. Wait. WAIT._

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! Aren't you supposed to be objecting this plan?!" Bubbles shrieked. Bubbles immediately realized that this image in her mind is not a fickle of her imagination at all and Boomer does not know what shame is. As her eyes darts between his hoodie and white tanktop on the floor and his rapidly approaching near topless form, she could only watch in abject horror. It was then that she noticed his wink, and her heart sank.

 _That doo-doo head._

She wanted to tell him to stop it,but as she takes a step back,he takes a step forward. This is not turning out as well as Bubbles had hoped. And somehow this only increased his aggressive movements.

"Don't do this,Boomer." Bubbles is slowly being backed to a corner,and she looked around to see where she could escape to. Honestly she is afraid, and her maiden heart could not take it any longer. Of course her expression of true uncertainty was perceived by the crowd as part of the show and the audience cheered on.

"Come on Bubbles, let him serenade you!" The audience chanted.

"No!" Bubbles takes a side step and moves aside in a graceful spin to avoid the blonde Rowdyruff Boy in a red vest. She will not sing, not when he is in his 'Singer-Stripper' mode as Bubbles will forever call it. Bubbles' heart is now beating like a sledgehammer being repeatedly pounded on her chest, and her adrenaline is pumping within her. As the sweet strumming of the guitar and the chanting of the now very excited crowd filling the air, Bubbles's eyes are darting around to look for a way to get out from this situation.

"Come on, come on, where to run..." Bubbles whispered to herself, as is now frantically trying to see where else she could run. However the stage has only so much space she could try and run to, and the backstage is a dead end more or less so she can not enter into the backstage area unless she were to meet a fate worse than just her reputation taken away.

"You have gotta be kidding me..." Bubbles felt violated by the way Boomer sings the song and looks at her. For some reason,this is not how she wanted things to be. With countless monsters vanquished and villains defeated under her belt,she does not want to be defeated by an oiled half-nude teenage boy singing kinky to her and god knows what else he is trying to do to her. Even though she knows that she is exaggerating things,but she could not help but to think that Boomer would take more things away from her. As the rest of the crowd are now chanting her name,and she definitely felt like a cornered animal. Bubbles seriously wondered why did is she now in such a damning situation. Her eyes teared up and her face flushes red, wondering if there is something out there that would help her right now. She is a true maiden, and she is not ready for this. She closed her eyes and began to accept her fate. Suddenly her phone blared and silenced the crowd and also stopped Boomer in his tracks. She picks up her phone frantically and to her relief, she recognized the voice at the other end.

"Oh Bubbles, thank goodness you picked up! A giant,three horned monster is attacking downtown Townsville! Help!"

"Thank you soo much Mayor sweetie honey baby! I am on my way!" Bubbles immediately cuts the call and shouted out to the crowd.

"Monster attacking Townsville, make way!" She immediately looks at one of the doors and rushes towards it like a rampaging rhino. Realizing that Bubbles will not stop,the person dodges away and she crashes through the door before the distinctive shooting sound of Bubbles bursting in flight.

As the whole hall looks on in silence, the president voiced out her thoughts.

"She needs to calm down."

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, Townsvillle: 4.50pm]

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are unnaturally reckless and aggressive today when they beat up the three-horned furry monster. The blood and pieces of the monster are splattered all around the buildings and the asphalt, and the monster is moaning in pain and suffering on the ground. It was Bubbles that first realized that they have went too far.

"GIRLS! ENOUGH! STOP!" Bubbles yelled at her sisters. Blossom stopped at the cry,but Buttercup ignored it and breaks the horn of the monster. However Bubbles flew in to stop her sister from trying to murder the poor monster. Buttercup struggled for a short before suddenly she felt her elbow hits something hard. She turned around and noticed that Bubbles is now holding her left eye. Buttercup realized what she had done and her anger subsided. Buttercup apologize to Bubbles profusely, while Blossom lands between them.

"Buttercup. Bubbles. I think we need to talk, and we need to talk. Now." Blossom realized that they are all not themselves today, and they need to figure out the problem. She looked at Bubbles and Buttercup, and Buttercup initially rolled her eyes. But Blossom's glare made her decide that this is not the best time to pick a fight with her sister.

"Alright, let's talk." Buttercup relented. Bubbles turns her attention to her sisters as she rubs her eye.

"In the rate that we are going, we are going to lose our minds with the boys." Blossom expressed her opinions with the girls.

"And in the rate that Boomer is going in his 'Singer-Stripper' mode, I will lose more than just my mind." Bubbles adds on to Blossom's thoughts with her own clearly disturbed thoughts.

"Any ideas?" Blossom turns towards her raven-haired sister. The girls with the pink ribbons noticed that Buttercup's mood has turned a little sour once more.

"I would personally murder them." Buttercup snarled.

"But girls, theses days they didn't really hurt the citizens of Townsville or try to take over Townsville," Her sister glared at her before she corrected herself," _Yet_."

"Well, I'm a citizen of Townsville and Butch hurt my pride." Blossom sulked."Don't you think killing them is a little too extreme?" Bubbles protested. Despite her own close call,she honestly believe that killing is not the way to go.

"Boomer's worth it." Buttercup muttered.

"But Bubbles does have a point, killing is not the did Boomer do? Ever since you came home yesterday, your mood is utterly horrid." Blossom asked. Buttercup tries to say something but she just sighs. She would have to put it in a way that her secret is safe, but at the same time her sisters would understand. Buttercup thinks for a moment to try and put it into better words.

"What is wrong until you can't tell your sisters? Did he did...um...grope you or did something to your hidey hole?" Bubbles asked, earning a shocked look on her two sisters.

"WHAT!? NO!" Buttercup could not believe that Bubbles would suggest such a thing. If anyone dared to do so, they would not get the chance and will be sausage filling.

"Plus, Boomer is too cute to kill." Bubbles reasoned. Buttercup rolled her eyes, while Blossom puts her palm on her face in frustration.

"Bubbles!" The pink-eyed girl with the long, flowing copper hair groans as she lifts the hand off her face and scratches her head. Buttercup groaned as well before she answered her blonde-haired sister.

"Fine, I'll talk. He found out about a secret of mine. And I don't like it. And no Bubbles, sharing is not caring in this case and no, not the cooking one. This one is personal." Blossom and Bubbles looked at each other, before turning their attention to Buttercup once more. Their onyx-haired sister having another secret that even they know nothing about? But before they could even prod any further, Buttercup cuts them to the chase.

"Boomer's an idiot. But being a Rowdyruff Boy, I am not taking any chances." Buttercup spat the words out like it was a bile stuck in her throat.

"Hm...Bubbles, I just realized something; why isn't Brick causing you any trouble?" Blossom asked curiously. Buttercup, realizing that they greeted each other amiably in the morning, turns towards Bubbles with a curious expression as she also would like to know why.

"Well...I fed him Buttercup's quiche lorraine." Bubbles shrugged.

"You...what? Bubbles? You fed him my quiche?" Buttercup's face is now utterly pale.

"I told him that it was made by you and he loves your quiche Buttercup. Honestly it went better than I thought as I thought he would spit it out if he knew who made it. He finished your quiche and essentially asked for us to meet up for lunch more or less. He is just misunderstood, that's all."

"Great, now two Rowdyruff Boys knows my secrets and Bubbles is on a date with the rabid dog." Buttercup flips her hand in the air,as if tossing a table.

"Hey! I am _not_ on a date with him! At least I am trying to befriend one of them! You should be thanking me that Brick is not causing any trouble! Also I am the one being chased by a half nude dancing superhuman stripper singer! In the rate I am going I can't marry anyone anymore, you freakin' doo-doo heads!" Bubbles cracked and started shrieking. Blossom and Buttercup knew that their blonde sister is right, as Brick is the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys and if he is pacified they could not plot anything else while they are in school. Also, Bubbles is the one that had two run-ins with "Singer-Stripper" Boomer. Even Blossom and Buttercup would also be clueless on how to handle that situation with a half-nude Rowdyruff Boy. They both shuddered at the prospect.

"Alright,alright Bubbles. Calm down." Buttercup comes closer to her sister and tries to calm her sister down.

"Don't you ask me to calm down sister! I honestly can't believe that whoever that js taki g care of the boys did not even want to reign in his behavior or does anything! " Bubbles said sassily. Blossom looked at both her sisters and wondered how will they even survive as Utoniums if they can't even learn to coexist with each other. It was then that her mind replayed the image of calling both Butch and herself by their family names. is what called Butch and then it hits her like a wrecking ball.

"Oh my god guys,I just realized the identity of the guardian for the the Rowdyruff Boys. It is Lilith."

"WHAT?!" Bubbles and Buttercup screamed at once.

Unbeknownst to the bickering Powerpuff Girls, three figures are now perching upon one of the skyscrapers watching over the scene of the battle. One of the figures is wearing a black high-collared hoodie with a skulls and crossbone emblazoned on its collar, streaks of dark blue flames visible around the sleeves and the rims of the hood. The only noticeable feature of the figure is the bright sapphire-blue eyes and some strands of blonde hair coming out from under his hood.

"Looks like they are talking about us." The hooded figure commented as he watched the Powerpuff Girls screaming and bickering. A dark-haired figure wearing a dark green camoflaged jacket draped on a sleeveless telnyashka with the same skull and crossbone symbol emblazoned on the chest is laughing as he watched the girls bickered with his jadeite green eyes. Another figure clad in a pitch black jacket and the same skull and crossbone symbol etched on his blod-red turtleneck watches on as his long fiery red braided ponytail wrapped with a kerchief on the base of his head flows with the wind. The ponytailed figure readjusts his blod-red cap and answered the hooded figure.

"Mostly you Boomer, it seems that you managed to keep Bubbles and Buttercup on the edge. But Blossom definitely doesn't like you, Butch." Brick fold his arms towards his body as he turns his attention to his guffawing brother.

"Not my fault that Blossom's a flirt. What's with this secret you have with Butterbutt,Boomer?" Butch turns around and asked his androgynous brother.

"It's our little secret." Boomer is more defensive than usual for some reason, and that irks Butch a little. But knowing his brother,he rarely gets any negative emotions over anything so he decided that this time he will back off. Besides if he fights here, Brick would kill him.

"Fine,have your relationship secrets. For that matter Brick, what's with Bubbles and a quiche?" Butch turns around and strikes a conversation with his other brother.

"I plead the Fifth." Brick muttered.

"Fine, you have the right to remain silent." Butch was slapped on the head by the red-capped Rowdyruff Boy, followed by a backhand to his face. Butch was about to punch back, but realized that his brother's eyes are glowing red as he stared intently Bubbles. It seems that Brick is getting some funny ideas about Bubbles, and in their line of business, they do not meet a lot of likely prospects of superbabes, and Butch generally thinks that Brick is very picky in his choices. Bubbles sure got something Brick wants, Butch thought in his mind.

"Brick, you think that we should do anything?" Butch voiced out instead as he pointed towards Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, whom by now have managed to calm down and are now talking about some ways in which they could solve their problems.

"Not worth the trouble to cause anything. Especially when we don't really know what Him planned for us. Let's take things a little slowly, as we don't want to panic on the dance floor. I'm moving out before they notice us." Brick turns his back on his brothers and flies off. Seeing that there is nothing else to see, Boomer also take his leave. Butch looked down at Blossom and smiled weakly before flying off to join his brothers.

As the Rowdyruff Boys flies off, another figure is watching over the two groups of super-powered beings. As the ethereal figure floats in the air, its red face is etched with a wide grin. Him cackles viciously as it produces six small orbs, colored light green, light blue and pink in one pincer while the other pincer has three small orbs colored dark blue,dark green and blood red. With a puff of red smoke, Him dissapeared into thin air.


	9. Chapter 9: Reflections

Chapter 9: Reflections

 _The city of Townsville, where the happy people lived without a care in the world despite it being a constant target of monsters and villains for some inexplicable reason!_

 _Where we last left the Powerpuff Girls, their teenage lives were turned a little topsy turvy by the arrival of their apparently reformed nemeses; The Rowdyruff Boys! But at the same time the boys are also experiencing some rude adjustments to their own lives as well as they try to fit into a relatively normal and crime-free life. Also, when we last left off, Him is collecting some weird little orb-like items from around Townsville and we do not know what his plans is still._

 _Wait, what's this? Where are we? This isn't Townsville!_

 _Hold on, why does it looks like we are in some Picasso drawing with black and white swirly patterns and hard edges and stuff? Wait, I know where this is..._

 _Oh dear, we are in Him's impregnable domain and look! There, look! Him is watching something in the pillar of glass..._

 _"_ Well, this is working better than I thought it would be. So much raw emotions in Townsville, and utterly beautiful. _"Him caresses the large glass glass, filled with the mysterious bright blood red orbs. Him, dressed in a dress with a red fur scarf and long black leather boots looks upon its collection with glee. As his arm phases into the glass pillar, he picks several of the orbs and looks at it. Him smiled wickedly as he walks away from the pillar of glass with the little orbs in its pincer._

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 4.30pm]

Brick have just finished his detention and he is now wandering around the school hallways to burn off some excess energy from his angst. His belief that he does not fit in this 'normal ' setting is haunting him as the apparent normalcy of Townsville unhinges his fortified mind. Brick's mind realized that without the focus of war and battle to focus his mind, he is utterly vulnerable to his own inner demons. He missed the battlefields where he could just let go and let his instincts and battle knowledge flow within him and not let him ponder on this hollowness. The urban crime-infested maze of Caracas, the dry and hot deserts of eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, the lush rainforest of Mindanao...he can remember all of them as if he was looking through a seeing glass. However, nothing prepares him for normalcy.

As he walked by the lockers, he thought to himself that he will never pass for a perfect 'normie'. Everyday it is as if he plays a part, wearing a mask so that he could fool the world, but he could not fool his heart. He can not hide who he is and his true self is showing through the seams of his sewn facade. Oddly enough, and Bubbles are infusing something in his life that he never knew existed and it is also one of the cause why his armor is cracking. The feeling of something very fuzzy and warm that often comes with his interaction with these two women is driving him mad. He needs to understand why these emotions are bugging him and clouding his sense of self. As he reflected on his convoluted thoughts, his vision was blocked by a solid object and he felt a jolt of pain as he slammed into the surface. He cursed under his breath,and he looked at what caused this inconvenience and realized that it was a door. The title 'Auditorium' is printed on the plaque above the door,and the doors are opened. He recalled that by this time,the doors are usually closed and he wondered why are the doors open. He took a peek into the auditorium and noticed a very familiar figure on stage.

* * *

[Townsville High Auditorium, Townsville High, Townsville: 4.30pm]

Bubbles is alone in the auditorium and she is sitting cross-legged on the stage meditating. She could not believe that Boomer had literally tried out for every club that she is a part of the executive committee. Fortunately for her, most of the incidents are not as bad as those of the Glee Club, but it was bad enough that the clubs had literally fallen under his hypnotic patter. He is an amazing dancer, singer and performer and he is being heralded as the perfect pair for Bubbles. Some had even nicknamed him the 'Apollo of Townsville High' as a result of his unsurpassed performance arts talents, just like how she was dubbed the ' Terpsichore of Townsville High" for the same reasons.

 _Deep breaths in, Bubbles. Deep breaths out_ , Bubbles said to herself.

Alas, this means that somehow for all his club activities, she would have to deal with Boomer one way or another. The only days in which Boomer did not take any club activities are Mondays, and that in itself is a relief for the blue-eyed crimefighter. She would not be able to stomach another half-naked moment with the androgynous boy, let alone a fully naked one that may happen one day. Right now she needs to remain calm and focused less it chews her mind.

 _Bubbles, no. He is cute, but not. Keep the worldy thoughts away_ , the light yellow blonde girl said to herself.

Personally, if given the choices between the three brothers of the Rowdyruff Boys to handle, she would wholeheartedly choose Brick. In her opinion, Brick is surprisingly docile and calm, and his calm demeanor despite his 'edge' makes him an easier subject to observe. Blossom would disagree with her on this, but those two had been rivals since they first met. As for Butch and Buttercup, none of their classes or club activities have overlapped yet and based on her past experiences, they tend to be the most physical and the most eager to fight it out. For a similar reason, she have not engaged in any observation for the green Rowdyruff Boy for the simple reason that his classes and hers are entirely mutually exclusive. She shuddered at the though of her sharing the same class with the green brute.

 _Bubbles, focus. Focus, focus, foc-_

"Hm...never though I would see someone trying to meditate in the auditorium." A youthful voice snaps the Powerpuff Girl from her meditative state. A tall, dark strawberry blonde-haired teenager with red garnet eyes is now looking at her.

"Brick?"

"Yeah, that would be me, Bubbles. How may I take your order?" Brick said cheekily. Bubbles could not help but to giggle at his impression of a fast-food cashier.

"What are you doing in here anyway Brick?"

"Detention. Also the door's open, so I wanted to check it out." Brick shrugged.

"Right. I though one of my sisters would be watching you."

"You'd be right. But it seems that after detention, Blossom was called away. So here I am, roaming around school grounds a little before I take my leave." Brick floats upwards and towards the stage. She rises from the stage floor as the Rowdyruff Boy lands right in front of her. At her full height, she reached only around his chest as she looked up to Brick.

"So it seems. But really, you could have just left me alone in my meditation. " The attention of the Powerpuff Girl's sky-blue eyes met his blood ruby eyes, and Bubbles realized that they are somewhat sad and somber.

"Yet, here we are." Brick answered her. There is no aggression, no pride, no joy in his voice. Nothing.

"What's wrong?" Bubbles asked, for she knows that something is amiss and felt that the Rowdyruff Boy is asking her for something that only she could provide.

 _Will you listen to_ _me_ , Brick wondered as he looked at her. He honestly wondered would she reject him for who he is? He wanted to be liked for who he is inside without the need to pretend to be someone else,but realized that that is only wishful thinking as there are too much secrets within him and no one would understand. Brick struggled for a while before he gave up on his fleeting idea.

"Never mind. I'll leave you alone." Brick turns around and was about to fly away when he felt a tuck at his sleeve. He turned around and Bubbles gave him a soft and tender smile.

"Let me pack my stuff first. I'll bring you to a place where they serve a fierce chai latte. Maybe we can talk about it over coffee." Brick immediately opened up in a wide sincere smile.

 _Perhaps this could be a start to something_ ,Brick thought.

* * *

[Townsville Park, Townsville: 5.00pm]

Buttercup watches the inhabitants of Townsville going about their activities in the park from a bench, but her mind is distracted by something else entirely. She does not believe that the Rowdyruff Boys are here for any foreseeable good despite Blossom's deduction that the Rowdyruff Boys are the adopted children of Morningstar the district attorney, and by that association they are reformed criminals. For all she knows, the boys coerced her to take them in. Her mood immediately soured thinking about such a coercion could even happen. She honestly would like some chips to satiate her foul mood.

"Wanna have some chips?" A young, soft boyish voice asked the green-eyed girl. Instinctively she wanted to say yes, but she realized that she recognized the voice and she turned around. A blue-hooded boy with matching sapphire eyes and sand-blonde hair is now offering her a bag of Lay's barbecue-flavoured chips.

"What do you want, Boomer?" Buttercup asked with contempt. The fact that he inadvertedly offered her favorite flavor of chips when she is in a foul mood ticked her off even more.

"The seat next to ya is kinda empty. Mind if I sit here?" Boomer asked the boyish girl. Buttercup could not believe the audacity of the teenager in the hoodie but before she could refuse him, Boomer jumps into the empty space and take his seat.

"Isn't it nice to just sit around and enjoy the sights and sounds of peace?" Boomer said as he watches the ongoing activities in the park.

"Well,you managed to ruin that for me."

"Ouch,that's harsh Buttercup."

"Not harsh enough if you ask me. Get away from me, Boomer." She snapped at the blue-eyed boy.

"Right, time to cash in a favor now. I would like to have a conversation with you you."

"Talking to me? That's the favor you wanted to cash in?" Butter said in disbelief. She was expecting something more sinister, but at the same time the fact that he is willing to cash in on his 'whitemail' is proof enough that he is not a good person.

"Well, is there a reason for just trying to spark a conversation?" Boomer takes a bite from the bag of chips he is holding. Buttercup is silent,and seeing that the hot-headed girl is quiet as a tranquil forest,he started to speak to her.

"Just want to know, what's with the orphanage? What's in for you?"Boomer asked,and he watched to see how she would react to the question.

"What would I want to tell you?" Buttercup snaps back at Boomer. Unperturbed, the young man continued on pestering her.

"Aw,come on."

"Butt off Boomer. I am warning you."

"You can tell me, Buttercup. After all I am keeping that secret for ya." Buttercup glared at him, and her eyes have a dim glow at the edges of her irises.

"Boomer. If you say one more word..."

"It really feels like there is something in it for you right? Your ego perhaps, Buttercup? I kinda understand if actually Butters,I get that from time to time. Like maybe you want to make yourself feeling high and mighty about the -" Without warning, Boomer's line of vision shook and a quick snapping sound echoed through his ears. As he reorients himself from the concussion to his head,he realized that Buttercup had just given him a slap like no one ever slapped him before. Her eyes are now glowing a bright neon green, and muscle in her arms are tensing up and twitching. Buttercup stood up and stands before him. She raised her hand once more,but then she sighed and looked at him, her glowing green-lime eyes are stoic and dark when she answered him.

"People ask for wealth, fame, and glory to shine on their name. They ask for love that they can possess, they ask the heavens to bless them. But do they know about those less lucky than themselves? Do they?" Buttercup barked. The Rowdyruff Boy is taken aback by her sudden grim behavior and just stared at her with his stunned sapphire eyes. Seeing that the blue-eyed boy is not in any condition to answer her,Buttercup continued on and took the bag of chips from his arms.

"Those kids are hungry from birth for affection, and they can't find the mercy they need on this earth. Many nights they prayed with no proof that anyone could hear, in their heart a hopeful song they barely understood despite the fear in them." Buttercup's voiced trembled with anger, and Boomer sensed the sincerity of her message. She then grabs his hoodie collar and pulled him closer to her.

"In this time of fear when prayers proved to be in vain and hope just swiftly flown away, they need to know that there can be miracles when they believe. They need to know that though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles they can achieve when they believe." Buttercup's glowing lime-green eyes and her full lips are clearly visible and his heart is now beating harder and faster than he ever knew it could. Buttercup throws the Rowdyruff Boy back to the seat and stared at him with contempt. Noticing Boomer's stunned expression, Buttercup hammered in her points.

"I ask for nothing I can get by, but _I_ know those less lucky than I, Boomer. I am hope. I am mercy. I am love. I represent the goodness that the world still has for these kids and that it will never forsake these kids. Or nobody else will..." She frowned as she looked at the Rowdyruff Boy with conviction. Boomer is now just looking at her, dumbfounded by the sudden weight of the topic being thrown at him.

"Yes I know I am quite pissed and shouldn't even speak to you,but still I see your face and wonder; Are you honestly that self-centered and stupid? I don't know if you could even hear me or you are even here. But if you are listening Boomer; you better reflect on what you are, you douchebag buttwipe prick who stands for nothing at all." Buttercup's words stung the blonde teenager more than he though it could. She then throws the bag of chips at him, causing it to pour on his hoodie, his pants and the bench. Seeing that she had already did more than enough to 'share'with the Rowdyruff Boy, Buttercup flips the bird at Boomer and took off in a beam of light and left him alone on the bench. As Boomer recomposed himself, he was stunned by the side of Buttercup that he had never seen before. Down beneath her somewhat aloof nature, lies a paragon of kindness and love unlike any other,even as compared to her sisters. Also just as enlightening as her nature is her remark on him.

 _That honestly sucked_ , Boomer reflected on the situation as he licked his own wounds both physically and mentally.

* * *

[Zen Park, Little Tokyo,Townsville: 5.30pm]

Blossom is lying down under the green cherry blossom trees, trying to relax after a relatively stressful meeting with Principal Nadia. Apparently the incident between Butch and Blossom over P.E had come to the principal's attention, and the teachers of Townsville High had their concerns of having Blossom to continue leading the school's various clubs and societies. Blossom had to defend herself over the matter and despite being able to resolve the matter peacefully, she is definitely not taking this easily. She wondered why she always had to be blamed for almost anything instigated by Butch. She throws a stone that she picked up and let it skip across the surface of the water. Followed by another stone. And another. Another. Before long, she had lost count of all the stones she had been throwing towards the lake.

"Hey lady I know you're a superhero and all, but can you stop throwing stones into the lake? You'll disturb the carps." Blossom turns around to see a park caretaker looking at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized before floating she flew over the skylines of Little Tokyo, she noticed a very familiar figure walking among the citizenry of Townsville. She could recognize the young man with slicked hair pulled back by a green hairband with dark green tank top and camo green army pants anywhere. The question is more like what is the Rowdyruff Boy up to. She decides to land in one of the lanes that branches out from the main street of Little Tokyo.

"I am pretty sure that he is up to no good." She said to herself as she slowly trailed out from the lane and stalked the onyx-haired Rowdyruff Boy. As times passes on, she noticed that the teenager is strolling around without a single care in the world. Blossom is a little jealous of the Rowdyruff Boy for being so carefree about the world around him. As he walks out from Little Tokyo and into Koreatown , Blossom wondered if her actions are a little tad excessive. However she reassured herself that it is for the greater good of Townsville. Also her motivations for trying to get back at him also powers her onward to continue on.

 _Wait, what is he doing_ , Blossom asked herself as he froze in front of an unassuming lane. He turned his attention into the lane, and he looked downright pissed before he entered into the lane. Blossom is excited, as this could mean that she has some dirt on the green Rowdyruff Boy. As she takes a peek into the lane, she noticed that there were three individuals cornering a woman with Butch watching them. They appeared to be part of a gang, each dressed up in chinos, with one of them wearing a wifebeater sleeveless t-shirt while another is wearing flannel shirt with only the top buttoned. The last one is wearing a a bandanna around the forehead, halfway down over the eyes.

"Yo, dumbasses."

"What the? Who the hell are you?" The ruffian with a bandanna asked as he looked at the green-eyed teenager. Butch did not give the ruffian an answer. Instead he dashes low towards the bandanna-wearing ruffian and punches at his knees,causing the hooligan to scream out in pain as he buckles. The others jumped on the green-eyed teenager before he throws both of them at the wall. The woman watches in awe over the display of strength.

"Well lady, beat it." Butch said in his husky and warm tenor voice as he watches the hooligans recompose themselves. The lady ran, and seeing that the lady is now gone, he cracked his knuckles. The woman ran pass Blossom, and Blossom could not help but to keep on watching. The three men are now encircling the boy, and they could only smile menacingly as they surround the boy.

"Well, you are going down boy." The one in the bandana said to Butch before he and his accomplices took out a small bright blood red orb. Butch watched as the man and his accomplices took out their own bright blood red orb and swallow it. Butch laughed at the ruffians as he wondered what on earth they could take to even the odds against a demigod. However Butch's expression turned stoic when their face contorts in a maniacal glee, and their muscles started to grow larger. Their skin turned bright red and their veins and arteries are now popping on the surface of their skin. One of them immediately rushes towards the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy and lands a straight hook at Butch's jaw. Butch turned violently before the rest of his body followed,causing him to crash at the wall of the alley. The other two charged towards the downed Rowdyruff Boy, but was immediately struck by a sonic shockwave from Butch's clap.

"Well now...that was pretty good!"

Blossom immediately recognizes the twitching and his maddening smile. Butch is now in his battle mode, and to Blossom's surprise, his muscles appeared to become a little larger. He charges towards the bandanna ruffian and grabs the ruffian by the shirt and gives the enhanced ruffian a kidney blow that, to Blossom's amazement, have a visible valor cone, making the shock waves of his punch clearly visible. A loud crunch could be heard causing the ruffian to spit out blood from his mouth. However the ruffian with the wifebeater gives Butch a roundhouse kick to his back and Butch lets go of his target,which caused the bandanna ruffian to give his own blow to Butch's solar plexus. The last ruffian decides to grab his hands and slams down on the Rowdyruff's head. Butch's head whips down at the force of the blow, and Blossom winced at the blow, as she knew how much it would hurt.

However, Butch was not brought down by the blows, and indeed he stopped himself from slamming down. With a simultaneous blow of a forward punch, a back kick and a backwards uppercut,he struck at all three figures. Each one of the blows struck with enough speed and force that Blossom could see only vapor cones surrounding his blows and a loud thunderous boom cracks through the air. The three figure immediately collapses,and Blossom could not take her eyes off the entire brawl. As the three figure looked up,they saw that Butch's manic eyes are now glowing with a menacing jadeite iridescence. Butch cackles out loudly, his mouth contorting into a rictus.

"Isn't this great?! Come on guys,I know you can do better than that! Give me your best shot!" The hoodlum with the buttoned shirt runs up towards the green-eyed teenager, but before he could land his blow Butch immediately kicks him in the stomach and launches the person towards the wall. The ruffian crashed to the wall with such force that the wall literally caved in,and several loud cracks could be heard.

"Right,let's get started!" Butch roared, and immediately his wrists and his ankles are surrounded by a whirling glowing green vortex. Before the other two ruffians could even comprehend what is going on, Butch somersaulted towards the one with the wifebeater and his leg generates a greenish glowing scythe with his legs and he slashes down with his right leg. The hit made contact with the thug's head and the thug slammed down upon the pavement hard with a resounding snap before he sidestepped and did a scything motion with his other leg causing the clothes of the bandanna thug to be slashed at the stomach.

"Ha! Miss-" Another kick meets the thug's stomach and the thug was hurled towards the end of the alley. The thug crashed into a dumpster, causing it to compress like a tin can. Blossom covered her mouth,trying not to voice out her gasp. Butch walks towards the thug with the wifebeater and grabs the hair of the thug and pulls him up to his face, giving the thug a malicious smile. He proceeds to smash the head of the thug onto the floor a few times before he pulls him up to his face once more. Blossom realized that the wifebeater thug had already lost all his teeth from being slammed on the ground, and it appeared that his jaw had broken badly from the blow.

"Can't hurt to try out how tough you are. You are withstanding my smashes in this particular mode of mine and that makes me really happy. " Blossom watches in disbelief at Butch's excited expression. Blossom also noticed that the skin color of the hoodlum's are turning back to their normal tone, and Blossom realized that she would need to stop Butch before he inadvertently kills someone. Before Butch could slam the face of the wifebeater thug down on the floor once more, Butch could feel a considerable amount of strength holding him back. He turns around and he sees a slender female figure with bright pink eyes, copper hair and a red ribbon with a pink short sleeved shirt and faded blue jeans holding his arm. The glow in his eyes and the energy vortex around his wrist and his ankles fades away as he gets up and turns his attention to the Powerpuff Girl.

"Well now. I guess I am caught red-handed. Or should I say pink-handed?" Butch smiled at the Powerpuff Girl.

"Stop this right now Butch. You are going to kill these people."

"Well, in my defense, they are scumbags."

"I know as I saw the whole thing, but that does not mean that you-"

"Wait, you were watching?" Butch started laughing hard as Blossom looked at him quizzically.

"What's so funny?"

"Are you really that attracted to me that you are stalking me?" Butch drops the injured man on the floor and covers his eyes with his right hand as he laughs. Blossom's cheeks flushes as she lets go of his arm.

"Y-y-you idiot! I saw a lady running out of the alley and then I saw you and these people fighting!" Blossom defended she is telling a half-truth for she will not admit that she is following him before this incident.

"Yeap,sure thing Bloss." Butch rolled his eyes as he chuckled.

"Still, I have to ask. What are those glowing things around your arms?" Blossom asked.

"My trade secret. Not tellin'." Butch answered back. Not getting the answer she wanted,Blossom turned her attention towards the one the slammed into the wall. She noticed that the man had broken several bones in his body,and seeing the impact crater on the wall, the only thing preventing him from being a meat patty is the red orb they ingested a few minutes ago. The buttoned-up thug is now groaning in pain as the Powerpuff Girl squats down to ask the thug a question.

"You are wasting your time Blossom. You ain't gonna get anything out of him." Butch advised the Powerpuff Girl, but she ignored him.

"I saw you eating a red thing. What is that thing?" Blossom asked sternly. Butch watches as the pink Powerpuff Girl investigatesamd wonder if she cluld even get anything out of the thug. The thug laughed at the Powerpuff Girl, and spat at her face. The thug is laughing smugly despite being an utter mess.

"Screw yo-" Suddenly, Butch felt a deep and monstrous atmosphere around him and the overbearing aura caused him to break in a cold sweat. He wondered what could cause such a presence before he realized where it is coming from.

"Bloss?" Butch walked up to where the Powerpuff Girl and the thug are and noticed that the thug is as pale as a ghost. He turns his attention towards Blossom and noticed that Blossom's eyes are now nothing more than serpentine slits,her pupilless eyes glowing with a reddish-pink glow. Her smirk is utterly spine-chilling,even to a hardened veteran of countless battlefields such as himself. Butch could feel the cold sweat running down his forehead and temple as she wipes the spit with a hankerchief. She dropped the hankerchief on the thug's chest as she glared at him.

"I am not going to repeat myself again. _Talk_ _you maggot_." The coldness and utter malice of her voice cause a chill down Butch's spine. Immediately the man blurted out what he knew in a continuous blabber about how he got it from a drug dealer and said that it would bring people temporary powers and how the price differs based on potency.

"I'm impressed, good job." Butch complimented Blossom. Blossom looked at him with a very sweet and sincere smile, and somehow Butch is extremely bothered by it. Butch remembered her boast that he couldn't handle her if she decided to whip his butt, and it now looked like she can pull off being a sadistic dominatrix.

"Anything else?"Blossom asked the thug.

"Um...I wet my bed till I was fourteen." The thug said sheepishly. Blossom picks up her cellphone and lodges a police report as Butch leans on the wall next to the crater on the wall that he made. He watches her for a while before she ends the call and focuses her attention on him.

"Well you heard him. New drug on the street called "Red candy". Turns people into enhanced super beings for a moment. Sounds like what Mojo Jojo would make."

"That would be reasonable Blossom, except that he prefers something else to generate his profits. I know, I used to live with the monkey."

"Wait...then how does Mojo Jojo gets the money to fund his mad schemes?"Blossom asked.

"Meh, he lives on a volcano that have a large reserve of diamonds and jewels. He just mine and sell those instead. Also that is how my brothers and I lived for a while as we 'borrowed' those diamonds before we moved out of town." Butch shrugged.

"Then who else would do such a thing?" Blossom's eyebrow is now frowning as she ponders.

"Well your guess is as good as mine ,Bloss." Butch readjusts his hairband as he answered the Powerpuff Girl.

"Well,I think my sisters should know about this 'red candy'. Aren't you gonna tell hour brothers about it?"

"Well, yeah. But right now, I rather tell Lilith about it and let her launch an investigation for this matter than my brothers." Butch reasoned. Blossom realized that the muscle of the Rowdyruff Boys can be surprisingly smart if given the chance.

"Hm,good point. I guess we could visit your _mother_ for this." Blossom said that with no certain amount of disbelief.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Butch is clearly irritated by Blossom's apparent tone.

"The fact that such a confident and law-abiding citizen took you boys in is an unexpected truth you know."

"Hey, we were just as surprised as you were when she took us in. Anyway, I would say that we should pick these hooligans up as they are evidence ." Butch points out towards the other hoodlums, all still moaning and groaning from the hurt he did to them. Blossom nods and proceed to pick up the buttoned thug. Butch nonchalantly floats towards the wifebeater thug and wraps one arm around him before picking him up. He then moves towards the other thug and also did the same action before floating up in the sky.

Surprisingly, this is the only time that Blossom felt that they are not at each other's neck. For his bravado and his battle bloodlust, Blossom is surprised by his willingness to help the citizenry of with the lady,and now with the help to report the presence of a new and dangerous drug on the street. For these actions, he earned a cookie in her books. Perhaps there is still some hope yet for the Rowdyruff Boys. As she floats up to his level with the remaining thug, he wondered how could such a goody-two shoe could be such a heartless minx. He reflects on the duality of Blossom's personality and wondered how two such beings could even coexist in a person.

"Ready to go?" Butch asked.

"Let's go." Blossom answered. Within seconds a streak of pink light and a lightning bolt of forest green blazed through the sky.

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville: 5.30pm]

"And that is why I tossed a Russian fighter jet at Butch's face!"

Bubbles and Brick are laughing out loud in a cafe as they take their sips of chai latte. Surprisingly, despite being forced to get a chai latte, Brick is surprisingly fond of the beverage. On their table alone,several empty cups are on the table along with some empty plates.

"That's a good one." Bubbles wipes a tear in her blue eyes.

"Yeah,those were some wacky times." Brick smiled. He had never been this relaxed before,amd somehow, he honestly liked it. He wished that this moment would last just a little longer. Suddenly a gunshot was heard, and people started to scream. The superpowered beings' attention are now upon the entrance of the cafe, and six individuals with baraclavas, body armor and heavy firearms entered into the premise. Some of the armed individuals fanned out to guard several points of the cafe, while the others aimed their weapons at the people in the store.

"Everybody cool, this is a robbery!" One of them said in a husky shout.

"Anyone of you move and I'll execute every last one of you!" Another one said in a snivel.

Brick observed that the men are unnaturally well-armed and armored for a robbery on a small cafe like this. Their armaments of Kalashnikov clones with drum ammunition and grenade launchers strapped on the guns and Glock 17 pistols marks them out as a cut above the normal crooks, and their way of securing the parameter reminded him of the standard procedures for special forces to secure a parameter. His senses are already tingling on why are these robbers so heavily armed and as he observed, he noticed that some of them are already planting something on top of some of the tables of the cafe patrons and he gestured at Bubbles.

"Claymore mines. Why claymores if all they want to do is to pull off a robbery?" Brick whispered. However, Brick's comments were overhead by one of the other robbers and the robbers is now aiming his assault rifle at his head. Brick immediately takes offense at that and grabs the barrel of the rifle with his hands and bends it upwards. The robber screamed as he drops his gun and takes out his handgun, while the other robbers turned their attention to the two superpowered beings.

"Seriously, take a good look at both of us. Don't you even have a slight idea as to who we are?" Brick said, as he gestured his thumb backwards to Bubbles. The one closest to the counter immediately points towards the teenage boy and girl and loses it.

"Ah shit! It is Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls and dear god, another super?!"

"Execute Plan B!" The robber at the counter shouted, and immediately some of the robbers hold the trigger to the mine in their hands, while others are already aiming at the innocent hostages.

"Don't you dare move you sunnabitch! No one move, or I will blow this joint! Literally!" The apparent leader of the robbers loads his grenade launcher and aims it at the cashier. Brick immediately realized why they set up the mines and why they are so well armed. He reminded himself that he is in Townsville, perhaps the city with the most risks for crooked criminals due to the Powerpuff Girls. The girls crossed the line first, squeezed them, hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation, they escalated. Such a sad state of affairs for crooks who robs a little cafe to be armed enough to take down a terrorist cell, Brick remarked in his mind. Time to see how he can salvage this scene.

"What's your name?" Brick asked, disarming the tense situation for a moment. Bubbles is now looking at the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy, wondering what is he planning.

"Ringo." The robber aiming his gun instinctively answered, causing his other accomplices to hiss at the robber. Brick realized that perhaps this 'Ringo' is either a sub-par replacement or a stand-in for this robbery.

"Hi Ringo. Can we talk?" Brick asked.

"Don't you try anything funny you freak!" The robber with the handgun is shaking as he aims his gun at Brick's head.

"My name is Brick. And you are?"

"Stay back, Brick!" Brick can hear the slow squeeze of the trigger of the gun, and despite knowing that the bullet would never hurt him he decided to play along. Besides, he does not want the bullet to ricochet back at the normal humans in this cafe causing even more chaos.

"Alright! Alright...Look, my hands are up. I am not doing anything else, and so is my friend over here. We just want to talk." Brick raises his hand as he keeps on talking. Bubbles follows his lead and raises her hands up.

"Sit down! And raise your hands where I could see them!" The robber with the handgun commanded, and some of the patrons are whimpering as the situation soured. Brick and Bubbles sit down on their seats, but Brick is still looking at them.

"Alright, alright. I am now seated." Brick asked politely, and Bubbles noticed that his usually intimidating presence is not present at all. Somehow, Brick is able to mask his usual presence to something much less intimidating. Bubbles had never been in such a situation before, and seeing how this situation is unfolding is something she is not used to. Brick however appears calm as cold steel, and he is not even fazed by all of this commotion.

"Alright Ringo here's the situation; Normally you and your friends would be dead as freaking fried chicken but you happen to pull this crap when I am in a transitional period and I don't want to hurt you guys. _I want to help all of you_. But I can't help you if you want to blow this joint and die with everyone else except Bubbles and myself." Brick suggested to the robbers. The hostages are now as surprised as the other robbers at Brick's suggestion.

"Brick we are suppose to help the hostages, not the hostage takers!" Bubbles shrieked, and the robbers immediately aimed and put their fingers on their explosive triggers and gun triggers. The crowd screamed once more, but Brick sternly made himself clear amidst the chaos.

"Bubbles, keep cool! , it's cool! It's cool! We are still just talking! Come on Ringo, keep pointing that gun at me!" Ringo immediately raises the gun and touches the gun at the teenage boy's brow.

"Another one of you point the gun at me!" Immediately on reflex, one of the other robbers is aiming his rifle at Brick. Bubbles is now looking at this ridiculously escalating situation, and she is powerless to help despite her best intentions. However, Brick is smiling at the robbers and beckons the other robber that is aiming at him to come closer. The robber moved towards Brick and points his rifle at the Rowdyruff's temple.

"There you go...Now Bubbles, just hang back and don't do a darn thing. Now Ringo, tell your buddies that it is all cool and it is all under control."

"Guys, we are all cool!" The robber known as Ringo reassures his accomplices.

"Hang in there guys,you are doing good I am proud of you. And it is all going to be over soon." Brick said in a reassuring voice.

"Now, I want you to go into my back pocket and take my wallet. You will know it is my wallet as it says 'badass'." Ringo beckons the Rowdyruff Boy to stand up, as the robbers aimed their guns at his head. Brick complied, and Ringo the robber is now digging into his back pocket, his eyes still staring at the red-eyed youth. After a while, Ringo pulled out a wallet and sees the word 'Badass' on it, just like the superpowered teenager said it would.  
"That's it, that's my 'Badass'. Now open it up, and take out the money." Ringo opens the wallet and takes out a stack of money, but Brick stops him.

"Count it." Brick suggested and the robber is now flipping through the money with one thumb, and is counting the money. Bubbles could not believe the absurdity of this situation.

"How much is it?" Brick asked.

"About three hundred bucks."

"Okay now put it into your pocket , it's yours. Now for the rest of the wallets and the the register. I would consider that a successful heist." Ringo followed the instruction and puts the money in his pocket

"Brick if you let them take all our money, I will beat them up on principle!" Bubbles could not help but to speak up against Brick suggesting such a thing to the robbers. The armed robbers aimed their guns closer towards the hostages , while the robbers with the mine trigger slowly edged their thumbs closer to the trigger.

"No! No! No! Guys, she is not going to do a darn thing! Bubbles, just be quiet!" Brick shouted out, and the crowd started to whimper at this standoff. Brick breathes in deeply, and recompose himself before he continues on speaking to the robbers again.

"I honestly just want to pee and go home and take some red candy." Ringo said, his voice trembling.

"Hang in there buddy, you are doing great. Now Bubbles, I am not giving it to him; I'm buying something for my money." Bubbles looks at the Rowdyruff Boy with even more disbelief. What could he be buying from the robber at this moment, with a hostage situation with guns and explosives in play?

"Want to know what I'm buying Ringo?" Brick asked.

"What?" Ringo's voice is weaker than before, and very uncertain about the situation.

" _I am buying your lives so that I don't have to do something nasty to your sorry butts_." Brick replied coldly. The robbers are now looking at each other with the corner of their eyes, not believing the teenage boy. Some of the armed men lowered their weapons a little, and Brick knew that he got them where he wanted them to be.

"Have you met a pastor before, Ringo?"

"No Brick, can't say I have." Ringo answered, his voice tense.

"Well a pastor in the Philippines once said that the path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. I will strike down upon you with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." Brick said as his intimidating aura returns in a large magnitude, and even Bubbles was taken in by the sudden pressure of intimidation. Ringo's pupils are dilating and he swallowed very hard as he comes face to face with the most intimidating person he had ever known. The crowd are all looking at them with no certain amount of fear and awe.

"Now I have heard this from the pastor a few times as he slaughter the butts of those people that hurt his parish. I have never gave too much thought about what it meant. I think of it as a coldhearted thing the pastor said to someone before he pops a cap in someone's butt. But I have some things for the past few weeks that made me think twice about this. See now I am thinking that maybe you are the evil man and I am the righteous man and my superpowers here he is the shepherd protecting my righteous butt in the darkness." Brick said as he slowly lower his arms. Meanwhile, Bubbles noticed that the legs of the robbers are now trembling, and the robbers holding the detonators of the Claymore mines dropped the triggers.

"Or..." Brick drags his speech a little before continuing, " it could mean that you are the righteous man and I am the shepherd and it is the world that is evil and selfish. Now I like that, but that crap isn't the truth. The truth is... _you're the weak and I am the tyranny of evil men_." Brick's eyes started to glow a bright crimson red, and suddenly the body of the Rowdyruff Boy is now glowing and the glow starts to shape itself into a malevolent flaming shape. As he stands up, he appears to be much taller than the robbers and he grabs the pistol out from Ringo's hands. Realizing that it had went downhill,Ringo whimpered and closes his eyes hard.

"But I am trying. I am trying real hard to be the shepherd." Brick said, his voice trying to hold back his unbridled fury. Bubbles watched as the other robbers are now aiming all their guns at him. But deep down, Bubbles knew just as much as these robbers knew; these weapons will not hurt him. They will just infuriate him. And right now, their self-preservation is such that they will never detonate the mine.

" _Go_." Brick's aura immediately dispersed and his eyes are no longer glowing malevolently, but his voice is utterly intimidating. Immediately the robbers take flight and barges through the entrance, leaving their mines and not even bothered to take anything else. As Brick breathes in deeply, he puts the gun on the table and picks his wallet up and sees that it is utterly empty. Well, there goes his mood and his money for the week.

"I think we should be leaving now." Bubbles whispered to him.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Brick said wearily. Brick and Bubbles walked out from the cafe.


	10. Chapter 10: Red Candy

Chapter 10: Red Candy

[Townsville Pier, Townsville: 5.45pm]

After her encounter with Boomer a few minutes ago, Buttercup's mood is so foul that she decided that she needs to let off some steam physically. She flies towards an unassuming building near the docks of Townsville and lands on the pavement in front of the building. She walks up towards the building and stops in front of a solid metal door. She knocks on the door three times before a slit on the metal door opens up, revealing two gray eyes looking at her.

"Oh, it's you Buttercup. Been a while since you came around." The gruff voice answered her.

"Well, I need to check up on all those green ones, Pops. Even little girls fight better than them." The voice behind the slit guffawed as he heard the teenager's reply. The sound of the door unlocking clickers before the door opened up to reveal a barrel-chested middle-aged man with a square jaw looked at her while wearing a boxing headgear, a white t-shirt and black gi pants.

"So Buttercup, how's life?"

"Bad if I must say so myself Pops. Any way I could let off some steam?"

"Sure thing, anything for my toughest fighter. Come on in." The man beckons her to come in, and as she entered in, the sound of people punching and kicking the the punching bag echoed inside, while the grunts and shouts of people sparring could be heard within. Buttercup's eyes are watching the other people within this establishment lifting weights and instructors teaching people how to throw punches and kicks in perfect form. Suddenly, one of the people noticed Buttercup and cried out her name. The rest of the people within the establishment turned their attention towards the teenager and soon enough several others are already greeting the young Powerpuff Girl.

"Yo Buttercup!"

"Heya girl, what's up?"

"Hey girlfriend, wanna spar?"

Buttercup smiled. It is just like Pop's Fighting Gym to be this friendly to her. Ever since she found out about this place when she was nine, she had more or less come here on a regular basis to learn how to be a better fighter. So far her mixed martial arts training within this gym had given her the edge she needs when it comes to fighting right, and among her sisters she is perhaps the most efficient fighter.

"Nah, sorry guys. I need to spend some time in the 'Freezer'." Immediately everyone stopped and the murmuring started.

"The 'Freezer' huh? Your mood's really that bad huh?" Pops asked the teenage girl. She nods her head and gives him her best smile.

"Yeah, life's bad that way."

"Well, we did make the 'Freezer' primarily for you. Is it because you are trying to stop the 'Red Candy'? Heard it is spreading like wildfire around the hood." Pops mentioned to the raven-haired girl. Buttercup's interest in the topic is now apparent in her face.

"Red Candy? What's that Pops?"

"Wait, you mean you don't know? It has been the rage among the kids in the hood. The drug make people become mad _and_ bad." One of the regulars in the gym said out loud.

"And as red as your sister's bow." Pops adds on. Buttercup looks at the rest of them and realizes that this is not something she could just joke off like she usually do in this gym.

"Sounds really bad. I'll keep an eye on it. No crook will escape my watch." Buttercup reassures the others. Speaking about that, her superhuman sense of smell have been picking up a very weird odor in the room. Not the smell of sweat, nor the smell of body odor. Not the smell of protein shakes nor body-building supplements. A smell that is sickly sweet, and unnaturally enticing.

"What's wrong Buttercup?" Pops asked the frowning Powerpuff Girl.

"I smelled something weird."

"A gas leak?" Pops asked the Powerpuff Girl, but she shakes her head.

"It coming from the lockers." Buttercup answered as she walks towards the lockers. The other people within the gym have also stopped their activity when they noticed the crimefighter's change of behavior and soon everyone is following the green-eyed girl. She is now sniffing around, and she could pick up on the slowly strengthening smell of uneasiness. She blamed her sense of smell and taste on the countless hours of cooking she did, and it seems that it is paying off in the most bizarre way possible. After a while she stopped in front of one of the lockers and the others stopped as well as they watched.

"Someone didn't wash their clothes or something Buttercup?" Buttercup ignored the middlle-aged man's question. This smell is unnaturally sweet and pleasant, but Buttercup knows that nothing in this world would smell that sweet. Something otherworldly, something _wrong_. Buttercup frowns immediately as she realized that the smell is a danger to everyone in the room.

"It is in this locker. Pops, do you have the keys for this locker?" Buttercup asked. The middle-aged man walks up, taking out a bunch of keys and fiddling to try and find the right key for the locker. After a while the locker was opened, and Buttercup opened the door of the locker. To their surprise, they noticed nothing that appeared out of the ordinary. A duffel bag, towels, pair of shoes, some supplements. Just a normal assortment of gym-goer stuff. However, Buttercup turned her attention to one of the supplements and takes it from the rack. As the onlookers watched, she opened the supplement and poured out several bright red orbs from it. She looked at it and showed it to the crowd. She closes the cap of the supplement and passes it to Pops, who takes a look at it.

"That sure doesn't look like cod liver oil supplements, Buttercup."

"That looks like red candy, Buttercup. That drug we told you about."

"I see." Buttercup takes a good look at one of the weird things that piques her superhuman sense of smell. Now that she is truly exposed to it, she could not stomach the unnatural smell of the object, as it reeks of something familiar and yet something alien at the same time. She entertained the thought of trying to taste it to ascertain its properties, but she realized that if it reeks of foulness, she is better off not taking any of it inside of her. It was then that a cry could be heard, and her attention turned towards the crowd. One of the gym-goer is now trying to escape from the sea of people, and she immediately give chase.

"STOP THAT GUY!" Buttercup shouted, and soon enough the other gym-goers are trying to stop the individual. Buttercup is confident that the person could not possibly escape a bunch of martial artist and would allow her to apprehend the owner of the drugs. However to her surprise, some of them are thrown into some of the equipment of the gym, while others are pushed away with such force that they landed on the ground with a resounding crack. As Buttercup finally gets a good view of the culprit, she takes in the unnatural sight of the culprit of these injuries.

The figure is a bald man whose body is slowly growing larger with every moment, and his slowly reddening hue is punctuated by the significant popping of his arteries and veins across the surface of his skin. As the figure looks back at her with rapidly whitening eyes and frothing mouth, Buttercup knew that the man has gone past the point of being punched with a lot of restrain. She would have to go all in with this figure. The figure tears one of the panels of the mixed martial arts cage and throws a panel at Buttercup. Realizing that there are other bystanders behind her, she decided to take it head on. She managed to strike the cage panel aside and the panel smashes with such force that it cuts several punching bags into two and breaks through the wall. It was then that the figure started throwing some of the other gym-goers towards her."Oh shi-" Buttercup cried out before she was forced to try and grab them without breaking their bodies. Her fifteen years of crimefighting have honed her people-catching skills to a preternatural level and she managed to grab them gently and lands them around her in a swift motion.

"Thanks Buttercup, I thought I was a goner." A brown-haired man thanked the tomboy crimefighter. Throwing innocent people like that and hurting them is something she would not stand for. She decided that this person deserved the full Buttercup Special.

"Well, you did it now buttwipe." Buttercup responded to the hulking brute and throws a bright lime-green crescent-shaped wave of energy with a quick inward clothsline hook with her arm and it hits its mark. The figure was thrown across the room and breaks through the wall. Buttercup chased after the figure by flying out of the hole she had just made, but was immediately met with a flying grand piano. She braced herself for the piano and it slammed onto her with the full unbridled weight of an object of such size. Before she could even compose herself, the figure jumped at her and slams its fists like clubs on the Powerpuff Girl. As each pounding of the hulk's slab-list fists slammed her face, she knew that she would need to get out from the 'pressure'. Luckily for her,the brute did not pin her down on the ground.

"Up yours!" She performs a backflip, kicking her opponent harshly at his chin, causing the hulk's head to flick back violently. Buttercup strings another kick immediately after her first kick towards the head, before landing back on her feet. Seeing that the figure is still stumbling from the blows of her kicks, she decides to cross slash her arms, causing a large vortex of coruscating lime-green energy to form and sucking in everything within the short vicinity of the spinning maelstrom. The hulking brute was sucked in, and was immediately hit by the countless spinning revolutions of the energy vortex along with the various objects that was sucked into the vortex as he spins around. The vortex suddenly collapsed upon itself, causing an unbridled explosion which propelled the brute out into a nearby car, destroying the car.

"MY CAR!" A poor gentleman in a business suit screamed at he saw the damage to his car. Buttercup rolled her eyes and looked around to see if there were any poor bystanders hurt.

"Are you guys alright!" Buttercup cried. The onlookers of the fight from inside and outside the gym nod their head. All except the poor gentleman with the wrecked car.

Buttercup's attention is still at the wrecked car. She clenches her fist as she prepares herself for the worst. The hulking red brute emerges from the wreck of the car and charges at her like a rampaging bull. Buttercup charges the rampaging brute and leaps towards the figure. As the figure tries to swat her out of the way, she sidesteps and grabs her opponent by the head and slams him to the ground. Her arms and hands emanates an electrical field and shocks her opponent in the head and she tosses him back towards the wrecked car, further obliterating it.

"NOT MY CAR AGAIN!" The poor gentleman in the business suit cried out again, before Buttercup decided to make his day even worse by throwing several energy crescent bolts at the car multiple times. Unable to further take the damage to his car, the poor gentleman fainted immediately before he was dragged by some of the other onlookers. The explosions engulfed the car in flames, and Buttercup decided to give it another eyebeam just to make sure. However, from the flaming wreck, the figure emerges even more enraged than before. As the flames engulfed his body, Buttercup realized that she would need to end this quick before this person could hurt anyone else other than her.

"Time to end this." Buttercup dashes towards the flaming brute and disappears from sight, catching the brutish hulk by surprise. As the brute look around for the Powerpuff Girl, the onlooker saw the green-eyed superheroine suddenly appears from behind the brute and slamming a vertical massive swirling vortex of lime-green energy in a manner that the brute appears to be sliced in half by it, before the vortex collapses causing another imploding explosion. As her opponent slumps to the ground, Buttercup combs her hair. As she looks upon the hulking figure, she knows that this should be enough to bring the brute down. The coloration of the brute is now turning back to its original hue, while the muscles slowly returned to its normal size. The exaggerated veins and arteries are now receding back into his skin and it appears that the trouble is all over. The onlookers cheered as Buttercup defeated the figure. Pops and the other gym-goers rushes towards the teenager.

"Holy hell, where the heck did you learn all of that?!" A brown-haired freckled man asked Buttercup.

"I learned these moves from an brush-haired US Air Force Major at Patterson Air Force base, with some improvements of my own."

"What are you going to do with this guy? And what about this?" Pops asked Buttercup, showing her the supplement box where the drugs are kept. It was then that her phone rings, and she recognizes the ringtone for what it is. She picks up the call and answers.

"Yeah, Bloss?"

"Need you to come over to the District Attorney's office. It seems that there's a new drug on the streets turning people into-"

"Big red hulking figures with creepy veins and arteries popping and super strength?"

"How'd you-"

"I just bagged myself one of those, and also have the drug with me. I'll bring the guy over with the drugs."

* * *

[Townsville District Attorney's office, Townsville: 6.00pm]

"Are you with Bubbles?" Blossom asked her sister. She listened intently as Butch sits on one of the chairs in 's office. This is actually the first time he visit her office, amd honestly he find it just as plain as the decorations at her home. Simple whites walls and flooring and some contrasting black furniture. As he looks at Blossom,he wondered what on earth are they talking about.

"Right, just meet me here alright Buttercup? See you." Blossom ended her call.

Both Butch and Blossom are now the only people inside the district attorney's office room, as Ms. Morningstar had already moved on to interrogate the thugs that were using the drug. It seems that the outbreak of crime had already started a few days ago with reports of people committing said crimes to try and get their fix of 'Red Candy', but there were no substantial evidence that they were superpower-related until Blossom and Butch came in with their 'catch'. Now the law enforcement agency of Townsville have spring into action, with initiating and directing further investigations on the new drug on the streets of Townsville.

"Looks like will be very interested with what Buttercup's going to bring in. The drugs and the suspect and are on the way." Butch claps at hearing Blossom's update.

"Well, bravo. If I still remembered her fighting style, that person would be a real wreck by about now." Butch said dreamily as he rubs his jaw. Butch have always respected the ruthlessness of Buttercup's fighting style, and honestly till today, she is perhaps his best enemy to fight against. Blossom could see how he shudders with excitement and finds his eagerness for combat quite disturbing. Fortunately for her, she is not fighting against him. _Yet_.

"Right, and now to call Bubbles." Blossom picks her phone up and was about to dial her number when her phone rings. She picks up the call and realizes her bubbly sister's voice is a little less bubbly than usual. She sounded a little fatigued, but still alive and kicking enough that Blossom could hear her loud and clear.

"Bubbles, what's wrong?" Butch noticed the pink-eyed lady's concerned voice, and decided that perhaps it is time for him to listen in on the sisters' conversation with his hearing. It is harmless as long as he keeps it to himself.

"Well, Bloss we just got out from a situation at Cafe Latte. Right now we are kinda reporting the incident at the downtown police station."

"What kind of situation? Also, who's we?" Blossom asked quizzically.

"Robbery turned hostage situaton. Brick and I. Brick managed to resolve the whole robbery hostage scene peacefully, but in his own way. Brick is the only one who lost anything of value, so we are making the report to keep an eye out for the robbers. And I was so close to making him less edgy too." Bubbles' pouty voice informed Blossom. Butch's eyebrow raises in surprise; Brick hanging out with Bubbles in a cafe? Gold. Just pure gold.

"Well, if he is with you just bring him along to the district attorney's office. Butch's with me right now."

"Butch? You guys started dating? The district attorney's office is a weird place to have a date. Unless...you are already meeting his parent? That's really fast Blossom!" Bubbles exclaimed, causing Butch to laugh out loud. Blossom glares at the green Rowdyruff Boy, realizing that he is eavesdropping at their conversation. She turned on the loudspeaker option for her phone and continue on conversing with her sister, knowing well that there is no point to keep it away from Butch. It was then that an onyx pixie-haired lady with gray eyes entered into the room.

"Sorry, but that interrogation took a while. What did I miss?" Lilith asked the occupants of the room.

" Buttercup managed to get some of the pills and she's bringing them over." Butch answered, and gasped.

"Also Bubbles and Brick stopped a robbery of some kind. Bubbles, maybe you-." Before she could inform Bubbles, Butch starts to speak to Bubbles.

"Yo, Bubs. Put your phone on loudspeaker. Let me talk to my bro." Butch could hear some fiddling on Bubbles's side before he picks up on his brother's breathing.

"Brick, your brother is on the phone." Bubbles informs the red-eyed Rowdyruff Boy.

"Alright bro, talk to me. What's up?" Butch asked his brother.

"They are heavily armed, armed with six Type 56s with GP-25s, along with some Glock-17s. They are also packing some Claymore mines as well. Moves like Spetsgruppa "A" and judging by how quickly they reacted to our situation, they are well trained enough. Fortunately enough, I managed to crack through the 'green' one of the group. I think this guy will be easy to trace, we need to find a person by the name of 'Ringo'. He sounds American enough, but the others I think would be a little difficult. They tried to hide their accent, but I picked up a Kazakh accent among the robbers." Brick explains.

"Claymore huh? That is some heavy stuff." Butch scratches his head. Bubbles and Blossom are not really sure what is going on between the brothers as a lot of their jargon are not something they are too familiar with. The district attorney is now frowning at the development of the situation.

"But them robbing a cafe with such efficiency and moves is really odd. I mean the Powerpuff Girls is a consideration, but why rob a little cafe? Why not a bank?"

"Anyone ate red candies?" Butch asked the question that has been bugging his mind. The other occupants of the room looked at each other, and turned their attention back to the boy with the hairband.

"No, but I heard the Ringo guy talking about it. What about the red candy?" Brick asked, and based on the way he words it Butch knew that his brother wants to know what is going on with his side.

"Well I've beaten up three thugs as they tried to mug a lady. They are inexperienced thugs but that drug... it is nasty Brick. That 'red candy' that they ate, really changes the way they move and fight. Their blows hurt quite a lot and they are surprisingly tough. If they were normal, they would already have their brain matter splattered everywhere."

Suddenly a knocking sound on the window, snaps Butch from his conversation. Butch turns around and notice that a short-haired toned teenage girl with bright green highlights in a white t-shirt and green trousers is floating outside with a passenger in tow, and a box of something in her arm. The district attorney walks towards the window and opens the window to let the teenage girl in. True to his expectations, the man that she carried in got the markings of the Buttercup Special. But he also notices that the toughest fighter of the Powerpuff Girls is also a little roughed up. Buttercup lightly tosses the item in her arm towards Blossom, and Blossom catches the item with ease while she drops the man on the floor.

"Buttercup, who is that?" Ms. Morningstar pointed at the individual that is now lying down on the floor.

"A person at the martial arts gym I frequent. I found the 'candy' in his locker and he tried to fight his way out. I think he took a few of the 'Red Candy' and we went into a brawl. He's tough enough that he could even take on my special "hurricanes". When he is under the drug, he gave me a little bit of a workout. Not bad for a human-sized opponent." Buttercup explained as she lied down on the sofa. Seeing that this mysterious person is another suspect, Lilith moves towards her office phone and called for some assistance to detain the new suspect. Within half a minute, a knocking sound on the door signals the district attorney to open the door to her office. Two police officers enter the room and take the unconscious man away and closes the door as they exit. Only once they exit did Blossom speaks out her mind.

"If these normal people can rough up both Butch and Buttercup, I shudder to think what would happen if someone with superpowers takes them." The room went silent at Blossom's comment. As Blossom opens the box of supplement up and pours out the content, a tiny bright blood-red orb drops on her palms, no larger than a centimeter across. Buttercup winced as her nose smelled the unnatural smell of the drug. Butch and Blossom also noticed the unnatural smell, and covered their nose.

"What's wrong?" Bubbles and Brick asked, noticing the silence in the room.

"We have the 'candy' with us. And man it stinks." Blossom said in a nasal tone.

"I don't smell anything." Ms. Morningstar, the only normal human in the room have a rather perplexed expression regarding the superhumans' reaction to the pill. As she moves towards the pink-eyed teenager, she noticed that for some reason the round little orbs in Blossom's palms are surprisingly adorable.

"Maybe, just maybe, normal humans can't smell it." Blossom suggested.

"May I have a look at it Blossom?" Lilith asked. Blossom nods, relieved that the disgustingly sweet thing is off her palm. She takes the orb with her fingers . As the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys went on with their discussion, she went to her chair and sit down while never taking her eyes off the mysterious little orb. Despite knowing that it is a drug, she could not help but to be mesmerized by it. With each passing second, the irresistible temptation to put the orb in her mouth gets stronger and stronger. The bright red orb slowly becomes larger and larger in her mind. Somehow, it feels heavier and heavier in her arm, and she just wants to let go of the orb somewhere. She looked at the bin, but realized that it is evidence. She looked around and wondered where she could throw it or dispose of it.

 _Anywhere would be fine my dear. May I suggest your mouth?_ , her mind suggested. Realizing that it is after all a consumable, she complied.

"Alright, see you in 's office in three minutes." Blossom cuts the call, and turns towards . Her eyes opened wide as she realized that that is about to put the 'red candy' into her mouth. As tossed the red orb into her mouth, Blossom realized that she could not reach in time. With seconds to lose, she fires her eyebeam at the candy, vaporizing it and the rest of the beam marked the wall with a scorched mark. Butch and Buttercup was taken aback by Blossom's sudden action. Buttercup was about to chastise Blossom for her eyebeam, but Butch immediately jumped on Blossom. As Blossom was pinned between the legs of the muscled teenager, she looked up to see a very enraged pair of jadeite eyes looking at her.

"WHAT THE HELL?! ARE YOU CRAZY!" Butch shouted.

"Stop Butch! She is not at fault! Get off her this instant!" shouted at Butch. The boy turns his head towards his adoptive parent and saw that there are some sweat running down her relieved expressions. Not expecting the reaction, Butch gets off the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl but continued to glare at the red-ribboned teenager.

"Are you alright Ms. Morningstar? You almost ate the candy!"

"Yes, if it were not for you, I would have swallowed it. Something is wrong with that drug. It just compelled me to take it in...utterly soul-shattering." said in disbelief.

"Hi girls, what did I miss?" Everyone's attention turns towards the window and floating outside are two teenagers, one a blonde blue-eyed girl with two pigtails wearing a white dress with brown boots while the other a male red-eyed teenager with a long thin fiery orange ponytail wrapped in red kerchief at the base with a red cap on his head clad in a maroon turtleneck and black trousers. Blossom sighed, and it appears that it is time to call the professor to come over as well.

 _This is going to be a long night_ , Blossom said to herself.


	11. Chapter 11: Fighting Is Friendship

Chapter 11: Fighting is Friendship

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _A city now plagued with a new drug epidemic called 'Red Candy'. Even though it has only been on the streets for less than a week, the drug had taken hold within the underworld and are now used by mobsters, creeps and crooks. Men in blue went after them, but still they are off the hook. For those that scare and terrorize, it is a dawn of a brand new day for now they have the weapon to take the town for their own. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. However this is not such a town, where tyranny would reign supreme. For the forces of just are on the case to try and stop these evil once and for all._

 _Professor Utonium along with some of the foremost experts in the field of science are on the case to crack the code behind the unnaturally addictive and seductive drug, and no efforts are spared for the soul of the city of Townsville are at stake. The Townsville Poice Department are doing their best to fight against the tide of crime with nothing more than their sense of justice. Meanwhile, as the scientific minds of Townsville and the just arm of the law are doing their best to stem the tide of evil, we turn back to the lives of the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys as they go about their lives in Townsville High._

 _It has been a week since their detention, and now Blossom and Buttercup are off the hook (And so are the Rowdyruff Boys)! Let's see what they are doing with their newfound freedom._

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 3.30pm]

It has only been like close to two weeks, but it felt like it was longer. Indeed today is the last day for the detention for the Blossom, Buttercup and the Rowdyruff Boys.

Butch is utterly bored out of his mind in detention, and right now due to the incident with the 'flirting', he was forced to share his detention time with Buttercup. Personally, he preferred Blossom over Buttercup as he personally finds the copper-haired teenager much more pleasing to the eye than her combative sister. That is not to say that Buttercup is not attractive, he thought. Right now Buttercup is sitting a few spaces in front of him and her leather jacket is draped on the chair, while her olive green halterneck sports outfit is revealing her back in its entirety.

Her back is something to look at, for her tightly toned yet delicate musculature body is symmetrically sculpted to perfection, no muscle being too small nor being too large. Her perfect posture highlights the countless hours of training and exercise that she had done over her lifetime and despite her slightly wider shoulders than those of her hips, her waist and figure are top notch and the nape of her neck is utterly alluring for all to see. As he looks down her back, he notices her well-formed butt and noticed how perfectly shaped they are. If Blossom has the womanly charm of her legs and her arms, then Buttercup's most attractive traits are her neck, her back and her butt. As for Bubbles, he does not even want to think about it, as he would rather leave that problem to Brick.

As Buttercup looks at the clock, she inadvertently shows her gorgeous soft angular face and he couldn not help but to admire her cool beauty. He noticed that the short-haired female is now looking at him with her attractively sharp lime-green eyes, her eyebrow frowning in a way that Butch finds for some reason to be both exotic and erotic and full lips are also pouting in disapproval. As she turns her back towards him, she reveal her fine well-build torso, toned abdomen and a little of the side of her fine perky breasts and she rests one of her arms on the back of her chair. For some reason, he sensed a rather disturbing aura and it was then that he realized that perhaps he might have stared too long. All he could do is to give his best disarming smile and Buttercup rolled her eyes before she faces forward once more, revealing her unblemished back once more. Butch remarked in his mind over could not help but to notice all these little things due to how slow time passes in detention.

If he is trapped for even one more week inside detention with either Blossom or Buttercup, he would not know what he would do to them. His raging teenager male hormones is warning him that the Powerpuff Girls have grown up to be such beauties that he would 'tap'. As for his brain, he wondered why on earth did the forces of nature made his lifelong nemeses such goddesses of seduction. But perhaps he would get a chance to experience her physical beauty in a more proper manner and at the same time, he would like to get back at her for all the times he had kicked his ass as little kids. With the detention being essentially over, he could perhaps make his own little problem. He remembered that Buttercup had joined all the physical education clubs, and one of those clubs is the Mixed Martial Arts Club.

He smiled wickedly at the thought that he could use that opportunity to exact his revenge and also perhaps experience the physical sensation of her body making contact with his own.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 4.00pm]

Buttercup finds Butch staring at her a little creepy, but that saying he has always been the weird one whenever the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls fight. His insatiable shaking and his manic giggling when he was a young boy is still fresh in her mind, and right now she is betting that he wants to exact his revenge somehow. But how, she asked herself. How does one like him gets to cause trouble within the confines of the school?

"Alright Butch and Buttercup, your detention is over. I hope I won't be seeing you here anymore." The teacher watching their detention informed them of their release.

"Thanks Mrs. Cobblepot!" Buttercup said with joy. Ah, finally! The hell is over! Buttercup could not wait to go to her most favorite club in school. As she walks towards the door, the well-muscled male cuts through her path to the door.

"Hey watch it, you idiot!" Buttercup yelled.

"Well, I am off. See you soon Butterbutt." Butch taunted the short-haired superheroine.

"I hope I don't have to see you again in my life if I could!" Buttercup hissed angrily. She pushes him aside and walks out from the detention classroom.

 _I really need to go there now_ , Buttercup said to herself as she walks hurriedly in the hallway. Personally, she could never stand him in person, but somehow for some reason she always find him the most similar to her. Their battle styles when they were kids were very similar and in fact among their siblings, they are the most powerful and the fastest. That often means that whenever they fought, their siblings will always inadvertently paired them together. Over the many times they have fight, they soon learned to respect each other's combat capabilities. But that is as far as they would go, as they hated each other's guts. As she arrived at her location, she gave herself a smile and pushed the door wide open.

"I'm back guys!" Buttercup cheered out loud. Buttercup is finally back in the Mixed Martial Arts club after two weeks of suspension. Despite having the membership to nearly all of Townsville High's sporting clubs, it is mixed martial arts that she is most passionate about. All the other clubs are just ways for her to be fit enough to participate in this club. Of course being the toughest fighter in the club, she does not have any rivals in the club. Instead she acts more like a mentor to her juniors and also an inspiration for her seniors, and for that she is their vice president.

"Welcome back Vice-President Utonium!" A fairly average looking dark-haired male with blue eyes came up to Buttercup waving his arm.

"Stop Steve, I told you to not call me that here. Just Buttercup will do." Buttercup said with a smile as she pats the shoulder of her junior. He freezes in place, and his face is in an utter bliss. Buttercup noticed the facial expression of her junior and waved her palm over his eyes.

"You alright there Steve?"

"Yes, Buttercup...I am...fine." The junior snapped out of his bliss.

"Okay, if you say so." As she walks past him, she did not realize what she had done to the young man. Buttercup's reputation as an cool and aloof beautiful dark-haired girl have made her more or less one of the three untouchables of Townsville High (along with her sisters). This in turn made her cheerful reactions as one of the 'great wonders' of Townsville High and it is something to be cherished. Unbeknownst to her, pictures of her smiling face along with her exposed back are sold for a mighty high profit in Townsville High.

As she takes off her leather jacket, the gaze of the male and female members of the club are now upon her. It has been a while since they saw her entering into the ring, and for many of them, Buttercup is the main reason why they entered the club. Buttercup puts her jacket on the floor, the halterneck sports outfit revealing her finely sculpted back and torso leading down to her finely balanced hips. She takes out her belt and starts to pull down her baggy shorts, revealing a short boxing shorts that accentuates her fine rear and also slowly revealing her fine toned legs. The male members of the club swallowed hard, as her fine lean and athletic form is God's gift to them. As she turned around, they are greeted by the front of her halterneck, her toned abdomen and her perky chest being shown prominently.

"Alright guys, who want to have a spar with me?" Buttercup asked joyfully.

Suddenly, the door to their club room slams open and everyone turned their attention to the entrance of the club. Standing before them is a tall, dark and well-build male wearing a n olive green tanktop and dark olive green military-patterned cargo pants with a green hairband holding his onyx-colored hair. As the good-looking stranger looks into the club with his jadeite green eyes, he gives a cheeky smile to the members of the club.

"What are you doing here, Butch?" Buttercup's eyebrow turns into a frown as Butch slowly walks into the club. As he makes his way towards her, she also make her way towards the Rowdyruff Boy. As they meet in the center of the club room, Buttercup is now looking upwards at him, as he is head and shoulders above her in height. Butch rests his arms on his hips and gives the spunky lady a smile.

"I would like to join the Mixed Martial Arts club. I heard that this is the strongest sports club in Townsville High and I heard that there is a particularly worthy opponent in this club." Butch smiled as Buttercup understood what he meant. This is perhaps unavoidable, and indeed she is surprised that it did not happened sooner. She sighed and scratched her head, before looking back at him with her sharp stare. She honestly wanted to refuse him, but her recollection of Principal's Nadia's observational term makes her really annoyed.

 _Observing their first two weeks of their club activities, and if one of us is in the club it is our responsibility to watch over them huh?_ , Buttercup said to herself as if to remind herself that such a term exist. As the rest of the club members watched over them, Buttercup realized that she would have to pop the question or he would take the opportunity to challenge her instead.

"Well, would you like to try out our club first?" Buttercup asked, knowing his reply.

"I would take you up on the offer. Sparing with you I would assume?" Butch suggested, and Buttercup could only sigh once more.

"Well Butch, we don't use superpowers in this club."

"Fine by me. Down to basics."

"Well, get ready. Let's see what you've got cowboy."

The members of the club could feel the fighting spirit of the two superhumans coalescing into one large storm of rivalry. Butch trembles and gives a wide grin as he moved away from Buttercup, while Buttercup could not help but to give a smirk. In both their minds, it seems that they are returning to the time when they are eight years old, the time when they last had their fight. They remembered it like it was yesterday, when they were smashing through the streets of Townsville itself, the world around them alight with flames and the buildings turned to rubble and dust. The time where they understood each other by their fist, and the way their body move. She could remember the time when he blasted her with his fists, and the shock wave she felt from his punch rippling inside her body while Butch could recall how the sensation of her sharp punches pierced through his liver and caused him agonizing pain. The time where the world hang in the balance as they slug it out like there is never a past to look back to, nor a future in which they could see ahead. There is nothing but the present, and they would not have it any other way.

Buttercup decides that perhaps she would need to text her sister about the matter, just in case her bloodlust goes up in a feverish pitch. As she texts and sends the message, she could not help but to change the smirk into a smile. Butch notices the smile on her face, and he could smell her eagerness to fight. Her face is not her usual frown, but neither is it a soft expression. It is something more primal and more manic, and he could only start to grin and tremble with excitement.

"Um...Butch? Do you need us to prepare you for the match?" A young girl with short dark brown hair and green eyes asked the tall superhuman teenager. Seeing that such a pretty little flower is going to prepare him for his battle makes him a little more happier than usual.

"Yes please." Butch gives his best attractive smile, and holds her arms. The teenage girl blushed before she walks way to get him his combat attire.

 _What a flirt_ , Buttercup is now watching Butch taking a seat as the club member known as Elena gave him some grappling gloves to try on for the spar. She takes out her grappling gloves from her jacket and wears them one by one. She then whistles causing two of the club members to approach her. Before they could even ask her about anything, Buttercup states her intention.

"Get me my ankle wraps." The two members speeds off to find her ankle wraps. As the club members prepared the cage and also the sparring participants, Butch and Buttercup though of the same thing; _They are fighting once more._

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville: 4.20pm]

"Please go out with me!"

 _Not this again,_ Brick is face to face with a dainty girl with brown caramel skin and purple-dyed bob hair. Her soft purple lipstick accentuates her pouty lips and her eye shadow accentuates her green eyes. Brick takes out his blood-red cap and scratches his carnelian-coloured hair as he looked at the girl with his cinnabar-colored eyes. Ever since his act of negotiation or to be exact intimidation with the robbers at the Cafe Latte was known and videos of the incident spread throughout social media like wildfire, the student population of Townsville High had more or less accepted Brick. Unfortunately for Brick, this also means that the female student population that are infatuated with him before but are not willing to approach him had decided to muster their courage and have bombarded him with requests to be their dates, boyfriend and more besides. The irony of showing his most intimidating appearance to the public had caused them to bring them closer to him is not lost on him and now here he is, with a dainty girl before him. To be fair, she is quite a looker with a very well-balanced frame and if Butch was the one being confessed to, he would eat her up in no time. Alas, he is not Butch and honestly speaking, he is never really good with the opposite gender and his general response to this situation had always been the same.

 _Alright Brick, let's proceed with Operation Maskirovka._

"Sorry, but there's something on your shoulder." Brick points towards her left shoulder. As her attention turned towards her shoulder, he dashes the opposite direction and runs up the stairs. With his superhuman dashes, no one would even notice him-"Brick, that isn't very nice. You should have just told her that you don't feel the same way towards her." Brick looks up to see a blonde girl in pigtail buns in a casual white one piece dress that goes all the way to her knees and brown boots looking at him with disapproving zircon-coloured eyes. From a bad situation to a worse one, Brick thought to himself.

"Hello Parole Officer Utonium." Brick greeted his 'parole officer' with a dejected tone. As the days goes by, the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys are no longer in detention, but they are still being monitored by the girls. One way or another, Brick had landed under the bubbly lady's observation, or some may even call 'under her care'. But for Brick, he doesn't mind the arrangement. In Brick's personal opinion, Bubble's is perhaps the only girl in the whole school that truly sees him as an individual, not as an object of fear nor infatuation. Even when she saw him in his most intimidating mode, she did not treat him any differently. For that, counting out and his brothers, he is the most comfortable around her. How ironic that she is a Powerpuff Girl, one of the beings that he was created to defeat.

"What am I going to do with you?" Bubbles said to the superhuman ruby-eyed teenager wearing a red jacket and a black shirt. For some reason, she could not take her eyes off Brick, as the fates would always put him in her path. Of course, his shameless blonde brother is also another individual that kept on crossing her path, but of the two, she would rather choose to cross Brick's path.

"Would you kindly escort me? All the other girls in this school are pouncing leopards." Brick requested. Brick shuddered as he recalled how one of the girls in the class tried to 'trip' on him and 'accidentally' kissed him. If it were not for Bubbles grabbing the female student at the last moment, he would not know what would happen to him in the classroom. Parole officer cum girl bodyguard, Brick entertained the thought for a moment.

"It would be my pleasure." Bubbles curtsied as she smiled at him. Brick smiled back and walks up the steps to join the sweet teenage girl. Suddenly the red-capped teenager felt a sudden pressure emanating throughout the school. Brick is already in cold sweat, recognizing the distinctive raw excitement of the aura. Bubbles noticed the sudden reactions of the Rowdyruff Boy and asked him what is going on.

" _Butch_. We need to find him _now_." Brick emphasized. 

* * *

[Chinese Appreciation Club, Townsville High: 4.25pm)

Blossom had just returned from the restroom to her Chinese Appreciation Club, when she received a Messenger from Buttercup. Blossom picks up the phone and her eyes are now scanning the message to discern its content. Blossom frowned as she realized what the message is all about. Robin, the erstwhile brunette friend and neighbor of the Powerpuff Girls noticed Blossom's expression and came up to her. She taps her copper-haired friend on the shoulder, and her friend turns around to face her.

"What's wrong?" Robin whispered.

"My stupid brute of a sister is going to fight Butch. I need to get out from the club somehow, and I can't use the toilet trick as I just went moments ago." Blossom hissed back.

"Do you need a distraction or something?"

"I really do."

"You owe me one Bloss."

"Cafe Latte's chocolate lava mud cake?"

"You know me long enough Bloss. Alright, when I do my thing, just play along." Blossom nods, and immediately the brunette with the bright blue eyes begins to sway, and begins to lose her balance. She falls into Blossom's arm, and Blossom immediately did her best impression of a worried and panicked friend.

"Robin, Robin?! Are you okay?" The club's attention are now upon the two girls, Blossom cried out as she carries her friend in a bridal carry.

"What's wrong Blossom?" One of the members of the club asked with great concern.

"I think Robin is having her fainting episodes again! Quick, I need to bring her to the school nurse!" Without even batting an eye, Blossom had lied to the whole club and is now rushing out. Seeing the urgency of the matter, two of the club members opened the door for the long-haired teenager. Taking the chance, she rushes out from the clubroom and kept on running until she sees the nurse's office. She breaks to a grinding halt and puts her brunette friend down.

"Nice one Blossom. You've improved." Robin winks at Blossom.

"I guess you would be 'fine' on your own?" Blossom nudges her best friend. Robin responded by knocking on the door, and as the opened door revealed the nurse Robin's legs starts to sway a little.

"Oh, Nurse Joy I feel kind of faint." As the nurse takes Robin in, the brunette puts her right hand behind her back and gives a thumbs up. Knowing that their cover story are all covered more or less, Blossom makes a move towards the Mixed Martial Arts club with haste. 

* * *

[Mixed Martial Arts Club, Townsville High, Townsville: 3.30pm]

As they entered the cage, the two fighters are now sizing up on each opt to fight bare-chested while keeping his combat cargo pants on. Keeping in line with the rules of the cage, he had taken off his shoes and instead wraps his feet with heavy gauze while wearing black grappling gloves. Buttercup is wearing her sports halterneck with her boxing shorts with lime-green grappling gloves and ankle wraps. As they walked towards the center of the cage, a male student acting as the referee asked both of them to bump their fist if they are ready. Immediately, both of the punched at each other's fist so hard that a loud thunderous clap could be heard in the whole clubroom. As the referee looked in cold sweat, he could see that the fist of the two superhumans are already smoking, and there is a very disturbing smile on both their faces. The referee regretted his decision to watch over the match.

 _Interesting, her core muscles are packed. Both upper and lower body core are solid. So are her legs. So that's how she can pack all those power in her punches..._

 _Huh, a grappling brawler. Kinda fits him to be honest, but those arms and legs sure look mighty fierce. Got to be careful of those punches. Could still feel the tremor in my arm._

As the two superhumans shuffled and jockey for a favorable position, the other club members are watching the match and some are even livestreaming the match from their phones. Already, some unscrupulous students are already booking the bets the outcome of the fight. Despite the restlessness of the crowd, the two superhumans are taking all the time in the world to make the first strike. A little shuffling forward, a little sidestep, a little feint here and there. It seems that both fighters are not falling for it. That brings a smile to their face.

"Not bad Butters. You've improved." Butch complimented his opponent.

"Same goes to you, Butchy." Buttercup replied back,

"What on earth are they talking about? They haven't done anything yet!" The club member known as Steve exclaimed out loud.

"Well, they are usually reckless and are prone to fight first and think later. So the idea of them doing what you see now is a big improvement and also how much respect they have for each other." A voice answered Steve. Steve turns around to see a teenager wearing a red cap and bright cinnabar eyes looking at the cage with interest. Beside him, a copper-haired female with a large bow ribbon holding her long flowing hair and a pigtail bun blonde girl with sky blue eyes are also watching the match with interest.

"Who are you? And Blossom? Bubbles?" What are you doing here?" Steve asked the two girls. The other club members turned their attention to the new arrivals, wondering how did they even entered the room without them even knowing.

"I got the message from Buttercup to watch over the match and keep everyone safe if needed." Blossom turned her eyes towards her cap-wearing counterpart, waiting for an explanation. Brick chuckled before he answered the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.

"I felt Butch's excitement. We brothers are linked on a much deeper level, more _primal_ level. It led me here." Blossom looks at Bubbles, and Bubbles nods her head. Seeing that her sister have vouched for him, she turned her attention towards the two superhumans inside the cage.

 _Wow, he can switch between a orthodox stance and also southpaw stance in a moment. This would be quite tough_ , Buttercup thought to herself. She is analyzing his footwork and also his combat stances, and it seems that he intentionally switches his stance so that she could not have a read on his movements. How long has it been since she had an opponent that made her think? Made her cautious? Made her solve things? She grins, as she is seeing all the possibilities of her first blow and how he would react to it.

 _Not bad, her footwork's amazing. Her feet are light, but she's prepared for anything_ , Butch thought in amazement. Her footwork is beautiful, as there is no wasted movement and everything has an optimal purpose. Not even the most accomplished Shayetet-13 operative could move as swiftly as what she is doing right now. Butch is never a thinker when it comes to fighting, but his instincts are razor-sharp. He knows that if he makes one wrong move, it will all be over.

 _But I will break the stalemate now_ , Butch and Buttercup thought at the same time. Immediately Butch dashes towards Buttercup, aggressively weaving his body diagonally while Buttercup rushes at Butch, and leaps up and spins at Butch counterclockwise with a spinning back hand. Butch performs a right shovel hook and tries to nail the Powerpuff Girl in mid-flight, but Buttercup grabs his fist with her left hand. She balances her torso between her arm and swings the entirety of her legs in a counterclockwise spin towards his head. Reacting on instinct, he intentionally loses his balance and made an exaggerated falling motion. As Buttercup's kicks barely grazed his hair, he twists his body while both legs are lifted from the ground and swings towards her head. She immediately lets go of Butch's arm and swings out of control, thereby avoiding his kicks. Butch spins and executes a full turn in the air and landing on the right back outside edge in an arching motion, while Buttercup lands on the ground in a crouching position with her feet wide apart while supporting her weight with one hand on the ground while the other is outstretched away from her body, pointing diagonally upwards. As both of them looked at each other with excitement, the crowd is in awe over the amazingly fluid fighting moves that the two superhumans just did.

"What the heck are those moves?!" Steve exclaimed out loud. But the three other superhumans recognizes what they have just did.

"Butch attempted to weave towards her while she is trying to hit him with a quick spinning knuckle." Blossom explained first.

"Not just any weave. He is executing a diagonal Dempsey Roll, which allowed him to do a right shovel hook immediately to respond. If it is a normal weave, he would have been struck by the spinning knuckle." Brick corrected his counterpart, his expression unmoving.

"But then she grabbed his hook and refocuses the energy into a acrobatic flare to try and attack him with her flaring legs. That is really difficult, especially when you are in mid-air like that." Bubbles said, knowing the move her sister did from her various cheer-leading and acrobatics club activities. She did not expect her sister to engage such a graceful move.

"However, to counter her flare counterattack, he decided to do a butterfly kick towards Buttercup. If he resisted, his arm and his face would be broken by now." Brick posits as he crosses his arms, and he looks at Blossom for her to complete the commentary.

"But Buttercup lets go of his fist, as it is the most logical way to make him lose his mark, and also her spinning motion would have reduced the damage of the fall. At the same time, if he misses he would be landing on his feet thereby reducing the chance of any counterattack. Interesting application of centrifugal force by both of then." Blossom commented her observation with interest.

"He landed on a Lutz jump and she did a three-point landing. Those moves are optimal given their momentum-based combat actions, in order to ease the impact of their landing." Bubbles ends the observation, feeling awed at their balancing act. The students are now looking at them, nodding at the three commentators of the moment. Suddenly the three superhumans were forced to sit down on a bench and a table was quickly placed before them with three microphones and three bottles of mineral water. They were then forced to seat down on the bench by the club three superhumans looked at each other quizzically, before they shrugged and continued on watching the match.

 _That is some sick moves there Buttercup. I knew you will not dissapoint_ , Butch said in his mind excitedly.

 _Whew! I thought I was a goner there! His battle reflexes are amazing._..,Buttercup thought. Noticing that Buttercup is now watching him, Butch decides to speak up.

"How'd you like them apples?"

"Not bad, not bad at all." Buttercup grins cheekily, and Butch responded with his own cheeky smile. Immediately both of them dashes towards each other and are now in their own world. Both their eyes are glowing as they attacked each other and dodging the attacks, and slowly but surely their pace is becoming faster and faster. Blossom sigh and facepalms, while Brick pushes his chair back a little before putting both his legs on the table while folding his arms. The other club members are now stunned into silence, as they never seen her fight in such a manner, not even against monsters.

Finally the first hit was made in the match, or to be exact the first hits. Buttercup's side kick slams against Butch's straight left, causiing both of them to recoil from each other. Butch followed up with a right roundhouse kick but Buttercup folds her left leg up and blocks it with her left calf. She uses the moment to propel her front leg forward, causing the jadeite-eyed teenager to slam his palm down on her shin. However, Butch noticed that her left leg is heading down faster than he expected, and Buttercup's whole body followed suit. Planting her arms on the floor, she did a backflip and launches into it scissors kick and grabs Butch by the neck with her legs. Buttercup spins and slither around his body like a serpent before she slams him down head first in a takedown.

"OH MY GOD SHE JUST DID A HURRICANRANA!" Steve cried out loud, jumping with girlish excitement. The rest of the club members roared with excitement.

"That's unexpected, I never knew that move work in real-life." Brick raised an eyebrow as he watches Butch slams on the ground.

"Well, that's Buttercup for you. She always make any move she seen, fictional or not, into a real fight move." Blossom shrugged.

Buttercup stayed away from her half-naked opponent, and as he gets up he cracks his neck. Butch clearly did not expect himself to be hit by a WWE move, and clearly Buttercup had taken the ideals of mixed martial arts to a wholly different level than he thought possible. For all he knows, she would be integrating videogame moves into her plethora of combat moves. Looks like he would have to improvise to the situation.

"What's wrong _Bitchy?_ " Buttercup taunted the Rowdyruff Boy. Suddenly he turns his back on Buttercup before jumping towards the cage and bounces towards the cage. As his legs reaches the cage, he pushes himself away from the surface before bouncing upwards in a dive flip towards Buttercup. Buttercup, unsure of where Butch would land, attempts to dash forward but he controlled his flip well enough that his hands lightly taps on Buttercup's shoulder for him and spins to her back. As he remains airborne, he grabs Buttercup around her waist, and with the momentum of his speed, lifts her up and falls backwards slamming the raven-haired girl down to the mat shoulder and upper back first before rolling away from her. As she reorients herself, the onyx-haired fighter lunges forward, before rolling and slamming the back of his shoulder at Buttercup's torso. Caught by the sudden unconventional body slam, Buttercup was stunned. Seeing his chance, Butch continuously rolled and slammed her with the back of his shoulder until he flipped and lands the ball of his foot on her head. Such was the force of the blow that she started to spin in the air before landing hard on the mat, just barely missing the referee.

He then rushes in to try and bring the fight to the ground, Buttercup responds by doing a backflip and landing two harsh consecutive kicks at his chin, causing the tall Rowdyruff Boy's head to lash backwards. As she lands down on her feet, she kneels and folds her right fist towards her body, tensing and bulging her muscles before she lunges upwards to perform a powerful spinning uppercut at Butch's jaw that vertically ascends straight up. Such was the force of the punch that Butch was launched upwards towards the air before landing down with a thundering slam. Once again, the referee just barely survived the impact.

"Bet you fifty bucks that they would use their powers." Brick tempts Blossom, but Blossom refused.

"Betting against that is a losing bet. Her eyes are glowing already. I would say that Buttercup would be the first one to use her powers." Blossom responded.

"I'm betting my money on Butch being the first to use his power. Are we on?" Brick asked the pink Powerpuff Girl.

"No." Blossom is adamant on not taking the bet, and Brick giving a sly smile at the pink-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"Right, I will take out the poor referee out just in case." Bubbles said nonchalantly as she floats into the cage while the two superhumans are slugging it out. She then picks the referee up bridal style and floats back out. As she places the referee down, Bubbles decides that she would be the one to watch out for the two fools inside the MMA cage and floats back to become the replacement referee, though to be fair she is essentially just observing them having a brawl. There is no point judging a superhuman fight, Bubbles noted. Blossom, Bubbles and Brick noticed that there are now dozens of vapor cones appearing in mid-air and several sonic booms as the two superhumans become increasingly faster and faster in their movements and their attacks. The onlookers are now covering their ears as the sonic shockwaves get louder and louder.

"If this goes on, we're gonna use our superpowers. Old habits die hard huh?" Buttercup winks as she tries to uppercut the Rowdyruff remembered how she used to fight with the green Rowdyruff Boy, and although she hated him at the time she always find that she is the most comfortable fighting against him as compared to his brothers. Boomer is a little too fast and fragile for her own liking, while Brick always plays dirty. But in Butch, she finds a worthy opponent, and after all these years she had finally realized that she may hate his guts, but she sure does not hate his fighting. He is a kindred spirit from a long time ago, and she felt the most relaxed when she is fighting him, for his style may be brutal and excessive, but it also has its own inner peace which she finds soothing to her. This is how a fight supposed to be; an experience in which they could just absorb and be one with the force. For that Buttercup is able to smile, as she found someone who understands.

"Well, we have always been fighting with superpowers anyway. I find fighting without it is much weirder." Butch lets out a boisterous laugh as he dodges and attempts a lariat on Buttercup's neck. Battles are not supposed to be heroic affairs, and they are not supposed to be fun or exciting. For Butch, fighting is not the harmful activity that it is, nor an act of self-preservation. Instead, it is rather therapeutic as a fight is like chicken soup for the soul; warm and soothing to his otherwise dried sense of battle. As both of them landed their blows against each other, dodging each other, and feinting their moves, he felt like they are dancing in a waltz. Each move has a meaning, and each strike has a function. For every step that they take, they know how their body would move with the rest of the step, and how each bodily movement would move to the sound of the beat of their pounding heart. The octagon that they are fighting in is like a ballroom, and they are now dancing at their finest on the dance floor. All this time, he had wanted peace of mind on the battlefield, and he is having it now with Buttercup. For that Butch is able to smile, as he found someone who understands.

"So do you want to call it quits Bitchy?" Buttercup asked the superhuman boy with the hairband as she swings a crescent kick aimed for his chin.

"Are you kidding me Butterbutt? Let's get ourselves a real fight!"

"You are speaking my language Bitchy!" Both of them are about to use their superpowers before a voice interrupted them.

"Ahem." Bubbles coughs, and the two fighting figures finally noticed the presence of Buttercup's sister. The glow in their eyes starts to dim down as Bubbles gestured outside the cage, and Butch and Buttercup realized that their most commanding siblings are now watching them. The two superhumans stopped and looked at each other. Both of them started laughing out loud and as everyone looked at them with perplexed look.

"Well, the siblings are always the party poopers." Butch said with a smile. The energy from the fight had finally left him, causing him to be rather relaxed.

"Agreed." Buttercup shared the same sentiment as her green counterpart as she winds down. Both of them floated out and landed in front of their siblings.

"Because you do stuff like this that we have to be the reasonable one." Blossom commented, but before she could even say anything further Brick slaps his brother on the head. Butch cried out in pain, and Buttercup snickered. Bubbles gasped, not expecting Brick's expression.

"Finally done with your play date? We are supposed to be going under the radar you idiot." Brick admonishes his brother.

"Oh like how you and Bubbles went on a date and then intimidated the robbers to impress her?" Butch retorted.

"W-w-w-w-haa-t? I-I-I...shut up!" Brick cried out as he could not come back with a response, for his mind just realized that their Cafe Latte trip does appear to look like a date. Bubbles blushed as she did not realize that it could be seen in that light and she looked away, but she glanced back at Brick. Seeing Brick blushing and stuttering like that really made Bubbles giggle. Brick felt that he shrunk a little.

"Well now, isn't that precious? You are embarrassed over a little date." Blossom remarked haughtily as she holds her palm vertically below her mouth as she laughed in a high-pitched refined laughter.

"At least I have shame, you swimsuit dominatrix flirt!" Brick barked back at the copper-haired girl with ribbons. Blossom stopped laughing, and immediately flushed red with utter embarrassment and anger.

"What did you call me!" Blossom screamed at the red-capped boy, not appreciating that she is called as such. Realizing that he has the momentum, decides to press on with his advantage.

"You heard me the first time you deviant flirt! Everybody's got a thing, but _some_ people don't know how to handle it apparently!" Brick points at Blossom, making the target of his remarks clear for all to see. Blossom immediately swats the pointing finger away from her, and the crowd start to gather around the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys. Somehow, it appears that when these two opposites meet, a spark will follow. Blossom's veins on her temples are now popping up in anger and she prods Brick's chest as her eyes start to glow a pinkish-red.

"Well, excu~se me you emo clown!" The veins of Brick's head also pops out prominently, and his eyes are now glowing a malevolent crimson. The other Powerpuff Girls and the remaining Rowdyruff Boy are now looking at each other, uncertain of what is to come next. As the two bicker on in an increasingly loud and vulgar shouting match, Buttercup shrugged. Buttercup noticed that Bubbles is looking around, and Buttercup tapped on the blonde pig-tailed bun girl's shoulder.

"What are you looking for Bubbles?" Buttercup asked.

"Speaking about embarrassments...where is Boomer?"

Immediately the Powerpuff Girls' phone started blaring, causing everyone to be caught unaware. The three girls picked up their phone and answered it. As Brick and Butch looked at them, they noticed that the girls' expression turned a little darker. As they ended their call, they looked at Brick and Butch with a great amount of concern. Seeing their expressions, they realized that it must be related to them. Blossom broke the news to the boys.

"We need to go to the pier now. Boomer's is engaged with a supervillian."


	12. Chapter 12: Gray and Blue

Chapter 12: Gray and Blue

[Townsville Pier, Townsville: 4.45pm]

A teenager clad in a black high-collared hoodie with a skulls and crossbone emblazoned on its collar is now dangling his legs as he sits by the pier, watching the setting sun with his sapphire eyes. As he rest his head on his palm, the dark blue flames patterns on the sleeves and rims of the hoodie cushioned his head. The figure sighed as before deciding to lie down sideways on the wooden pied and resting his elbow on the pier, while his arm supporting his head.

 _But if you are listening Boomer; you better reflect on what you are, you douchebag buttwipe prick who stands for nothing at all._

Boomer has been under the weather for the past few days, as Buttercup's words echoed in his head at every waking moment. Indeed it stings his heart even as he remembered her words. Boomer felt the burn in more ways than one, as he has always been in the shadow of his brothers. Brick always has his tactical and cold-hearted ruthlessness, while Butch is more or less a human tank. But Boomer? He has always been playing a supporting role with reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures, and he is not a true frontline soldier nor a true commander. He is never as good as them. For that he compensate with his wild attics and his unpredictability.

But what Buttercup said to him hurts more than it should have. He struck at the crux of the matter; he is compensating for a lot of things and she saw right though it all. Her voice is like a lightning bolt striking at his heart, causing a cardiac arrest for his soul. The shock is still felt even now.

His hypersensitive ears picked up on the sound of police sirens, but he is not too bothered by it. He was not doing anything wrong nor anything right at the moment, so he would not be arrested to begin with. But the explosions sounds that killed the sirens definitely caught his attention and he wondered what could be causing the explosions. He gets up from his leaning position and turned around to the source of the explosions. It appears that the sound is coming from the other side of the pier, and he can hear several other explosions and men screaming. He decides to focus his hearing a little more to pick up on the details.

"Townsville PD, this is Officer McCarthy! We got a situation here! The attempted 'Red Candy' bust turned out to be a trap! Las Noches gang members are armed and dangerous! And they got Red Candy! We need backup over!"

"Officer McCarthy, this is Townsville PD! We are trying to get reinforcements to your location! Please hold on!"

"Afraid I can't hold out for long! Three patrol vehicles are blasted! We can't hold on! We need-"

The sound of a vehicle crashing echoed in Boomer's ear, and he knew what happened to Officer McCarthy. Boomer is somewhat used to the idea of death, for he had served in the battlefields alongside his brothers. Usually he would not care about these sort of things, but right now something in him compels him to investigate. He blazes towards the scene in a streak of cobalt blue lightning and hides among the wooden crates overlooking the scene. He sees several burning vehicles and also many injured or perhaps dead men lying around on the floor. Boomer watches as the gang members are reloading their rocket-propelled grenades and their assault rifles, as if ready to repel another wave of attacks from an armed battalion. Seeing this battle, it is utterly hopeless for the police to send in any more reinforcements. For all Boomer knows, no one will survive the onslaught that they have unleashed on these poor officers.

"Must...get...out..."

Boomer recognizes the voice as those of the officer he heard just now, and turns to the direction of the voice to see a police officer slowly crawling away from one of the upturned patrol cars. Boomer looks on at the gangsters notices the officer and are now aiming at the officer. One of them shoots near the officer, and they all laugh. Another one aims and shoots closer, and more laughing. The third one aims and shoots the officer at the thigh of the officer., and this time the laughter is hysterical. Boomer have seen such acts of cruelty before, and they will not stop until they have their fun. Boomer watches as the officer face is contorted in pain and fear, but there is something inside the officer that compelled him to move on. Boomer is no hero, and personally he really do not see the point of revealing himself to save one wanted to just move away, but then he heard Buttercup's voice in his head again.

 _In this time of fear when prayers proved to be in vain and hope just swiftly flown away, they need to know that there can be miracles when they believe. They need to know that though hope is frail, it's hard to kill._

Boomer remembered Buttercup's glowing lime-green eyes staring at him with contempt. Boomer decided that he would prove her wrong and he does stand for something. Lifting the crate that he is hiding behind, he takes aim and throws it towards the hoodlums. Within a split second, the crate hits its target and several yelps of pain resonate in the air. Boomer rushes forward to grab the officer and lifting him over his shoulders, he dashes in a streak of blue lightning. The gunfire soon followed, and Boomer is now hiding behind a cargo container with the wounded officer.

"Thank...you..." The officer said. Boomer looks at the injuries sustained by the officer, and after deeming it non-fatal, he tears off the police officer's pants and ties it tightly with the torn fabric. The officer screamed in pain as Boomer did his best to bandage and apply pressure on the wound as looked at the pale middle-aged officer. Boomer's hearing is picking up on the gangsters reloading their guns and issuing commands in Spanish.

"Alright officer, I need to know what I am facing. After that, just keep quiet and apply pressure on your wound okay?"

"They are Los Noches...they tricked us by saying...a deal...they ambushed us...there are at least twenty..." Boomer realized that the man is weakening by the moment, and the information provided would have to do.

"Alright, Just put pressure on the wound. I will handle this." Before the officer could stop him, Boomer is gone in a flash.

Boomer speeds up towards the gangsters and immediately the gangsters opened fire at him. As he zigzagged towards his opponents, Boomer reasoned to himself that the easiest way to disable them would be to use is sonic clap, and whatever is left he would have to improvise. With this in mind, he breathed in deeply before he unleashed his sonic fury. He clapped his hand, causing the sound wave to reverberate and causing anything within his path that is light enough to be propelled by his voice towards the gangsters. The gangster were hit by the combination of several dozen broken crates and a sound wave that utterly destroyed their eardrums at the very least. Within seconds, the firing had stopped.

"Never fails." Boomer said confidently. However, his confidence was cut short by several raging roars. From the debris, at least five hulking red men with large muscles and extremely visible popping veins and arteries emerged. Seeing the hooded teenager in their sights, they charged towards him.

 _Holy crap, time to improvise,_ Boomer said as he is surprised that there are a bunch of enhanced monsters among the gang members. Boomer's arms glowed in a blue burning light and the energy extends outwards before it transforms slowly and begin to form two long baseball bat-like energy projections. A large rope-like chain at the base of the hilt lengthens, forming a connection between the two energy projections. Boomer grabs the hilt of the energy projections and rushes towards the first brute and with a thunderous spark, Boomer swings the bats at the head of the brute. A loud thunderous clap could be heard and body of the brute is enveloped in electrical currents. Before the brute could even react, Boomer hits the enhanced gangster with several more blows, each striking at a vital part of the body. Boomer ends the bludgeoning with two hits on the crotch of the brute.

The smoking brute collapsed on the ground, but before Boomer could even admire his handiwork he was hit by another brute and he was propelled to a cargo container, denting the container as he made contact. Boomer emerges from the container only to be hit by a body tackle, causing him to sink even deeper into the dent made by the brute. Boomer plunges both tips of the energy baseball bats into the eyes of his opponent, causing the brute to scream out in pain as he lifts his arms and cover his eyes. Boomer kicks the brute with all his might and flies out from the dent, but Boomer is tackled in mid-air by another assailant. As they tumbled on the ground, Boomer tried to get himself out from the brute's hold.

 _Damn it, I wished I had taken Butch's ground fighting lessons a little more seriously_ , Boomer thought as his opponent is gaining the upper hand. However, Boomer took his lessons with Brick much more seriously, and he saw his opening. he slams his knee into the family jewels of the grappling opponent, causing the opponent to yell out. As the assailant rolls on the ground, Boomer opens up the assailant's legs with his own and smashes his baseball bats to the groin of the opponent. Within an instant, the opponent is limp. Three roars pierced through Boomer's ear, and realizing that he could not take down three of them at one go. He decided to fly upwards and hover above them as he figured out how to defeat them. Boomer watches as the brutes are now jumping upwards trying to get to him.

 _Seriously?_ , Boomer thought as they are slowly ascending to his height. But if there is one thing they do not have, it is the power of flying even higher. Boomer flies even higher and soon enough the brutes are now descending towards the surface. Boomer decides that this is the time to strike and decides to combine the energy baseball bats together into a much, much, _much_ larger bat and hit them with the bat. With a thunderous clank, the brutes are already flying away from the pier and towards Monster Island. Boomer puts his palm to shade his eyes as he watches the brutes landing in Monster lsland and breathes a sigh of relief.

 _I think that's everyone_ , Boomer thought to himself as he lands down on the pier. As his feet lands on the pier, Boomer hears a clapping sound.

Alarmed by the sudden clapping, Boomer turned around to see a figure clapping and walking towards person is a broad shouldered male wearing a full-faced mask clad in an outfit of pure white trenchcoat jacket, buttoned only at the first button with matching white sleeveless undershirt, the whiteness of his outfit punctuated by black sash around his waist, black bandanna wrapping his head. black jeans and black sneakers. Along with the long flowing blood-red hair of the figure, the only other visible feature of the figure's head is his cloudy gray eyes, staring at Boomer intently from the holes of the mask that the figure is wearing, a bat-like mask with a flat leaf-shaped nose, revealing only his his energy baseball bats again, Boom points one of the bats at the mysterious figure.

" _Hola , gringo."_

"Who the heck are you?"

"Well _gringo_ , Murciélago's the name." The figure answered the sapphire-eyed Rowdyruff boy.

"So Murcy, what brings you here?" Boomer said candidly, but Boomer is clueless about what will happen next, and he honestly will not be caught off-guard. His eyes are focused on the masked figure as the figure finally stops just short of an inch away from his pointing energy baseball bat.

"You hurt my _chicos_ , _gringo_. You declared war on _Los Noches._ " The gray eyes of the figure are staring with contempt at the blue-eyed teenager. The figure takes out three bright red orb-like object and swallows it. The masked figure's skin slowly turned into a crimson red like the brutes Boomer fought, and his veins and arteries are now popping through his skin. However his body did not grow any larger, but his eyes starts to glow a bright crimson. Seeing that this is turning ugly, Boomer brings his other energy baseball bat up and points it towards Murciélago. Murciélago lifts up his left arm and focuses all his fingers and points it at Boomer. As the winds blow the salty air of the ocean, both of them are waiting for the moment where everything will go down.

"Well, whenever you're ready Murcy." Boomer taunts the gangster.

"You asked for it." Murciélago said with malice. Suddenly a compressed crimson orb of energy forms from the gangster's fingertips and as the tri-focused orb of energy gathers its energy, the air current surrounding the pier starts to be sucked inwards towards the orb. A concentrated blast of energy emanates from the orb and Boomer realized that he needs to dodge this and close the distance between them. Boomer immediately leans backwards and just barely avoids the searing burn of the beam as it flies past him and splitting the ocean into two for a brief moment. Boomer immediately roll towards his opponent and shoots his eyebeam at the figure. Seeing the beam reaching at him, the gangster slaps Boomer's eyebeam aside, giving Boomer the shock of his life.

 _Not even the Powerpuff Girls could do that_ , Boomer thought. Suddenly his opponent flickered for a moment before disappearing before he suddenly appeared before Booomer. Boomer instinctively tried to guard himself but his reactions are a split second too slow, and he was struck at the stomach by Murciélago's kick. Boomer crashes into a forklift truck, causing it to crumple like a soda can. Boomer speeds out of it immediately and slams both his energy baseball bats at Murciélago's right side. The masked gangster blocks with his right arm, but was propelled into a storage warehouse, causing it to collapse upon itself. The ruins of the warehouse is soon engulfed in a red blast of energy, and the debris of the warehouse vaporized in an instant. Walking out from the center of the blast, the white-clad fighter appears to have some superficial damage on his outfit. Boomer watches as his opponent points his hands at him, and ten beams shoot out from each finger.

As Boomer dodges each one in the most haphazard way possible, he realized that he would need to take the police officer away from where he hid him. Boomer decides to make a 'tactical retreat', as he realized that he was severely outranged by the masked freak. Anyone that could slap an eyebeam away is no normal foe, and as he looks around he saw one of the brutes that he knocked out earlier lying down on the floor. With a lift of his legs and the blow from his energy baseball bats,he propels the brute towards the masked villian. Unperturbed, the bat-masked figure slaps the brute away like how one would swat a fly away in annoyance.

"Seriously stop slapping my attacks away !"Boomer cries out loud.

As he runs between the lanes of the pier,his opponent is just destroying anything in his path just to get to him. The destructive power of the beams are destroying the warehouses and the piers like they were houses of cards. Before long, Boomer spots the injured police officer and in one smooth motion scoops him up in a bridal carry. The officer cried out loud, and Boomer apologized.

"Sorry man, but that would be the least of your concerns Officer McCarthy."

"It's oka- How'd you know my name?"

"No time, I need to get you out of here fast!" Boomer speeds away in a bolt of blue lightning. The masked figure watches as the lightning bolt moves away from him in the sky. Murciélago raises his right arm and aims at the head of the lightning bolt with the tip of his thumb touching the tip of his middle finger. He slowly traces the movement of the blue lightning bolt before turning his hand palms up.

" _Silencio Obscuro_." The masked figure snaps his finger, causing a high-pitched tone to spread over a wide area and immediately discoloring the entire pier in shades of black, white and gray. As it reaches the bolt of lightning, the trail of the lightning slowly turns to a bright gray and crawls rapidly upwards till it reaches Boomer and Officer McCarthy. Boomer's hearing is immediately overloaded by the sound and his world turned black.

 _What the...why's everything so black?_

 _Hold on. I was flying with the officer in my arm._

 _Wait._

 _Wait._

 _I'm flying._

 _Crap._

 _Wake up Boomer._

 _WAKE UP!_

Boomer's eyes opened up and he can see that he is rapidly falling downwards to the pier, and with a great amount of effort he pulled himself away from the surface. The deafening silence is now ringing in his ear continuously, and he realized that he is now deaf. As he looked down on the officer, he noticed that the officer's eyes are now plain white. Boomer panicked for a moment, and he puts his fingers on the officer's neck worrying that the worse had happened. However his fingers felt the pulse of the man and Boomer breathed a sigh of relief. With one of his senses gone, Boomer is now handicapped in the fight. As he looked around, he realized that his surroundings is very dark, bleak and gloomy, and for some inexplicable reason a feeling of overwhelming level of melancholy and despair is now present within his heart.

 _This freak...did he just turned the world black and white?_ , Boomer thought to himself. Seeing that his main means of escaping would be stopped by this particular attack, he lays the unconscious officer gently before materializing his two energy baseball bats. He needs to sense something, and Boomer vibrates his body rapidly in such a manner that he can feel the vibrations of things around could feel the world through his body and looks around to try and spot this most pesky of opponents. The energy bats in his hands are also helping him sense the world, as they act as sensors to sense the vibrations around him. He admits that it is not the best way to compensate for his hearing loss, but this would have to do.

The ripples of the ambient vibrations are bouncing off all the surface, and Boomer could sense the world through his baseball bats. Suddenly he noticed a sudden spike in the vibration and he throws one of his bats with all his might towards a mountain of debris. The energy chains elongates as the head of the baseball bat slams into the debris. Boomer could sense the sharp and radiating vibration emanating from the impact of the hit, but he knew he needs to be aware of another particular vibration.

 _There it is_ , Boomer thought as he sensed a smaller vibration rippling through the ground and his energy bat. A figure to dart out from the impact, and Boomer immediately yanks the elongating chain in an outward and the speeding baseball bat speeds up towards his opponent. The masked figure blocks the incoming attack with both his forearm and was slammed aside into another warehouse, causing the walls to crumble from the force of the impact. Boomer pulls back the speeding energy baseball bat and grabs the hilt, giving himself the satisfaction of having a positive hit on his target.

As he walks forward towards the warehouse, Boomer wonders on how his world turning a little more monochrome than before. Uncomfortable by the changing environment, he takes a step into the broken warehouse. The warehouse appears to be much darker than the outside world, and his instincts are telling him to not enter into the warehouse. But before he could even act on his instincts, a dark gray beam strikes Boomer at the chest and blasts him away from the warehouse. Boomer slams into a cargo container and tearing it into half, before ricocheting towards a stack of cargo containers causing them to collapse on him.

Murciélago appeared from the damaged building, his body engulfed in gray swirling energy and the fiend's skin, hair, skin and eyes are all glowing a sinister crimson. The figure's attention is turned towards a pile of containers being forcefully pushed aside, and his eyes are now focused on the emerging teenager. Boomer's hoodie is now torn in several places, and it appears that Boomer's monochrome coloration is now a little more paler than before. As Boomer watches, he realized that his loosely hanging arm and smoking chest is telling him that he had suffered more damage that he would have thought. The sensation of the pain from both his broken arm and his throbbing burning chest are the only things keeping him conscious, and Boomer wondered how much more he could take before he is utterly taken down. The bat-masked figure points his fingers at Boomer, his mouth in a maniacal grin. Immediately Boomer dashes away as the pillars of gray beams hit the containers, causing them to flare out in a large gray explosion of debris and flames. Boomer slings his energy baseball bat at his target, causing the masked opponent to try and deflect the incoming projectile with his arm. The baseball bat graces the arm of the masked figure, but Boomer is now smiling at the result of the gangster's action.

 _Gotcha_ , Boomer immediately yanks the chains in an inward clothesline with his good arm, and to the bat-masked gangster's surprise, the chains from the baseball bat are now wrapping around his arms and his body. Boomer immediately grabs the other bat with his good arm, and starts to wrap the chain around his body and spinning his body with such speed that the the figure is pulled by the rapidly winding chains towards Boomer.

"St-ur-RHIIIIIIKKKKKKKEEEEEEE!" Boomer cried out as he slams his opponent's head with the other energy baseball bat with all his might. The centrifugal forces of Murciélago's acceleration and Boomer's spinning body is such that the energy baseball bat and chains wrapping the bat-masked opponent shattered and dissipates. The figure tumbled with such force that the wooden planks of the pier shattered as he made contact. Boomer smiled as he too was propelled backwards, however his acceleration was suddenly stopped as he hit something a little softer than wooden planks and bricks. Boomer looked up and noticed a pair of familiar green eyes looking at him.

"BUTCH!" Boomer cried. The green-eyed male teenager's mouth started moving, but Boomer is unable to hear what his brother is saying to him.

[Townsville Pier, Townsville: 5.10pm]

"You alright?"

"WHAT?" Boomer answered his brother back in a shout, causing the jadeite-eyed teenager to wince. Butch looks at his clearly roughed up brother with a great amount of concern. He can see that his brother's Rowdyruff outfit is torn in many pieces, the scorching red burns on his brother's pale chest and clearly broken arm means that the attack is enough to even hurt a Rowdyruff Boy. As Butch noticed the other injuries on his brother's face and body, he wondered what could cause so much damage on him. Even if Boomer is the weakest among them, his brother is essentially strong enough to take down the US military by himself.

"How's his condition?" The red Rowdyruff Boy lands beside Butch along with the three Powerpuff Girls, who are now looking at the destruction of the pier.

"Not looking good. I'm seeing second degree burns on his chest, a broken arm, some cracked ribs and some injured organs. I am pretty sure his hearing is out." Butch answered Brick.

"GUYS! PLEASE HELP THAT OFFICER OVER THERE! HIS LEG WAS SHOT!" Boomer immediately shouted and points at a body lying down on the pier, causing a great amount of discomfort among the superpowered beings.

"Alright, alright Boomer we hear you!" Brick responded, but realized that his brother is literally deaf now.

"WHAT?!" Boomer shouted once more. Brick sighed and flew towards the police officer. Brick noticed that the police officer is unconscious but breathing, and picks him up on his shoulder. As he flies back towards the group, he noticed Blossom's disturbed expression.

"Blossom, what's wrong?"

"Don't you think that for some reason, our surroundings appeared to be rather...discolored?" Blossom points out the discrepancy, and immediately Brick notices that his surrounding is in shares of black, white and grey. Indeed, Brick realized that their coloration are more or less grayish palettes of the responding colors.

"I don't like this..." Bubbles said uncomfortably.

"Neither do I." The green-eyed Powerpuff Girl said in agreement.

"This reminds me of Mister Mime's powers. But...we are hearing each other's voices, and the sound of the ocean and the burning flames are still audible. If it is Mister Mime's power, we would not be hearing a single thing." Blossom commented on this peculiar situation.

"GUYS, DID YOU SEE THAT BAT-GUY?!" Boomer is speaking very loudly, and his eyes are a little erratic. Butch then uses his phone and types out the question that he wants to ask for Boomer to see.

 _What Bat-Guy?_

"HE'S THE GUY I AM FIGHTING JUST NOW! DIDN'T YOU SEE HIM?" Butch continues on typing on the phone and then shows his brother his response.

 _No, Boomer. I didn't see him. Is he the one that is making this place gray?_

"HELL YES! SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT IS SEEING A GRAY WORLD!"

Butch looks at Brick and the rest of the Powerpuff Girls, and now Blossom walks up towards Boomer and types on her phone, trying to find out what is going on here. Blossom then shows the text message on her phone for Boomer to see.

 _Alright Boomer, I need you to tell me what's going on._

Before Boomer could even answer, a scream of anger and rage can be heard, and the remaining Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls turned their attention towards the source of the voice. Boomer, clearly feeling the vibration of the scream turns to look at the same direction. They could see a figure in a tattered white trenchcoat and tattered black pants standing up and now looking at them with red glowing eyes, skin and hair. The figure is shielding half of his face, while the other half is covered by a bat-like mask.

"YOU HURT MY FACE, YOU HURT MY BEAUTIFUL FACE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" The figure's aura of anger imposes a strong depressing pressure on the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls, causing them to break in a cold sweat. Everyone except Boomer.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS! I JUST SLAMMED AT HIS FACE WITH MY FULL MIGHT WITH MY BATTLERS!" Boomer cried out in disbelief.

The Powerpuff Girls are looking at each other quizzically over Boomer's exclamation, but they notice that Butch and Brick are looking at the figure with a great amount of unease. The gray swirling aura around the figure's body bursts out, slowly turning the colors around them to become even more monochrome. The overwhelming pressure from the figure is now causing the others to become a little more paler, and they prepared themselves for a fight.

"Sorry Bat-boy, but I am stopping you right there." A feminine voice sliced through the tension.

"WHO'S THERE!" The bat-masked figure roared. Suddenly from among the ruins, the mysterious individual made her presence known to all. The new arrival is a slender Asian woman with fair pinkish-red skin with short and messy golden blonde hair with five braided locks running down her back. Her outfit comprised of a high collared black jacket covering the lower part of her face with a zipper running along its entire length, which is opened from the bottom upwards, revealing her long flowing black cheongsam and her long slender legs and black high-heel shoes. Her sleeves completely envelopes her arms, terminating in white-glove like extensions at her extremities resembling the appearance of a cat's paw.

" _Lou Fu_!" The bat-masked figured barked at the new arrival as the figure walks towards him. To the surprise of the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls, the lady suddenly strikes the bat-masked figure in the stomach with her fist. The figure immediately collapsed, and as he looks up at the lady figure, her eyes are glowing a bright aquamarine. Uncertain of the new interaction between the two figures, the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls watched as they bicker among each other.

"What the hell are you doing" The kneeling villain said as his voice trails away and the colors of the surroundings returned to normal.

"Murciélago, you blind bat. Your are facing the whole Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys combined, and even if you want to fight them you would never win if you face all six of them alone." The female figure immediately walks behind Murciélago and pressed her finger in mid-air. Immediately the atmosphere behind them starts to peel away like a fog, and a pinkish red fog slowly surrounds them.

"Come, you blind fruit bat. We are moving." The lady said sternly.

"Hell n-"

"MOVE IT!" The bat-masked individual was silenced by a loud and deep primal roar, which terrifies all those who can hear it.

"Running away?" Butch and Buttercup asked at the same time, trying to muster whatever courage that they can to project their resolve. The red-skinned lady looked at them and she looked at them with mild amusement, folding her arm around her torso in a haughty manner. She covers half of her face with a hand fan, decorated with the image of a tiger.

"On the contrary, we are letting you off the hook. Ananse, would you be a dear and come back to us?"

"No traps, no fun." A heavy accented voice answered the Asian lady.

Realizing the proximity of the voice, Buttercup turned around to see a tall dark red-skinned man in an orange vest and trousers standing beside her. As she discern the information inside her head, she realize that this particularly long and lanky person is almost three times her height, and his three pairs of pale lavender pupil-less eyes are watching her intently. His particularly long and lanky frame is further framed by the presence of several pair of arms protruding from his back, at least four pairs in total. Immediately Buttercup's arachnophobia kicked in and she jumped backwards.. The rest are also caught unaware, as the person was not beside them when they first arrived on the scene. As he passed them, the superpowered beings noticed that several strands of wire-like strings shining under the light of the setting sun. As he pulled them back, the wooden planks of the tier below them have deep gashes in the form of an intricately woven spider's web with a radius of approximately fifteen meters.

"Anyway _m_ _ui mui_ , taunting is of no use. My purpose here is done," The long-sleeved mentioned as the tall and lanky figure grabs the masked gangster with his arms and disappears into the growing fog," and I will be reporting to his majesty that his plans are going according to plan." The Asian woman answered as she looked at them with her beautiful almond-shaped eyes. As they watched helplessly, she gives a smile and waves before the fog envelopes her.

"Bye bye _, mui mui_." The lady in the cheongsam said condescendingly as the fog dissipates into nothingness.


	13. Chap 13:The Devil Takes Care Of Its Own

Chapter 13: The Devil Takes Care of Its Own

[Somewhere Unknown, Unknown]

An effeminate figure in a long red dress with pink frills is now lying down on a couch, its head on the armrest while his slender legs are dangling from the other armrest. As the figure looks upon the multitude of screens television screen before it, it digs its red pincers into a bag of Lay's Flamin' Hot chips. Three of the screens enlarged itself, one of them showing a raven-haired teenager with highlights fighting a red brute with energy blasts , another showed a group of robbers in a cafe being intimidated by a red-capped, carnelian-haired male and the last one showing a well-build green-eyed boy with a green hairband and a a girl with long, flowing copper hair carrying a bunch of thugs out from an alley. One of the screens enlarges, and showing a man in a bat mask fighting against a little hooded boy in the docks.

" _Hm, interesting. Interesting indeed. Don't you all agree_?" Him's cacophonous voice echoed in the room as it turned around to six silhouettes standing behind the couch. One of them voiced out in a rather thick Hispanic accent.

"If I have just a little bit more time, I would have killed that little pipsqueak! They mess with one Los Noches, they mess with all of us! _Esos hijos de puta pagarán con_ -"

"I clearly do not see that at all, _Chauve-Souris_." A nasally eloquent flowing female voice answered. Murciélago turned to a long-braided brunette hair sitting by the edge of the room, sporting a khaki beret with the logo of a fox sewn on it, a sleeveless dark blue sweater top, black combat boots and baggy desert-schemed fatigued cargo pants that sag slightly. Her arms are human-like but upon closer examination is covered with grooves and vents steaming out revealing its artificial nature.

" _Silencio_ , Fennec." The bat-masked individual hissed his disapproval at the female. The female rolled her clear blue eyes in a mocking manner.

"Not my fault that you are an idiot." The brunette said derisively at the Hispanic man, causing him to raise up. But a slam on the wall cuts the Hispanic from doing anything further towards the female.

"You group idiots brought it upon themselves, that's all." A man with a deep Russian accent cuts in, clearly not wanting the first voice to continue on ranting. Him watches as the large and powerfully build person leans on the dark surface of their surreal realm. His icy blue eyes pierced through the darkness, his eyes illuminating the features of his long, bushy sideburns and bushy beard surrounding his entire jawline and his chin.

"That is easy for you to say Medved ! At least my homies tried to take them down, unlike your boys with guns running like the little _puta_ they are!" The first voice snarled at the second voice. The large, mountain-like figure gets up from his leaning position and moves towards Murciélago as he crackes his knuckles. Murciélago's arms glowed with a crimson light as he approaches the bear-like individual.

" _Guys, guys, GUYS_!" Him breaks the fight between the two voices. Him gets up and out from its chair and points towards one of the screens. The screen enlarges and shows a sand-blond teenage boy in a blue hoodie and black undershirt is flying above a city block. As Him turns around to face the silhouettes, he takes another bite from its bag of chips.

" _Everyone, including the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys will all play a part in my grand scheme of things. So I expect you six to all play nice with each other, okay? Sharing is caring~._ " Him said sweetly.

"Personally, your plans are _loca y retardado_." The first voice said and suddenly Him reaches out and grabbed the silhouette in its pincers. The other figures backed away from the choking one. Him tosses the figure towards the screens, causing some of the screens to crack and burst from the force exerted by the infernal being. Him walks towards the figure that was tossed to the screen and throws the bag of chips at the fallen figure. The figure blocks with his arms, but Him's pincers grabs the figure by his clothes and pulled towards the red face of the figure.

" _I gave you the permission to share the fun, cause chaos, and kill those that are in your way... NOT TO INSULT MY PLANS ! MY PLANS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME MURCIÉLAGO?! OR DO YOU REALLY WANT ME TO PULL OUT YOUR LOOSE TONGUE ?!_ " HIM growled his threats, his voice an discordant angry voices of a thousand people. Him drops the figure down and hops happily to the other figures in the space.

" _Do I make myself clear?_ " Him asked sweetly to the other figures.

" _Da_." Medved answered.

" _Oui_." Fennec joined in the chorus.

"Does that mean we are allowed to do what we want against the Powerpuff Girls?" A deep baritone male voice asked the infernal being. Him turned his attention to the owner of the voice, and a pair of glowing amber eyes emerged from the darkness.

" _As you see fit_."

"Time to hunt." The amber-eyed figure cackles with glee as he disappears once more into the darkness.

"That man gives me the creeps." The tallest member of this motley crew of disorder comments as he folds his pairs of arms to his long torso. Deep in the shadows, the blonde woman in a stylized cheongsam answered the spider-like villain.

"That _Mo Gwai_ always does, Ananse. Anyway I need to do some other things, so I will be taking my leave." The cheongsam-clad member of the group said as she made her exit, and fades away into the darkness as well. Slowly but surely, each member soon made their exit leaving only Murciélago and Him in the room. As the bat-masked figure stands up and walks pass the effeminate demon, the demon gives the Hispanic man a slap on the but with his pincer. Murciélago looked back at the figure, but was met with a devilishly flirty smile.

" _Ha~ve F~un!_ " Him said playfully as the hispanic person finally fades into the darkness.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Townsville: 7.00pm]

"Is Boomer going to be alright, Professor?" Bubbles asked.

"I believe that he should be fine within a few days. After all Chemical X is in his blood. But this amount of damage is virtually unheard of. I have never seen such damage before without the assistance of Antidote X." The square-jawed man said in amazement. Right before them is the sand-blonde teenager, with his half-naked torso wrapped in bandages and his broken arm cast in a sling. Several adhesive bandages and butterfly closures are also present on his face and also his arms. His ears are also equipped with some hearing aid, to aid in his present hearing loss. The Powerpuff Girls, The Rowdyruff Boys and their guardian are now gathered around the professor and the injured teenager.

"Well, I am now deaf for a few days thanks to that stupid Bat-face! Sucks being the one with the most heightened senses. If it was Brick or Butch I would assume they would just have a bad ringing in their ears." Boomer made a flipping motion with both his hands, but realized that one of his hand is now in a sling. The teenager grumbled as he puts his hand down once more.

"Well Boomer, it will only for a few days. Once your regenerative healing have gone through its course, you will be back to normal." Professor Utonium assures the bitter sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy.

"But it takes a few days to heal those wounds, that means that their combat powers are higher than any foe we have ever faced. These are wounds done without the assistance of Antidote X, which is saying a lot." Blossom ponders out loud, and Brick responded darkly.

"This is an unprecedented threat. They have made us essentially mortal."

"Dude, he swatted my eye beam away! That ain't normal man!"

"Any idea who he is?" Buttercup asked the sapphire-eyed teenager. As he ponders for a moment, he remembered something that may be of use.

"I remembered his calling himself Mur-see-la-go or something and something about me waging war on the _Los Noches_. Anything special out of that?"

"It's Spanish for Bat, figures why he wore that bat mask. " Bubbles points out as she shrugs.

"Doesn't help much since it is just a _nom de guerre_." Blossom noted as she takes out a notebook and started writing all the points down. Typical Blossom, Buttercup said to herself. But at this time, she could not fault her brainy sister for trying to write down all the information, as this is something that they never faced before.

"A what now?" Butch asked quizzically.

"An alias. not his real name." Blossom explained, her eyes rolling at the clueless Rowdyruff Boy. He shot a glare back in return, not appreciating her implications. Ms. Morningstar snaps her finger in sudden realization.

"I heard the name _Los Noches_ before during my time in Oakland. That name is bad news. They are the fastest growing Latino street gangs in the United States now, and arguably the most ruthless and most powerful." The pixie-haired district attorney answered darkly as she crossed her legs as she rests her cheeks on her right palm. Professor Utonium is clearly bothered by the beautiful legs of the very attractive woman.

"So we have superpowered gangbangers on our plate. Great, _just great._ " Buttercup lamented, rolling her eyes. The fact is not lost on the rest of the Powerpuff Girls and , for street gangs are known to be particularly violent against their enemies. With the epidemic of 'red candies' all over Townsville, they can not imagine the onslaught that would follow.

"What about that Asian chick? She doesn't look like a Las Noches member." Brick asked the Powerpuff Girls and his brothers.

"She speaks Cantonese, but her English accent is definitely American. So I would assume she is an American-born Chinese. That should narrow down the suspects, but not that much." Blossom commented on the matters regarding the Chinese lady as she crossed her arms.

"She has legs though I admit, and she is a really hot Asian." Butch said excitedly as his body shivers at the memory of the lady. The girls groaned, while Brick and Boomer facepalmed at Butch's statement. Both his brothers slapped his head with their palms, causing the green-eyed boy to cry out in pain.

"Can you stop thinking for once with your d-" Blossom's temper flared, but before she could complete her sentence, Buttercup interrupted her with her own concerns.

"Speaking about his partners, what about the guy with lots of hands and eyes? How did he manage to appear out of nowhere? He could have attacked us at any moment! That is not cool!" Buttercup exclaimed, and Brick and Blossom looked at each other silently, knowing that both of them are clueless about how the tall lanky person could just appear out of nowhere.

"Hm, Bat, Tiger and Spider. Don't you think it is kinda cute that they named themselves after animals or something? Feels like it is like a zoo or something." Bubbles voiced out her observation.

"I feel that it is more of a menagerie of monsters, seeing that their powers are just unbelievable." Blossom remarked derisively at the idea of them being harmless animals in a zoo. Buttercup crossed her arms as she ponders on another thing. Noticing that their usually instinctive sister in a pondering mood is not something they are used to, and Blossom looks at her and awaits a response from her. A thinking Buttercup always tend to be the one that comes up with the most interesting solutions to their problems from time to time, and thus Blossom respects her observational skills.

"I don't get one thing; they looked like they are under the influence of the drug, but somehow they are not mindless hulking brutes like the other 'red candy' users seen so far. Why are they so different than the others? I mean, that guy literally altered the colors of reality at the piers. Can the candy even do that?" Buttercup asked.

"Perhaps I can help with that." Professor Utonium interjects, and soon claps his hand for a holographic ball and stick model of the chemical substance to appear before them. The structure of the ball and stick model is utterly bizarre as the initially odd structure appeared to be disorganized, but as the holographic projection rotates, the ball and stick model appears to have three prongs at one end which tapers to a single point on the other end, forming the shape of a trident.

"Aside from its odd trident-like chemical composition shape, the properties of the drug are also a rather bizarre combination of a highly addictive and complex two part performance-enhancing mutagenic stimulant with an unidentified volatile odorant that acts on humans in a very similar to that of nepetalactone on cats." Butch and Boomer are watching the professor with blank expressions. Professor Utonium is puzzled by their lack of comprehension of his explanations, but he soon realized that he had grown a little to used to speaking in proper scientific terms to his girls and he speaks in a more layman manner.

"Well, in order words, it is a very addictive drug that can influence human behavior, enhance body performance, and mutates people due to its unique properties. Also there is something in the drug that acts like catnip for people."

"Ah." Butch and Boomer answered, finally getting the point the professor is getting across while the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys is now deep in thought. Seeing that he would need to be a little more careful about his scientific jargons, the professor carried on with his exposition.

"As odd as it sounds, the drug is able to bind itself to the central nervous system and forces the body's production of hormones of all kinds into overdrive and the sudden flow off hormones within the body triggers another part of this drug to latch on to these hormones and mutate them as they traveled around the body. This is why the first symptom of ingesting this drug is the skin of the user turning red. This in turn would stimulate the enlargement of the blood vessels to allow for this to be carried around the body. Lastly with the inflated blood vessels, hyperactive nerves and mutated hormones, this would force the muscle to grow at an exponential rate."

"So...you are telling us that they literally mutated themselves without radiation?" Brick raised his hand as he asked the professor. Seeing that at least one of the Rowdyruff Boys is able to get the idea of his theory, he smiled and continued on.

"Yes Brick, that would be correct. Unfortunately, this unstable mix of hormones and chemicals within the body makes the neural impulses within the brain to go haywire, causing them to essentially lose all semblance of sanity and long-term memory functions. In a way, it also affects their short term memory function, making them act upon their hypothalamus alone." The professor puts his index fingers and his thumb to his chin, deep in thought.

"Essentially just turning them into berserking hulks." Buttercup states, and the professors nods his head.

"And short-term brain damage." Professor Utonium interjects once more, and the complexion on the girls' face turned a little paler.

"But, the boys and the girls faced a person that appears to not show the bulging muscles signs and also mindlessness that the drug inflicts on people." The district attorney commented, and the professor smiled and snaps his finger.

"This is assuming a general reaction to the drug or perhaps an impure version of the drug is administered to the user. Seeing that everyone's genetics is very different, I would theorize that everyone would have a slightly different reaction to the drug based on the purity of the 'red candy'. Just like how cocaine's purity affects its effects, I would posit that the 'brute' version of the drug is the low end of the drug, while the powers and abilities shown by Boomer's opponent would be the most purified and potent version of the drug. Of course the general effect of the drug of turning a person red would still be present as an overall common sign of the drug's usage, but the mutagen properties would be much more enhanced for a higher quality 'red candy'.

"I'm lost." Butch said to the professor, before Buttercup slaps his head. The green-eyed boy yelped, and the green-eyed girl explains to him grudgingly.

"Basically the drug does different things to people depending on how good it is. Man, I didn't expect you to be that dumb." Buttercup rolled her eyes, not believing that her counterpart is really just a muscle head.

"Bite me Butterbutt." Butch retorted, before he got another hit from Buttercup. Boomer snickers at Butch before he was hit in the head by his raven-haired sibling, which caused the red-haired brother of theirs to slap both their heads. Professor Utonium ignored the superpowered teenagers and explains further.

"My main concern is about its long-term side effects as that is something I am not able to observe so far...and personally I do not want to see it."

Professor Utonium's mood darkened, and he turns off the holographic projection. Everyone is silent, but they are silent for different reasons. For Professor Utonium amd the Powerpuff Girls, it is the realization that the lives of the citizens of Townsville are at stake. For the Rowdyruff Boys and the district attorney, they realized that they have a pretty good idea on the identity of the perpetrator. There can be no other, for the trident is Him's little-known calling card when he is in a particularly sinister mood. None of them know how they factored into the increasingly convoluted plans of the demon.

"Guys?" Blossom's voice snapped them out of their train of thought and soon their eyes are on the leader of thr Powerpuff Girls.

"I think we need a little bit of time to digest this. Alright boys, time to leave. Today's a very long day for everyone, we don't want to overstay our welcome." Ms. Morningstar beckons the boys. Seeing that it is better to go along with the district attorney's lead,the boys rise up and move towards the staircase.

"Yes indeed. Let me help you towards the door." Professor Utonium moved along with the Morningstars.

* * *

[Brick's Room,Morningstar Residence, Townsville: Late Night]

Despite their knowledge of the culprit, the Morningstars have decided non-verbally to keep this knowledge a secret. There is much at stake from revealing their knowledge of Him's involvement in so many things. in particular have warned the boys before that any unnecessary revealing of Him's involvement in their present lives would put them into deep trouble. As Brick looks out his window, he is unable to shake off the thought that Him had tied a noose around the Rowdyruff Boy's neck. Boomer's injuries drives home the point that Him's plans are significantly more dangerous than the demon's previous plans."Are you behind all of this, Him?"

" _Perhaps,perhaps._ "A sudden discordant voice replied to Brick's thoughts in a sweet and cordial manner,and Brick turned around to see a crimson devilish figure dressed in the most garish combination of a red trenchcoat with black polka-dots, and a pink dress with a leather black corset.

"Speak of the devil." Brick spits his words out, the young teenager not appreciating the intrusion of the demon in his room.

" _I'll take that as a compliment_." Him curtsied with his pincers picking up his skirt slightly.

"What are you doing here Him?" Brick snarled. Brick knows that everything the demon does is always with a cold and calculating reason, and this time would be no different.

" _Can't I just speak with my son?_ " Him cooed. Brick's expression however is not buying the demon's reason. The demon sighs before snapping its pincers. Suddenly,Brick's room shattered and Brick finds himself in a realm filled with mirrors.

"What the-" Brick is clearly taken by surprise and he turned his attention back to the demon. Before he could even ask the demon,the demon started to speak.

 _"Have you ever wondered about the truths that you could not see? What about the truths you are about see? Or truths you are seeing now? Or even truth that you had already seen?"_

"Come again?" Brick asked, clearly not expecting the demon to be philosophical.

 _"Such is the complexity of truths but the truth remains that they are different truths._ " Him's mannerism is not his usual coy self, but something much more profound. This in itself makesit more unnerving for the carnelian-haired Brick turns his attention to his surroundings, he realized that the web of mirrors are reflecting events transpiring throughout Townsville and several of the mirrors, a gangster leads his gang members to a shooting with the police only to be trapped once more by their own reflections of possibilities. A planar sheen buckles under Brick's stare before showing the image of a burning Townsville as a result of many different possibilities. In another, a Syrian rebel plants a bomb towards the governor's office of Idlib, little knowing that in doing so he will be the catalyst for his family's demise to the bomb as they shopped to get him a gift. These and a million other glimpses of reality flicker like flames in the wind, their energy making the labyrinth glow with possibility.

"Where the heck are we?" Brick asked the demon as he becomes unsettled by the myriad of images playing at the same time, but Him did not answer his question and continued on talking.

 _"Truths that have come and pass can always be truths have distorted itself, as the truth of the matter is that you could not see what is already laid before you."_

"Him, I am talking to you!"

 _"They are lying in plain sight, but different truths that are equally real but can never interact with each other._ "

"Him, this is not time for one of your mind games! Tell me what the hell is going on!" Brick roared, and the demon turned towards him. Suddenly the demon's feature and voice shattered into the appearance and voice of a familiar pigtailed blonde teenager with zircon irises.

" _You will have to find your true selves in this impossible labyrinth of truths. Those that are lost in these reflections of the truth will wander for eternity, their minds shattered and their dreams broken upon the wheel of their own failed conceptions_."

"Bubbles?" Brick's tone has become much gentler, and now he is utterly bewildered by the presence of the Powerpuff Girl.

 _Illumination of the truths is the only way you will succeed_. _Is_ _, was, is not, was not, about to, and could be._ "

Suddenly Bubbles disappeared from his sight and the labyrinth of mirrors had dissipated, leaving only an empty dark void. Brick heard a cracking sound and as he looked at his hands, he realized that he is cracking like a broken glass. As he panicked over this unusual situation he tried to find a eay to mend his arms. However he comes face to face with a mirror and realized that he is slowly cracking. As the fracture continues to run all over his body,he frantically tried to keep his cool, but he falters with every crack. He is now screaming as his arms slowly breaks apart from his body before he shatters into countless pieces of glass shards.

* * *

Brick woke up from his nightmare with cold sweat running down his face. His breathing is labored, and his heart is beating frantically. His mind is trying to find a foothold in reality as he touched with his hands and body to assure himself that he is not in a thousands pieces. Seeing that he is in one piece, he gets up from his bed and goes to the toilet to wash his face. As he tries to walk towards the toilet, he accidentally trips and falls down on the ground. He cursed, and he tried to get up. However he could not find the strength to get up and as he wondered why, his legs gave him the answer; they are trembling with fear. He gets up to a point where he is sitting cross-legged and he could only sigh at his rather human weakness of the body.

"Damn it..." Brick cursed once more, as his fragile mind struggled to find out what is going on with himself.

" _What's wrong Brick_ " Bricks turns around and sees a familiar bright red figure with pincers in a cinnabar red dress with amaranth pink frills, a matching amaranth pink scarf wrapped around its neck, and shin-high black boots with heels. Brick also notices that the demon is holding a fruit basket with a assortment of apples, grapes, peaches and oranges in its pincer.

"What are you doing here Him?" Brick felt a sense of déjà vu as he let the words escaped his lips. Sensing the unease of its red-haired stepson, the demon takes one of the apples and tosses it at Brick, which in turn catches it with one arm. The teenager moves closer and sits on the side of the bed closest to the demon. Brick looks at the apple, and wonders if this apple is laced with 'red candy' material or worse.

" _And I came all this way to drop this off for your injured brother._ " Him sighed. He puts the fruit basket on the nightstand, before pulling a chair to sit. Finally finding the strength to stand up, Brick walks to the light switch and turns on the light, illuminating the room. He looks at his parent figure with a mixed reaction of anger, mistrust and confusion.

" _Tsk, Am I that untrustworthy_?" Him asked, but soon realized that Brick glared at the demon with great mistrust. The demon folds its arms its torso and crosses its leg with one leg crossed over the other, revealing the unnaturally smooth and amazingly feminine legs.

"Yes." Brick answered curtly.

 _"Suit yourself. But I am being truthful here."_ Him picks an orange from the fruit basket and, and juggles it around before it peels the orange with its claws. Brick puts the apple back into the fruit basket and stares at the demon as it hums a happy tune while peeling the orange.

"What are you planning Him? We are forced to live in Townsville while waiting for god knows what from you." Brick asked with a great amount of suspicion. Knowing Him, the Rowdyruff Boys could be here just for Him to see them suffering the awkwardness of normal life, taste his latest diner food, or become part of his demonic rituals. Him chuckled as it pulls out the pith from the orange with its pincers.

" _A magician never reveals his secrets, and I rather that you sit back and enjoy the show. The scene where you will act will be shown much later._ " Him smiles as he offered the nicely peeled and pithed orange to the the carnelian-haired teenager. Brick looks at the demon, and realized that the demon's expression is a much more softer and gentler expression than usual. Living with the demon for over eight years primed Brick to know when Him is lying and when Him is being genuine about things. This is the moment when he is genuine enough that Brick could trust him enough. Brick relented and takes orange from the pincers of the demon.

"He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon." Brick answered back, as he takes a slice of orange and puts it into his mouth. Him smiled and rests his pincer on Brick's shoulder. The red-eyed teenager looks up towards the towering demon, and the demon is smiling with pride.

" _Well said my boy._ _Illumination of the truths is the only way you will succeed._ " Brick's eye immediately opened wide and he looks at the demon with surprise. The demon winks, and turns his back on the Rowdyruff Boy. As the sudden appearance of reddish pink fogs start to surround the infernal being, Him smiled.

" _Search out Ringlett Lafarge. He is the man you are looking for, if you dare to find out the truth._ " Brick was about to ask the demon about the name, but the demon only laughs as it fades into thin air with the fog.

Brick is now left with more questions than answers when it comes to the demon. Did the demon infiltrated his dream to plant the thoughts into him, or is it just a coincidence? Brick is honestly not comfortable with the idea that the Rowdyruff Boys are under his purvey for some nefarious reasons, and everything they do could be exactly what the demon wants, even if it means doing nothing. Brick eats the orange as he decides on what to do.

 _Ringlett Lafarge_ , Brick figured that would need to take the devil up on his offer. An idle mind is the devil's workshop as they would say, and he would rather take the initiative when it comes to the effeminate demon.


	14. Chapter 14: Big Trouble in Little Moscow

Chapter 14: Big Trouble In Little Moscow

All is good in the name of war. For that he had made all the preparations necessary for it.

Brick had decided to take on the demon's clue and research on Ringlett Lafarge in Little Moscow. After some extensive research for four nights and some nighttime intimidation of low-level crooks, he had also found out that he is the younger brother to the owner of Club Rodina, Marlon Lafarge. Marlon Lafarge is also a power broker and trafficker of information in the underworld. For that, he deemed that it is imperative that he brings a companion with him to the club to ensure that he had support. These underground people are always filled with surprises, and he rather have someone covering his back.

Brick had also calmly chosen Bubbles as his companion to investigate the clue he had gotten from Him. Frankly speaking, her disarmingly good look and also her acting abilities are precious in this line of intelligence gathering, not to mention that she is essentially Boomer's counterpart in the Powerpuff Girls when it comes to hypersensitive senses. Lastly, his preferred candidate, Boomber is now more or less incapacitated for a few days. All reasonable factors in choosing the Powerpuff Girl in this covert mission. Also he does not mind her company and is looking forward to it.

He had also asked her for Bubble's cooperation in the mission a day before and she said yes. He had also asked her to dress for Club Rodina; the most happening club in Little Moscow and perhaps the whole of Townsville. Also he had made forged for them to enter into the club just in case. He had also taken the long shot of telling her to inform her sisters that she is staying over at a friend's house as to not worry her sisters. Her mischievous smile at his suggesting to lie to her sister about them entering Club Rodina is surprising, given that he was not expecting her to be a willing accomplice to the plans.

He had also made sure that he had taken some money out of his stash of untraceable bank accounts to have a buffer for the night's events and got himself something else to wear, making sure that it would look good on him. Also he had made sure to do some facial spa treatment and also a hair dye job to make him look more attractive for the night's activities.

He had also made sure to treat Bubbles to a nice dinner meal at a restaurant that was recommended by Lilith after he had asked her for suggestions to eat with the Powerpuff Girl. He clearly did not understand why Lilith had a very interesting smirk on her face when he asked for a place to have dinner with Bubbles. It is all to better fuel themselves for the mission ahead, he reasoned. He is also glad that the bubbly girl likes the meal and the restaurant. Their simple and nice chit-chat throughout the meal is also good to raise the morale of the Powerpuff Girl, and calm his own nerves as well.

And now, they are here queing outside the club to get into Club Rodina for intelligence gathering. Everything is according to plan, and within mission parameters. Yet Brick wondered about one thing; isn't all the plans he made so far felt like he is planning for a secret date with Bubbles?

"What's wrong?" Bubbles asked in her cute voice. Brick jumped a little and his heart is now beating a little too fast for his own comfort. It does not help that she is shorter than him by a head, and he can not help himself from looking downwards at her attire. He wondered why of all the days she just have to wear a form-fitting, one-piece, shoulderless dress. And those high-heel shoes make her very, very stunning. Indeed, as he looked down, he wondered why is she the only one with large bosoms among her sisters. His attempt to turn away from accidentally staring at her bosom is an utter failure, as he looked up to comes face to face with her zircon blue eyes, which makes Brick uncomfortable as her sky-blue eyes gives one a striking feeling that there is a deepness to this woman that hides behind that gentle look.

"Hello, Earth to Brick. Can you hear me?" Bubbles muttered those words, his eyes now moving towards the beauty mark located under the right side of her full lips. Along with her untied shoulder-length wavy blonde hair that could be mistaken for the purest of gold when sunlight washes over it, she is essentially what some people would call a goddess.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Brick composed himself enough to reply to her. As she walks in front of him, he watches as her curvaceous hips moved with every step, he wondered how on earth did she grow up to be such a voluptuous figure.

 _Why does she have to have the sexy look today instead of her normal cutesy look_ , Brick said to himself.

"Well,we are finally at the entrance club." Bubbles said cheerfully as she looked back towards the orange-haired teenager. She is honestly pleased with Brick's choice of clothes, as this is her first time seeing him in something outside of his usual turtleneck shirt. His buttoned black coat drapes over a deep maroon red collared undershirt , baring a little of his chest for all to see. His normal baseball cap that covered his carnelian-colored hair have been replaced with a black flat cap, and his long tail-like hair is tied in with black cloth instead. Due to the extremely unique coloring of his eyes and also his hair, Brick has decided to put on some dark blue contact lenses and dyed his hair black, leaving his default hair color as highlights instead.

 _Honestly if not for the mission, this would be a fun night_ , Bubbles said dissapointedly to herself. He had went out of his way to ask her out, dress up, and take her out for dinner and paid for it all. If Bubbles was Brick, she could have just went the 'secret agent' way and just do a stakeout , but instead he did all these extra things for her. It is quite sweet of him, but Bubbles wonder if he even knew the significance of what he did. She decided to grab onto Brick's arms and play her part as his 'girlfriend' for the night.

 _Oh crap_ , Brick said to himself as he felt the soft and warm sensation of Bubbles' bosom on his arms. His blushing is disguised by the dim red lights of the entrance. His unease is obvious to Bubbles, and she gives a warm smile with a grin at the Rowdyruff Boy. She then pulls his coat gently, causing the male teenager to lean downwards towards her. She then whispered into his ear.

"Two can play this game, y'know." The sensual way in which she said those words, and the soft gentle breath on his ear made Brick flusters. He wondered how did this most naive of the Powerpuff Girls became such an enchanting seductress. But then, Bubbles breaks the tension with her laugh and he realized that he was being played around by this girl. He scowled in disapproval, before he started smiling.

"Hold it." The deep voice of the bouncer stopped them from their 'play', and he stretched his arm in front of them. The bald African-American bouncer is now watching them with eyes hidden by sunglasses. Brick and Bubbles are now looking at the barrel-chested bouncer, and wondered if they are already busted from the get go. Bubbles decided that it is a good time to use her 'sugar' element to its fullest. She smiled sweetly and gives a naive facial expression with her zircon-blue eyes that would make anyone's heart melt. The stoic expression of the bouncer softens and he gives a sigh.

"Ah can't say no to such a cute girl like yerself! You have a fine date mah brotha!" The bouncer commented at Brick and shakes his hand. The bouncer gives Brick a wink as he tilts his head towards Bubbles and gives a cheeky smile. Brick is a little clueless about the gesture, but Bubbles immediately blushed. The bouncer opened the door to the club,beckoning them to enter. Brick and Bubbles looked at each other before they smiled and entered the club. As they entered the club, they are assaulted on all their senses as the sound of the music blast through the air. A male DJ with an unique percussive DJ set is playing his music,remixing the song for the crowd's consumption with his one of a kind contraption. As the he hits the drum sets, the body of the drums lights up with a dazzling array of screen behind the DJ is flashibg with various images with the words 'Afishal' flashing on the screen.

"That's DJ Afishal!" Bubbles is squealing and Brick could only smile at her most genuine excitement. Despite his initial dislike for her naivety and also rather clueless nature,but her friendly and optimistic behavior is slowly rubbing on him. Somehow he got that warm fuzzy feeling again in his heart,and he was right to continue on experimenting on his emotions with her. Somehow only she could make him feel that way.

"I will be back. Gonna get some drinks." Brick informs Bubbles, and she nods. As Brick dissapears into the crowd, Bubbles gets into the groove of things. As the music heightened in its intensity, she begins to dance to the music with all her heart. She always felt the most alive when she is dancing, singing and acting and right now, she is on top of the world as the resonating music and sensation of her moving body course through her. It is just unfortunate that she does not have a partner to dance along with the music right now. She thought that once the red one returns, she would ask him to dance with her. She smiled as she imagined the dance between the long-haired Rowdyruff Boy and herself. Suddenly a man with spiked hair approached the young lady and whispered in her ear, causing much alarm in the Powerpuff Girl, stopping her blissful state. She looked at his brown eyes and knew something was up. She smelled the pungent smell of alcohol.

"Hey babe, you look kinda cute? Wanna dance with me?"

"No it's alright,I am fine on my own." Bubbles politely refused, but the man is grabs her arm. She was taken aback by the sudden strength of the man and as she stared at his eyes, the eyes of the man appear to be very lustful.

"Come on, I insist." The man grabs both her arms and now pulls hims towards his body. Bubbles immediately sense a weird and disgustingly wet sensation as his lips meets her neck.

"Let go!" Bubbles cried out, but the man care not about Bubbles' refusal. Bubbles' cries were drowned by the loud music, and she wondered if anyone could hear her now. She wanted to punch the man with all her might, but for some reason her strength left her as he lewdly kisses her neck. Bubbles is now being violated by this drunken pervert,and her eyes starts to tear up as she is unable to stop his advances despite her powers.

"We can ha-" Suddenly the man was interrupted by a sudden splash of liquid to the back of his head, and the man lets go of Bubbles immediately. Bubbles wondered who had stopped the fiend until her eyes traced the source of the splash.

"Back off." Brick snarled. The man paused and turned towards the Rowdyruff Boy, angry that he was splashed in the Brick grabs the man by his collar, and stared at him in the eye with the deadliest glare that he could muster. Upon looking at the teenager's face,the man suddenly breaks into a cold sweat and hurriedly moves away from the Rowdyruff Boy. The Rowdyruff Boy watches the man disappear in the crowd like a panther that had just defended its kill from being taken away.

"Brick, we are supposed to maintain our cover here. You can't just use your super death glare on random people." Brick turns around to see that Bubbles is speaking to him, her face appearing to disapprove his actions.

"But he-" The blonde girl stops Brick from protesting by giving him a big hug. Immediately Brick feel a very interesting sensation on his abdomen; a blissful soft and squishy feeling that is as warm as it is comforting. The smell of her shampoo,soap and perfume penetrates the nose of the Rowdyruff Boys in ways he never knew they could. His head and cheeks are getting warmer and warmer, and he is now feeling very hot and bothered by all the sensations from all over his body. He then realized that a certain somewhere is trying to soring into action, and he tried to keep that part from rising to the occasion. It was then that she separates from him. As Brick looks at her, Bubbles gives him a sincere and warm smile.

"Though... I appreciate what you have done for me. Thanks." Her appreciation shines through her smile and her teary eyes are now sparkling like they are the brightests stars in a pitch black sky.

"No problem." Brick finally smiles back, realizing that something else inside of him just opened up. A sensation of appreciation,and an urge to protect that smile no matter what. That sweet sm- _smell_? Brick's happy train of though was immediately interrupted by an unnatural,sickly sweet addictive smell.

"Brick,did you smell that?" Bubbles asked. Both Brick and Bubbles recognize the smell for what it is.

"Red Candy. But where?" Brick asked, and his eyes are scanning the surroundings of the club with wary eyes. Bubbles pulled his sleeves and points towards a full glass loft suspended above the crowd. Sitting at the center of it is a thin man with a prominent cheekbone looking upon the clubbers. he is clad in a full business suit of black with a muted pink tie breaking the color monotony of his suit. Beside him is a much more weaselly man, dressed in a black turtleneck and matching black pants, speaking to the man in the suit. The two men were surrounded by tall and large barrel-chested men wearing flamboyantly designed suits. Brick noticed the barrels of AKS-74U assault rifles and Saiga-12 assault shotguns hiding under their suits. For obvious reasons,it reminded him of the robbers at Cafe weaponry. As he tunes in on their conversation via his superhuman hearing, he could barely hear the conversation. Somehow for some reason, the conversation appears to be in another language. However he saw that the lesser man is speaking in a panicked manner.

"Getting anything Bubbles?" Brick asked as he hold her arm and leads her to the loft. Bubbles, clearly embarrassed, followed his lead.

"They are speaking in French. You don't mind if I just summarize their conversation?"

"Whatever is best for what are they saying?" Brick finds an empty sitting table within vicinity of the loft, and beckons the Powerpuff Girl to enter in first. She arranges her skirt before she takes a seat, and Brick takes a seat after her. Bubbles listened into the conversation, and although it is soft she is picking up the conversation just fine. She then started to speak instantaneously as the two individuals are speaking to each other. Brick watches as the two individuals are arguing with each other,and Bubbles narrating the scene.

"They are arguing about some rulers or something and how they are carving their territory out of Townsville. Right now, the 'bear' is strengthening his hold on Little Moscow, Little Italy, the Jewish quarter and the Irish enclave. Allying with the 'bear' is becoming unbearable as he is asking all those in his area to contribute. Wait...a bear is taking over parts of Townsville?" Bubbles realized the absurdity of the conversation between the two Frenchmen.

"Maybe those are codenames Bubbles. Just keep on translating." Brick beckons her to continue on, as he wants to know what these people are planning.

"The scrawny one does not want to go out to do favors anymore for the 'bear'. The last time he went out with the bear's men, he almost got killed by a Powerpuff Girl and a Rowdyruff Boy. By now the news would have reached the 'bear' that they have failed and he would go after their heads." Bubbles' eyes are wide open and she covered her mouth, realizing that the weasel of a man is one of those responsible for the Cafe Latte incident.

 _The smoking gun_ , Brick thought, which means that they had something to do with the 'red candy'. The corrupting smell of the drug is nauseating but he needs to bear with it for Bubbles to get more information out of the two Lafarges.

"They would need to make sure that whatever they do, they would get some measure of protection from at least one of the other five leaders of Townsville. They say that the 'fox' is more pragmatic and would most likely be the one to go for." Bubbles said as she translates their speech. However Brick noticed that her expression changed. He soon found out why. The club's raving music is suddenly replaced by an initially soft but slowly creeping ascending sound of trumpet and chorus of deep chant-like humming. As the confused clubbers looked around in confusion, the unnerving choir of voices started singing with deep baritone choir voices and the lights in the club turns into a deep crimson red.

"That's...Russian. It's a Russian song." Bubbles commented out loud. For some reason Bubbles recognize the tune from her music history class but she could not put her finger on it. She looked at Brick, and as Brick takes off his contacts lenses as his eyes glowed. If he were to use his eye beams,he would need to take them off. Brick immediately recognized the lyrics of the song, the song of fields being thread upon by heroes riding to battle, a glorious red army. He had heard it before during his time in the battlefields of Ukraine, blared by the most hardline pro-Russsian separatists as they fought against the central government of Ukraine.

" _Polyushka Polye_. It is a _Soviet_ song." The trumpeting sound and the singing chorus slowly become martially louder and heightened in its intensity and fervor.

"A Soviet song? Like those memes of 'Communism are cool now' meme?" Bubbles asked, but Brick is already looking around to see the source of the disturbance in Club Rodina. For all he cares, the Russians may invade the club with main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers to just make a point. The song have reached a highly feverish pitch, and the propagandist chanting and singing are now blasting through their hearing like a tidal wave, and the percussive sounds of marching drums shakes their body with the sound vibrations it caused.

Suddenly a dramatically heavy and powerful tenor voice with a steely timbre came out of nowhere and silenced the music and all the voices in the club,with the power and grace of holding a note in an astoundingly secure and capable register. Brick turns his attention to the source of the sound and a singing stranger in his mid-fifties is now in the loft with outstretched arms in the loft greets his eyes.

The old man is an imposing figure, easily towering over the other bodyguards. His exceptionally sculpted barrel-chested physique shows through his black business attire with a white sleeveless undershirt horizontally striped in light blue and an olive green military trenchcoat draped off his shoulder. His complexion is particularly fair, but is marred by burn marks which scar most of the right side of his face, neck, and chest. His pristine snow-white silver hair is shaved close on the back, while his strong square-jaw, cleft chin and sideburns is adorned by bushy silver facial hair.

"Time to move Bubbles." Bubbles nods and immediately the two individuals are now moving towards the loft. The large man is now speaking in a deep voice, his accent nasally harsh and cold.

" _Zdravstvuyte_ Marlon and Ringlett. How your evening?" The large man asked the two French men. Brick needs to get there fast or risk having his lead being killed. Climbing up the glass staircase would be far too long. He figured that now it is a good time as any to crash the party. Literally. With a great leap, Brick propels himself towards the loft and crashes through the glass while protecting his head with his arms. The teenager crashes into the room with the shards of glass flying inwards, causing everyone but the giant of a man to duck for cover. Brick lands into the room in a low crouching surfing pose, his right hand supporting his weight on the alongside his bent right leg and leading left leg.

"Nice entrance _mal'chik_. I am impress." The large man said to the teenager in a heavily accented broken English.

"Who the hell are you?!" The shrill voice of the weasely man screamed at teenager. The bodyguards finally found the time to take out their weapons and aimed at the two intruders.

"You mean he not one of yours?" The Russian asked the club owner. The slim businessman is visibly pissed at the question.

"I thought he is one of yours, Medved!" The slim businessman shouted at the large man. The teenage superhuman finally rose up,amd looks at the room's occupants with a predatory glare.

"Wait, I recognize those eyes! You're Brick, the Red Rowdyruff Boy!" The weasely man exclaimed, causing much alarm among the other occupants of the room.

"Nice of you to remember me, _Ringo._ " Brick snarled at the weasely man. The man squealed in scarred man started laughing out loud while the skin color on the Lafarges and the bodyguards are slowly turning pale. The large man's laughter is now a roaring guffaw as the man started to point at the scene that is unfolding before his eyes.

"What's so funny, asswipe?" Brick snapped.

"You Rowdyruff Boy. I want to fight you." The large Russian opens his mouth and reveals several bright red orbs for all to 's eyes are now wide open, and he knows that there is now trouble coming ahead. The fact is also not lost on the Frenchmen, as one of them finally points at the Russian and cries out in a shrill voice.

"Candy! Fire! Fire! Fire!" With the cry of the man with the prominent cheekbone, the rest of the bodyguards opened fire at the large man with everything they got. The shots hit the large man and the bullets shatters the section where the man is standing and causing it to collapse. Brick jumps out from the loft to avoid losing his footing as the shots slowly spreads around the shots fired, the pandemoniums starts. The panicked crowd is now trying to escape the gunfight and are now trying to run out from the club. Seeing that a stampede is inevitable and some poor souls might be trampled to death, decided to do some controlled destruction and blasts open some of the walls with several energy fireballs. The resulting blast stuns the crowd for a moment enough for her to do the next thing to crowd control.

"Looks! Holes! We can escape from here to the outside!" Without even needing to usher them,the crowd rushes through the holes. A disaster was averted by causing some additional property damage. Blossom would not approve of this, but right now Blossom is not around. As Bubbles turns her attention to the firefight, she finds that fully half the loft is blasted apart.

"Brick!" Bubbles cried out and rushes towards the loft. But suddenly the cinnabar-eyed teenager appears before her. He appears to escape unscathed from the firefight.

"I'm alright Bubbles. Decided to jump out from where I jumped in."

"What happened?"

"That big guy showed the room that he had a red candy between his teeth. That caused the firing." Brick turns back to see the aftermath of the fusilade of fire. It seem that the gang members are now ejecting the spent clips of their guns, as they had fired on the Russian with every bullet they a deep laughing sound schoes throughout the now deserted club, the propagandaistic Soviet music still playing in the background. The Russian is now emerging from shards of glass,and tears away his tattered upper clothing. His now-bare upper torso showing the multitude of scars on his body is now a solid red with his scars having a pinkish hue. His black pants is shredded to near boxer lengths, and after noticing the damage done to his shoes, he takes them out to reveal his feet.

"Is that all, Marlon?" The now-empowered being mocks the bodyguards and their boss.

As the bodyguards frantically tried to reload, the red-colored individual slowly walked up the steps towards the loft. Medved takes out a cigar from his pocket with one hand while he uses his nails to cut the rounded end of the cigar in one clean slice. He then puts the cigar into his mouth and as he enters the loft once more, he takes out a match and lights it up before putting the flames to burn the cigar. One of the bodyguards was about to open fire once more, but Medved throws the match stick as hard as he can to the gunman. The gunman was propelled out from the loft with such velocity that he was propelled out of the loft and slams the wall, emitting a wet crunching sounds. Bubbles close her eyes and avert her gaze from the gruesome scene, while Brick watches the unbridled strength of this particular candy user. The body of the unfortunate bodyguard falls down on the floor with another wet splatting Medved enters the room,the other bodyguards are now trembling as they aim their guns at him. As the Russian smokes his cigar,he pulls one of the chairs and sits before them without any fear. He turns his attention towards the red-eyed superhuman, and exhales his smoke. Bubbles finally opens her eyes,amd watches the icy blue-eyed individual speaks up.

"I here because I know failed robbery in cafe will lead Rowdyruff Boy and maybe Powerpuff Girls to them. They done good as bait." Medved said coldly as he turns his attention back to the posse that is still aiming their guns at him.

"I also dissapoint in you for shooting me before ask Medved. You shoot me, I shoot you." Medved said stoically as he inhales as much as he can from his cigar, causing it to burn faster. He gets up from his chair and dumps the cigar aside,before closing his eyes and exhaling. Suddenly his back starts to stretch and several short bone-like structures grows out of his back before his body grows even larger. As his face stretches and peels away to reveal into the shape of a dog-like snout and his teeth turned to canines. His arms slowly stretches and peel away to reveal large muscular arms with furry arms and large claws with the top of his arm having the same bony spikes as those on his back. The deep voice of the Russian slowly turns into something more bestial and monstrous.

"What the-" Brick's speech is cut by his utter shock of the transformation. The being transforming before them is now pulling away his skin like a molting snake,revealing even more fur,muscle and bone. The Russian appears much larger than before,with his back covered with large, bony spikes like those of a porcupine protruding from his back and forearms,while his shoulders, chest and bestial bear-like face is covered with a silver-colored fur. The bright-red skin of the large, bear-like figure is now a much darker hue of red.

"Some people think they can outsmart me... Maybe, maybe. But I have yet to meet one that can outsmart missile." Suddenly several small fins from all the spikes on its back. Catching everyone by surprise, the bones spikes started spinning and launchers itself from the broad back of the bear in an explosive manner. The bone missiles changed their trajectory and are now speeding towards the two superhumans, bodyguards and the two Lafarges.

 _Things I do for my leads_ ,Brick said to himself grudgingly as hes dashes into a streak of red lightning bolt. The bone missiles proceed to fly towards the bodyguards and the two superbeings. Brick grabs both Lafarges at their collar and pull them out of harm's way. However several of the missiles are now pursuing him and the Lafarges.

In an instant, Bubbles grab two of the sofas and throws them in between the bodyguards and the incoming missiles. She then grabs another sofa and speeds towards the bodyguard in a stream of light-blue light once the sofas projectiles are airborne. The furniture projectiles made contact with the missiles,causing a large explosion in mid-air. As the debris of the explosion were about to hit the bodyguards, Bubbles scoops them all in a split second and whisk them to safety.

"Thanks Bubbles!" The bodyguards cheered, but Bubbles did not answer them as her attention is elsewhere. A few of the bone missiles are now tailing after her and she fires her eyebeam at the missiles as a countermeasure. The missiles made contact with the eyebeam causing them to explodes in mid-air. The bodyguards cheered once more, but Bubbles drops them on the club's stage and tries to intercept the misiles that are chasing Brick. She saw several missiles are still chasing after him,she fires her eyebeam at the bone misiles, causing several of them to detonate in mid-air. Brick fires his eye beams in a wide arc and detonate the remaining missiles that were chasing him. Brick's eyes are low looking around to see if the darn porcupine-bear-human thing is still firing missiles at them, but noticed that the man known as Medved is now gone.

"Bubbles, did you see Medved!?"

"No! No...I..." Bubbles' eyes are now scanning the room, but the presence of the large bear-like figure is now gone.

"I am here." Suddenly the large behemoth appears from behind Bubbles and as she turned around, he was about to land his large claw-like arms on Bubbles. Brick's heart skips a beat, and he fired his eye beams without any hesitation. However, the bear-like monster swipes away the beam and deflects it towards the bar. The bar exploded into flames and now the building is slowly catching on fire. The eye beam gave Bubbles the time she needs to roll away from the behemoth. As the behemoth realizes that his prey had escaped him, he snarled viciously. The bone missiles on his arms and back readies itself once more, but this time the bear-like being is also noticing something is happening with Bubbles.

Twelve small dark blue electrical orbs form around her, before the orbs shoots out several light blueish purple energy filaments. Another larger orb of plasma energy envelopes the electrical orbs and energy filaments to form an unique construct similar to a plasma globe. Suddenly bright ring of light blue electric filaments materializes behind Bubbles's back and the orbs then slowly floats behind Bubbles' back and connecting their own electrical current with the ring's own current. As she stands up, the ring of energy and glove projects a rather god-like visage. Brick watches from the air as the two individuals are now looking at each other with their icy sky-blue eyes.

The spikes from the arms and the back of the Russian fires away, speeding towards the Powerpuff Girl. In response the orbs detaches themselves from the ring and forms several points in the air and the ground before enveloping the empty spaces between them with electrical pillars of plasma. As the missiles hit the dome, the loud spark of electricity making contact echoes throughout the room and covers the view of the Rowdyruff Boy with a cover of smoke. The Russian looks on as his bones regenerates, but then suddenly several orbs flies out from the smoke to slam him in the face, body and stomach before exploding upon making contact. As several more orbs speeds towards the bear-like behemoth, Bubbles emerges from the smoke fully intact. From the explosion on the Russian, some of the orbs are returning, but without their outer layer of plasma while the other orbs with their outer layer flies into the smoke, causing further explosions. The small orbs returns to the orbit around Bubbble's back and slowly recharges itself to its former state before flying off once more to make contact with her opponent.

Each orb is acting like a large fist as it slams into the Russian, and as each orb comes back and forth forward repeatedly in a blurry, rapid barrage it creates the creates the illusion of Bubbles having multiple arms of plasma orbs. Brick is amazed and impressed by this rather unique ability of Bubbles, and the ferocity of her attacks made him reconsider her as the softest of the Powerpuff Girls. In fact, he considered her hardcore. He lands down next to her and could not help but to comment about her abilities while he lets go of the crooks in his arms.

"Impressive." Brick complimented her.

"Thanks." Bubbles beamed with pride and confidence despite her deep panting,

" _Khorosho, khorosho, devushka_!" Suddenly the voice boomed from the smoke, and he plunges forward from the smoke to charge at the two superhuman teenagers. Brick and Bubbles are bracing themselves for the attack before the sound of blaring sirens of police vehicles can be heard through the holes in the walls. The sound stops the titan in his tracks, and Medved sigh in disappointment.

" _Glupyy politseyskiy_... don't want to bring cops to fight. Makes taking over Little _Moskva_ lot harder. I stop fight now. We fight another day." Brick and Bubbles looked at each other before they stared at the Russian behemoth with disbelief. The behemoth is already walking away from them, and his body slowly emits a trail of smoke. He turns around to the Powerpuff Girl and the Rowyruff Boy, only to grab a portion of his bear-like face and tears it apart to reveal the human facade underneath. Bubbles covered her mouth in disgust, while Brick watches stoically as the behemoth slowly tears away his skin and fur to reveal the large red physique of the giant man.

"I'm surprised. I though you would want to finish the fight."

"Don't press luck, _mal'chik_. You lucky that cops arrived. Little _devushka_ over there is running out of steam. I give her two more minutes before she stop. Besides, if I was serious I blow club down and bury everything." As if to make a point, he plucks one of the bone missiles and throws it up to the ceiling, causing an explosion that brought down enough of the ceiling rubble to stop the spreading fire at the bar.

"Spoken like a true pragmatist." Brick said cooly, despite his increasingly beating heart pounding through his chest. Suddenly a cloud of reddish pink fog appeared under the feet of the large burly man.

"Of course, I am _Spetsnaz_." The man-thing salutes the two teenagers before disappearing inside the reddish pink fog. The only thing that marks the presence of the large Russian in the spot is a large piece of skin-like outer layer of the bear behemoth on the dance floor.

"Urgh...I think I'm gonna be sick..." Bubbles holds her mouth as her face slowly turns green. Brick however realizes that they have just escaped from this battle with nothing more than some ruffled hair. If the fight had continued on, they would all be severely injured, and this is an unacceptable outcome. Especially if Bubbles is hurt. He can not imagine her being hurt in his schemes and Brick knew that it is time for her to go. He turns towards the Powerpuff Girl and speaks out his mind.

"Bubbles, leave. Your sisters don't know that you are here. Leave through the back door. I will take care of things here." Brick said to the Powerpuff Girl gently. Bubbles wanted to protest, but Brick puts his hands on her shoulders. Bubbles noticed his stoic but determined expression, and Bubbles realized that there is not any amount of convincing would budge him from his position. Bubbles froze for a moment, but he smiled at her. A very sincere but sad smile, with all his best compassion and wishes. Bubbles looked at him for a moment, but then relents.

"Be safe." Bubbles replied, and she walks away from him. Seeing that she is already on her way, Brick turns around and glared at the crooks that were trying to escape from the superhuman beings. He walks up to the man known as Marlon Lafarge, and grabs him by the collar once more. Now he is able to interrogate them in a way that would assure optimal success.

"You think you can intimidate me Rowdyruff Boy?" Marlon mocks the teenager. Suddenly, Marlon Lafarge felt a chilling sensation throughout his body, and the emotions in him are slowly drained from his body. Marlon's soul feels like it is drowning in a black abyss, and the cold feelings of depression and despair slowly replaces the warmth in his body. Cold sweats runs downs the forehead of the slimy businessman and he felt like he is trapped in a dark room with a black panther that is ready to eat him alive. witness to the unbridled menace of the Rowdyruff Boy. The oppressive atmosphere of the menacing energy emanating from the teenager is enough to knock the bodyguards and the weasely Lafarge out with foams in their mouth.

"I have done just that. As for your brother and your underlings, I am pretty sure what I did would wipe their memories" Brick's voice is now as cold and slippery as ice, and it sends further chills down Marlon's spine. Marlon's breathing is becoming heavier and he feels like his chest is being constricted by a python, and his body starts to shiver. Marlon realizes that he is now seeing the physical manifestation of the Rowdyruff Boy in all its infernal majesty, and he had just crossed the line to not piss him off.

"Now _before you talk, I want you to forget about the presence of the Powerpuff Girl. Do you understand me?_ " The slimy high cheek-boned club owner nods, not daring to cross the very intimidating teenager any more.

 _Good, now talk. We haven't got much time_." The eyes of the Rowdyruff is now blazing with coruscating red energy and his smile a sadistic one.


	15. Chapter 15: Giving A Chance

Chapter 15: Giving A Chance

Buttercup's mind is a turbulent storm.

Save the moment when she was fighting Butch, she had not experienced any peace of mind for the past one and a half months since the Rowdyruff Boys first came into the city. September had turned to October, and now the situation had turned a little more dire with every ticking moment.

Ever since Boomer's first battle with the bat-masked gangster a week and a half ago, the streets are now filled with the presence of the 'Candymen', as the tabloids had learned to call the users of the "Red Candy". So far the cases are minor ones, but still the fact remains that these 'Candymen' were more than what the police could handle and many police officers had either lost their lives or are critically injured as a result. So far the combat has been restricted to the pooerest areas of Townsville, with the two most prominent groups of 'Candymen' consisting of Los Noches gang members and the Russian Mafia.

Los Noches is the most brazen of the two, as they are actively putting up bounties for police officers and also attacking anything resembling a patrol car with extreme prejudice. In contrast, the Russian Mafia is more subtle, but their battles with the police once their hideouts are revealed are much bloodier and brutal. Based on the briefings by Ms. Morningstar regarding the attack that happened three days ago at Club Rodina, it appeared that the description of the suspect responsible for the case appeared to be Nikolai Sergetov, a Russian special forces operative once in the service of the Soviet Red Army now turned mafia kingpin. With him bringing his deadly expertise and also his men into Townsville while Los Noches entered in with bravado and ruthless violence, the other organized crime elements within Townsville literally folded for these two gangs to take over. As a result, the Powerpuff Girls were refrained from fighting the normal hoodlums unless there were 'red candy' cases in order to conserve their strength, a fact that infuriates the Powerpuff Girls. The law enforcement arm of the city of Townsville is slowly being militarized to face the new threats of the emerging strength of the underworld.

The existence of such threats is something Buttercup can not stomach, not when these drugs have the tendrils to reach to the children, like the ones in the orphanage she is in right now. She would do anything to-

"Big sis Buttercup?" Buttercup snapped out from her own train of thought as she felt the soft pull on her pants and a child's voice registering in her mind. She looked down to see a little brunette girl with twin pigtails looking at her with curious hazel brown eyes.

"What's up,Annabelle?" Buttercup kneels down and pats the little girl's head with her best is, as it has always been for Buttercup,a time for her to bond with the orphans, but her thoughts are interrupting her time with them somewhat. She honestly felt a little guilty over her own thoughts, and decide to now focus on the present.

"Big sis, your friend is here." The little girl points out towards the gate and Buttercup turns around to see the teenage sand-blond boy with a hoodie draped on his shoulder. The young teenager appears to be injured as the bandage wrappings on his chest is showing through his tanktop, and his other arm is in a sling. Buttercup notices that his uninjured arm is carrying a large sack, with the sack being slung behind his back. Buttercup groans as she approaches the gate with the little girl in tow.

"Hello Mr. Buttercup's friend." The little girl politely greets the young teenage boy at the gates.

"Heya kiddo. How's everything?"

"What are you doing Boomer? Christmas isn't supposed to be in October Boomer." Buttercup derides the Rowdyruff Boy loudly, but the Rowdyruff Boy is oblivious to the ridicule. Instead, he gives her his widest smile further aggravating the Powerpuff Girl.

"You don't have to be so mean you know? I just got off my hearing aids today, so I can hear you just fine. Buttercup, mind if I come in?" Boomer asked with a smile on his face. Buttercup opened her mouth but before she could say to the blue-eyed teenager to get out of her sight, a calm and tranquil voice interrupted her. Buttercup turns around to see a bespectacled priestly figure watching the young teenage boy with his gray eyes.

"Is he a friend of yours, Buttercup?"

"Father Maxwell!" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Good afternoon young man, what do you have in that big sack of yours? Are you here to donate something to the orphanage?" The man asked with an accepting smile. The sand-blonde teenager gives a cheeky smile and looks at the priest.

"Yeah, I am here to donate some stuff."

"Well then, come on in!" Father Maxwell cheered, and immediately opens the gate for the Rowdyruff Boy. However, Buttercup slips in between the priest and the teenage boy, thereby blocking the path of the Rowdyruff Boy. Surprised by this sudden action, Father Maxwell ask the Powerpuff Girl what is going on as Buttercup never behaves in this manner before.

"What's wrong Buttercup?" Father Maxwell asked, with both his arms folded on his body and his tone polite but demanding an explanation. Buttercup looks at the priest's granite eyes with her own peridot eyes before answering the priest.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! W-w-wait! you can't let him in here! Period!" Buttercup protested, her defensive body gesture being apparent for all to see.

"Why not? He is providing charity to the orphanage. What is wrong with being charitable Buttercup?" Father Maxwell taps his foot, waiting for a better explanation from the Powerpuff Girl.

"But he!"

"But what Buttercup? Give me three reasons why he should not come in here with his charity." Father Maxwell is trying very hard to be very polite, but his expression is that of a person whose patience is running a little thin. He knew that Buttercup would not be able to answer him, and honestly the man of the church figured that the best way to do so is by asking Buttercup to make a sound argument.

"Um..ur...he...ur..." Buttercup struggled to justify why Boomer should not enter into the premise of the orphanage, let alone three reasons. To be fair, the only reason why she does not want the Rowdyruff Boy to enter the premise is due to her dislike of the Rowdyruff Boys. That in itself is not a good reason, but she would have to make something up for Father Maxwell. As her thoughts rushes through her, she did not realize that the priest had already let the teenage boy in.

"Too late Big sis." The little brunette with blue eyes informed Buttercup innocently. Buttercup turned around and notice that the te sand-blonde individual enters the premise with a smile on his face, which Buttercup finds particularly annoying. He walks to the center of the courtyard and puts down the sack gently and slowly take out the contents within the sack. It seems that there are several other smaller paper bags of items, and they appeared to be grocery items. The other children are now gathering around Boomer, Buttercup and Father Maxwell to see what is going on.

"So what do you have for us today,young man?" The priest asked the boy, and Buttercup is also curious about the contents within the sack despite her misgivings.

"Well, I figured that food is the more important thing for kids to grow up healthy and strong, so I got you guys some oats, veggies,meats and other stuff. I also got them some snacks since eating snacks are fun. I wanted to get then toys but then I don't know how many kids are there, so I decided to get some common sports things like soccer balls,football and a basket ball...I think I got some skipping ropes here too and some hoops and-" Suddenly Boomer finds Buttercup standing behind him.

As he wondered why is she standing behind him, Buttercup pulls his hoodie away and hooks a leg over Boomer's leg before forcing him on one side and entangling his non-injured arm and drapes her remaining free leg over his neck, forcing his neck downwards. Buttercup's body in turn is elevated and she presses her whole weight on the unfortunate Rowdyruff Boy. Everyone else is also caught unaware by the sudden octopus hold of the Powerpuff Girl.

"Buttercup!" Father Maxwell exclaimed in surprise. Some of the kids are cheering for Buttercup, while others are holding their mouths in surprise.

"Where the heck did you get all these things from? You stole them didn't you?!" Buttercup's agitated voice asked Boomer as she forced his neck down even further.

"I didn't steal them! I bought them fair and square?" Boomer cried out loud as he felt the immense pressure on his spine. Even though he would like to appreciate the legs of a woman to be wrapped around him, but not in this most excruciating manner. His face is now reddening as the pressure builds on his neck and spine.

"Liar! You can't possibly have that much money to get all these stuff!" Buttercup cried out her suspicions.

"Yes I do you dumb broad! You don't even know how much I have!" Boomer is now definitely screaming as the pressure builds on his neck. As for the Powerpuff Girl, she is really tempted to just slam him down on the ground and do an Indian death lock.

"Buttercup, let go of the young man this instant!" Father Maxwell commanded Buttercup and points down to the floor. Buttercup however did not let go of her octopus grip on Boomer as she turned her attention to the middle-aged man.

"But!"

"Let him go, this is not the way we treat our guests and this is not what we want to show the children." Father Maxwell sternly voiced his disapproval. Buttercup reluctantly untangle her limbs from the Rowdyruff Boy and stands beside him. Boomer is now rubbing the back of his neck, and he takes out a piece of long rectangular paper from his pocket. The priest takes the piece of paper and reads it, and Father Maxwell shows the piece of paper at Buttercup.

"Buttercup, he bought it fair and square. This is the receipt." Buttercup took the receipt from the priest and her eyes are wide open as she read it. Her attention turned towards the Rowdyruff Boy, and she is utterly flabbergasted as she points at the total amount in Boomer's face.

"What's the matter? Cat caught your tongue?" Boomer asked snidely.

"Alright that is enough children. Your efforts are much appreciated young man. May I know your name?" The priest extends his hand to the Rowdyruff Boy. The teenager extend his own arm and shakes the priest's hand.

"At least someone's polite. Mine's Boomer. Nice to meet you."

"I am Father Maxwell, the priest in charge of this orphanage. Everyone's welcomed here."

"Thanks." Boomer smiled, but realized that the Powerpuff Girl is now looking at him with a death glare that could terrorize terrorists in their tracks.

"Alright children, who wants to help Boomer and I to carry these bags to our kitchen? Buttercup I want you to watch the children as we put these in the fridges and cabinets. Boomer,if you don't mind, please watch over the other children." Father Maxwell asked the Rowdyruff teenager nods, and the motley crew of porters are carrying the newly donated items into the orphanage. The remaining kids returned to playing in the courtyard, and Boomer finds himself a spot to take a seat on a bench nearby.

He slumps om the chair and breath a heavy sigh. He had spend just chump change of his fortunes from the battlefields of the world to get these little children some gifts and food stuff, but he personally believe that there is nothing that would get Buttercup off his case. For many reasons anything he does is always viewed with suspicion by Buttercup, and he sadly understands why. The Rowdyruff Boys are more or less born as supervillains and with a specific purpose of destroying the Powerpuff Girls. He never deny his origins but he should not be defined by his origins like a branded label. He and his brothers are treated like rotten goods, not even given a second chance to even live normally. He wondered if no one would give them a second chance, why even bother with trying to get everyone's approval and consent.

He looks up to the bright blue skies and wonder what would it takes for people to accept him and treat him with respect. He felt a light pulling sensation on his pinkie finger on his non-injured arm. He looked down to see the little girl with bright blue eyes,brown pigtails and a nice frilly white dress looking at him, and Boomer smiled nervously.

"Um...Hi kiddo?"

"Heya, Big bro. Why are you so sad?"Boomer recognized the little girl as the one Buttercup called Annabelle. The little climbs up on the bench where he is sitting on with some difficulty before sitting right next to him. Her legs barely even comes out from the seat and personally Boomer thought that she is utterly adorable sitting on the chair. The little girl asked with her soft and child-like voice. Deep inside Boomer, he swears to the heavens above that he had exploded twice. Boomer does not really want to talk about it and would like to ask her to get lost, but he decided to take a more gentler approach to answering the girl.

"Well kiddo, Big bro Boomer here is just thinking. But I think it is something very boring, and you will not like it." Boomer hinted for her to move way. However due to her age, Boomer realized that she does not get the hint. Boomer wondered if he was this dense when he was her age.

"Father Maxwell said that people should talk with each other more, as that is how friends are made." The little girl said innocently.

"Well, Big sis Buttercup does not like Boomer, and that makes Boomer a little sad." Boomer tried to generalize the issue, but he is not lying to the little girl.

"Big sis is always grumpy, but she is always nice to us. She's like a grumpy kitty, where she is grumpy but she is also a normal kitty with normal kitty feelings." Boomer covered his mouth, not wanting to burst out into a guffaw. Kids sure say the darnest things, Boomer thought as he looked at the little girl. This girl is turning out to be more entertaining that he thought.

"Yeah, she is a grumpy cat. By the way, aren't you with Big Sis Buttercup and your friends?" Boomer asked.

"Well, my friends are all helping Big Sis with the stuff and since I am too small to help, I'm here." The little girl said with a smile, though her tone is a little sadder than it should be.

"I feel you kiddo. I always feel that way when my brothers leave me to do something without telling me." Boomer leans on the bench and looks up to the sky, with a slightly saddened smile. The little girl looks up to the sky, wondering what the sand-blonde teenager is looking at. Noticing that there is nothing up there, she turns her attention back to the young teenager.

"You have brothers?" Annabelle asked.

"Yup."

"Are they nice?"

"Not a single bit. Butch is an overeager fighting maniac that could not take his eyes off the ladies, while Brick is a tricky moody little bugger. They kinda always bossed me around, and always asking me to do stupid errands for them. And sometimes they just picked on me up just because." Boomer said with mild annoyance.

"They don't sound very nice." Annabelle reasoned, and Boomer chuckled.

"Yeah, they are a lot of work but when it counts, we knew that we only got each other. If one of us were hurt,we would not hesitate to pay those responsible back hundredfold. If there's any trouble, we would help each other out. If there is something fun to be had, it would be us three doing it together. I mean I am only here right now because my brother saved my little tiny butt a few times. We are brothers after all and we are family when it counts the most." The little girl watched the Rowdyruff Boy speaks about his brothers in an animated manner for a few minutes.

"It sure is nice having family." Boomer wondered why the little girl's voice is now sprinkled with sadness and belonging, before he realized where he is right now. He facepalmed in his mind, as he had just opened a big can of worms. Boomer turns down and watches as the little girl sits next to him silently. Boomer grits his teeth and scratches his head as he had went and grabbed the idiot ball. There must be a way to amend this situation, he thought. And a thought struck him.

"Heya kiddo, don't be sad."

"But..."

"Just sit on my lap for a moment." The little girl looked at him with cautious eyes, but Boomer gives the little girl his best friendly smile. The little girl climbs up to his lap and sits his lap sideways, taking great care to not touch Boomer's injured arm. Boomer smiled as he gently controlled the electricity within his body to travel through the girls body to give her a ticklish sensation. The little girl is a little shocked by the sudden sensation and she started giggling. He stops the electricity current immediately before he opens his palms before her and construct an electric construct of a prancing unicorn running in his palm. The little girl is looking at the little construct prancing and galloping in his palm with great amount of interest.

"Well kiddo, do you want to touch it?" Boomer asked.

"But isn't that...elec-el...elect...elekkity?" The little girl tried to pronounce electricity, but she could not say it properly. Boomer wished that he could pinch the little girl's cheek with his injured arm as she is so adorable. And since she is such an angel, Boomer decides that she should get something a little extra.

"You want an electric kitty? Sure, let's see here...something like...this?" Suddenly the electrical unicorn turned into a small miniature kitten. The little girl's eyes brightened up and Boomer knew that it is time to animate this construct one step further.

"Alright, kiddo open your arms like you are holding a basket." The little girl wondered why, but Boomer beckons her on with a smile. She opened her arms, and with an electrical filament still attached to the construct, he gave it an impulse to jump on the space between the arms. The electrical construct grows in size and lands inside her cradling arms. The little girl is now laughing as the electrical current flowing through her palm is giving her a ticklish sensation. The little girl squeal with glee, catching the attention of the rest of the kids.

"Whoa! check it out!" One of the kids cried out, and soon enough the other kids started to crowd around the teenager and the little girl. The cat construct is now sitting on the little girl's lap ,just like how the little girl is sitting on Boomer's lap. The kitty construct is now licking its electrical fur, and the other kids are now pushing each other to try and take a look at it.

"Alright guys, stop pushing. Everyone gets a chance to hold the electric kitty." But before he could even animate the kitten, a coughing voice suddenly cuts through the commotion. Boomer turns around to see Buttercup looking at him with great contempt. Boomer realized that he is in deep trouble, but before he could explain himself Annabelle speaks for him.

"It is not Big Bro's fault! I saw Big Bro was sad and he said that Big Sis made him sad and I said you may be grumpy but you are nice and Big Bro was asking why I am out here and I said that I was too small to help and Big Bro talked about his family and I was sad and he made me an unicorn and then a kitty out of elekkity and it has this tingly thingie that make me laugh and stuff and big Bro wants to let everyone hold the elekkity kitty and..." Buttercup sighs loudly before the little girl could finish her long and continuous speech without any punctuation. The others are now looking at Buttercup's response, and Buttercup understands that anything she say now would be held against her. If there is one thing this orphanage is united on, it is that they are united in their care for the littlest one of their lot.

"Alright, sweetie. I get it. You can play with the electric kitty for a while." Buttercup relented, knowing that Annabelle does not speak up to anyone and when she does, everyone listens. Of all the people she is defending today, it just her luck that it is the most hated Rowdyruff Boy of them all. The children parted as Buttercup makes her way towards the sapphire-eyed teenager. She glades at him for a while before giving him a pat on his shoulder.

"Well Boomer, I hate to admit it, but you did good this time." Buttercup lets the compliment escape her lips reluctantly, scratching her head while putting her other hand on her hips. Boomer is a little surprised by the compliment, and hearing it makes him wonder if pigs are trying to take off to fly in the bright blue open skies.

"I told you Big Sis Buttercup's a grumpy kitty." Annabelle commented hapily as she pats the electrical kitten. Boomer chuckles once more at the comparison before opening up in a loud laughter. Boomer's laughter was soon cut by Buttercup slapping his head. The kitten immediately disappeared and the cheerful little child little girl's shock soon turns into a frown and her lips start to quiver. Before long, the little girl's eyes start to water, and it is apparent to everyone what she is about to do.

"Oh no..." The kids said out in a chorus, and Buttercup realized that she had just made a very big mistake. Boomer also realized Buttercup's mistake and tried to make another electrical kitty, but his attempts were cut short as the girl immediately started crying out loud. Boomer is now desperately trying to make a spark, but he realized that his flying had taken out a lot of his 'juice' and he needs to recharge. Meanwhile Buttercup is trying to console her and say that she is sorry, but she is not getting her message across to the girl.

"Sweetie don't cry, I-"

"THE ELEKITTY KITTY IS GONEEEEEEE!" The little girl is now crying her heart out on Boomer's lap. Buttercup turns her attention to the spiky-haired blonde teenager and started speaking to him with a much more louder voice to bypass the crying.

"Boomer, can't you make another electrical kitten for her to play with?!" The short-haired female said angrily.

"I ran out of juice! I need some foodstuff!" Boomer speaks loudly as the girl's crying bombards his hypersensitive hearing.

"Well go and get something to eat or drink then!" Buttercup cried out loud.

"I can't move!" Boomer cried out, and Buttercup realized that the little girl is sitting on his lap and is not moving. Buttercup would have to admit that she did not see that at all, and she silently admits that she is an idiot for not noticing. Buttercup carries the little girl away from his lap and wraps one arm around her body why the other is supporting the little girl's rump.

"Well, move!" The Powerpuff Girl realizes that the Rowdyruff Boy is not getting up like he is suppose to do, and she is now utterly annoyed by the fact that he is still sitting down on the bench. Boomer's face is now a little pale, and all he could do is to just speak louder than before.

"I can't move!"

"What is it this time!" Buttercup cried out loud and taps his leg with a light kick. Now, it is Boomer's turn to cry out, causing a great amount of alarm from the Powerpuff Girl and also the rest of the children. Buttercup immediately realized one thing; the Rowdyruff Boy is feeling the sensation of pins and needles in his legs. The teenager boy is now looking at Buttercup with blood-shot glares.

"Do you have to do that?" Boomer said with a great amount of annoyance.

"Sorry." Buttercup sheepishly said as she pats the little girl's hair.

"I'll get a drink for Boomer right here. Would a soda be fine?" A little boy with ginger-coloured hair asked the sand-blonde teenager. Boomer nods his head as he tries to get the sensation back to his now-numb legs. The little boy runs towards the orphanage, and the other kids are now watching as the two are trying their best to console the crying little girl. But her continuous cries are now getting louder and louder. As a few minutes gone by, both superpowered superbeings are at the end of their ropes, as they do not know how to stop this incessant crying.

"Great, how do we stop this?" Buttercup asked Boomer.

"You ask me? You're the one who's with her the longest! You do something!" Boomer exclaimed to the Powerpuff Girl, and Buttercup clearly does not appreciate the comment. Buttercup is now feeling a little hurt by the comment, and she went silent. Boomer watches as the little girl is still crying over Buttercup's shoulders. It was then that a little boy's voice cries out loud and the spiky-haired teenager turned around to see that a little boy with a Gatorade in his arm.

"Catch!" Before Boomer could even inform the kid that he only got one arm, the bottle left the arm of the little boy as quickly as the wind. Boomer realizes that he would have to make it or break it with this catch. As he tries to catch the bottle cum projectile, Buttercup watches as the bottle slowly reaches the slung arm of the blue-eyed teenager. Buttercup knew that the impact of the bottle would hurt like hell.

The bottle hits the arm of the teenage superhuman before propelling upwards towards his chin and up towards the air, causing him to fall backwards down on the floor. The children are now silent as they see him crashing on his back, and now he is crying out in pain. Annabelle had stopped crying and is now watching the sapphire-eyed teenager lying down on his back, and this fact is not lost on Buttercup. At least Boomer had made her stop crying. The teenager struggled to get up, but before he could even say anything, the bottle had just returned from being propelled in the sky and hits him in the crotch hard before the Gatorade bottle burst, covering his pants and his body with the drink.

"My ball-" Boomer tried to squeal, but the pain to his family jewel''s is just unbearable and his pained expression is plain for all to see. Somehow, this little bottle had managed to hurt him while he is more or less missile-proof. Boomer blamed it on the lack of iron he had taken in the morning, and he regretted his decision. Suddenly the whole group of children are now laughing out loud, and Buttercup could not help but to laugh along with them. Annabelle is now crying once more, but this time it is the tears of joy and laughter.

 _He may be an idiot, but he sure has a gift to defuse tense situations_ , Buttercup remarked to herself. Despite her dislike for the Rowdyruff Boy, she finds that somehow he does have his redeeming features. If it were her, she would had failed in her attempt to stop Annabelle from crying. She readjusts her carrying posture of little Annabelle with one arm and walks up to the teenager in the fetal position before pulling him up with her other arm. For her, it looks like his second chance will have to start from somewhere.

Unbeknownst to Boomer, Buttercup and the children, a figure clad in tattered robes and bandages is watching them from the rooftop of the opposite building. The crystalline amber eyes of the figure squints as it looked at the congregation, before the figure turns its back and dissipate in a reddish pink fog.


	16. Chapter 16: A French Connection

Chapter 16: A French Connection

[Chinatown, Townsville : 12.00pm]

Blossom is perhaps the most lonely character among the Powerpuff Girls.

Her prim mannerism and her perfect balance of personality attributes does not make her stand out as compared to her sisters. She is the perfect friend and student, but perhaps too perfect as people sometimes find her a little 'fake' at times and that she is keeping up appearances . Speaking about appearances, she is quite stunning, but that only made her even more unapproachable as people find her just too beautiful to be approached casually. She is flawless in her outgoing behavior and participation in school, but she does not have much of a social life with her classmates as her intelligence often alienates her from the other students, even those in the A.P classes. With the exception of Robin Snyder, the Powerpuff Girl's neighbor and friend, Blossom does not have a friend whom she could confide in things, like her passions.

One of those passion is her great appreciation of East Asian culture, for its shared social and moral philosophies aligns well with Blossom's own behaviors and preferences. In a way, her love of East Asian culture, especially for Chinese culture is perhaps the main reason why she is often fond of patrolling the Asian enclaves of Townsville such as Chinatown, Little Tokyo and Koreatown. And this Saturday is no different as for today's lunch, she is in Chinatown for one main reason; to satisfy her craving for _Siu Mai_ , the Chinese dumpling dish stuffed with ground pork, chopped shrimps, black mushrooms, scallions, and ginger with seasoning of Chinese rice wine. Today, nothing is stopping her from enjoying her _Siu Mai_.

Alone among her sisters, she have a deep preference for Chinese food. She is a connoisseur of proper Chinese food, and she would not accept nothing less. As her tastes grows more refined, she realized that the American Chinese food she grew up with is stale and seasoned for the average American with the four don't of food in her mind; Too sweet, Too salty, deep-fried, and too greasy. Authentic Chinese food is nothing like those things, and it is a truly balanced meal with complex and fresh flavors. From the layers of spiciness of Szechuan cuisine to the freshness of Cantonese cuisine, to the melting softness of Huaiyang cuisine and the distinctively lightly seasoned Shandong cuisine. Those are a few of her favorite things, and today she is ready to enjoy her fondness of _Siu Mai_ in her most favorite place to enjoy the food.

She looked up to the sign of 'Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse' written in Cantonese and smiled before she enter the teahouse. As she enters into her favourite _Dim Sum_ teahouse, the place as always is packed with the citizens of Townsville that have come over to enjoy the meal and the company of each other. Blossom had wanted to come here with her family today for their Saturday luncheon, but Professor Utonium is deep into his research as well as finding the solution to the 'Red Candy' epidemic. Bubbles on the other hand is going with her group of friends to watch a movie, while it is best not to interrupt Buttercup when she's asleep after a night's spar out at her favorite that leaves her to enjoy her Saturday lunch alone.

" _Ah Fà lèi jōr lah!_ " The voice of an elderly Chinese lady echoed throughout the noisy teahouse, surprising the patrons for a moment before they continued back to their activities. Blossom recognized the voice that have just announced her arrival in the teahouse as the owner of the teahouse, Madame Soong. As she watches, an old lady in a casual linen shirt and pants with her hair tied in a bun with chopsticks appears from the sea of patrons and hugs her in an embrace. The copper-haired teenager hugs the lady back, knowing that in Chinese culture hugging someone just like that is a gesture of great friendship.

" _Pōh Pōh_ , _léi hòu moú ah?_ " Blossom asked the old lady if she is doing well. Thanks to her patronage of this restaurant since she was eight, she was able to pick up her Cantonese rapidly to the point where she could speak as fluently as a Cantonese person herself. The old lady laughed and taps the young lady on the shoulder.

" _Ai ya, Yí gū ngō èm hōu, tái jaí lōr! Ah Fà, leì oi leì kē_ usual _haí mai_?" The old lady laughs as she ask the Powerpuff Girl if she would like her usual assortment of dim sum and tea. Blossom is glad that she is alright, and the spunk coming out from this nearly eighty year old lady assures Blossom that the old lady is in good health. And like the old lady say, is she is not in her best condition, she would be a goner.

"Yes I would like that." Blossom answered in English with a smile on her face.

"Good, good. _Ah Fà_ , You sit over there. We prepare _po-lay chā_ for you." The old lady said kindly in her offbeat English. The lady then shouted her order to her staff to prepare the tea and went on into the sea of people to take their orders. As Blossom takes her seat, she looks into the hectic and yet lively teahouse. She personally preferred the atmosphere as compared to a coffeehouse, as the hustle and bustle of a Chinese teahouse is just more human and have a lot more soul and character.

As her teaset is brought,she taps the table with two fingers signifying her thanks to the waitress. As Blossom prepares her tea, her mind started to wander into the scene at the docks. Who is the mysterious Chinese lady? She is speaking in Cantonese, and the bat-masked gangbanger called her 'tiger' in Cantonese though she doubt that the man know what it means. Still, those lines alone have narrowed down her search to just Chinatown for the location of her suspect. The new Mainland Chinese diaspora speaks Mandarin and they usually live outside in the Townsville's suburbs,while the older Cantonese and Fujian diaspora lives within Chinatown itself. Her thoughts lead her to the crime elements of Townsville's underworld and she recalled that the Triad, Tongs and the Yakuza were kicked out of Townsville a while back,so there could not be any crime elements of East Asian origin in Townsville. Or did it return to Townsville with a vengeance?

"Hello miss?" An accented female voice cuts into her thoughts and Blossom turned around to face a very beautiful and attractive woman, being almost doll-like in apprarance with bright blue eyes, fair and milk-white skin, and a slender frame. She has waist-length dark brown hair tied in a braid with free-hanging locks that frame her face. The only thing marring her otherwise beautiful features is a scar on one of her cheek in the form of a tilted cross.

"Yes?" Blossom asked.

"The old lady of the store mentioned that I could sit here as the place is packed, if that's fine with you. If not I'll-" The lady speaks to Blossom with a rather heavily accented and nasal tone.

"Sure have a seat!" Blossom interrupted the lady, and the lady smiled. As she takes her seat and crosses her legs, Blossom noticed her attire of an off-white long-sleeved blouse, light green long pants and dark brown boots with heels is both simple and stylish. The woman is also wearing a necklace with a pendant, the symbol of a cross with a green emerald at the intersection of the cross emblazoned on the pendant.

 _Wha_ _t a beautiful and graceful woman_ , Blossom said to herself, admiring the woman's appearance. A waitress comes by and as the brunette places her order, Blossom sips on her tea. Blossom reasoned to herself that in a normal Chinese teahouse, sharing tables with strangers are not that uncommon, and indeed it is part of the experience of a Chinese teahouse. In fact this is the main way in which she engaged the Chinatown citizenry, either to socialize with them or to gather information for her crime-fighting. As Blossom's own dishes are served on her table and the lady's tea was served to her, the foreign lady is now looking at the copper-haired teenager with a great amount of interest. However the brunette's staring caused Blossom to be rather self-conscious, and she started to frown a little.

"Is there something wrong?" Blossom asked, curious as to why the lady is staring at her.

" _Excusez-moi_ , where are my manners? Sorry to bother you once again miss, but your face...it feels I have seen you before."

"My name is Blossom of Powerpuff Girls' fame. Nice to meet you." Blossom extends a hand, and the brunette shakes her hand.

"Of course, you are a Powerpuff Girl! How foolish of me! My name is Renée Delacroix, nice to meet you." The brunette smiled.

"So Ms. Delacroix-"

"Please, call me Renée." The foreigner said with a smile.

"Alright Renée, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, what brings you to Townsville? Holiday?" Blossom asked, and the lady chuckled before taking a sip of her tea.

"I plan to expand my business in Townsville, so today's more like a scouting day for me." Renée answered the Powerpuff Girl. Before long, the dishes of both ladies arrived and as the food are being served, Blossom decided to ask the lady about what kind of business she is doing here. It never hurts to ask in Blossom's book.

"Oh cool, what kind of business?"

"Aren't you a curiously direct and open one? Did anyone said that to you before Blossom?" The brunette laughed. Blossom blushed a little before she laughed as well.

As the two women chatted away over tea and their meal, the lady revealed that she is a medical prosthetic specialist , and she is here to market a new kind of prosthetic limb to medical institutions that would allow full functionality and senses for amputees or for those that are born with limb disabilities. As the topic moved on from prosthetic to human rights and politics, the two bonded over their similar moral and philosophical views. The random meeting of these two strangers had become the seed of a beautiful friendship as time goes by inside the teahouse. A few hours later, two female figures exited the teahouse, with smiles on their faces.

"That's a good afternoon if I have to say so myself. Next time, we should do this a token of our friendship, I would like for you to have this." The Frenchwoman said with her heavily accented voice and winked at the Powerpuff lady reaches behind her neck and takes her necklace with the pendant and puts it into Blossom's palms. Blossom is immediately taken aback by this sudden gift.

"Oh no, I can't accept this Renée!" Blossom protested, but the brunette's index finger rested on the full lips of the Powerpuff Girl, silencing her.

"Oh Blossom, I would really like for you to have this. It means a lot for me if you accept the gift. Please?" The older woman asked the pink-eyed teenager. Blossom sighed and relented, nodding her head.

"Thank you Blossom. See you when I see you!" The French lady smiled and waved at Blossom before taking her leave, leaving Blossom all alone in front of the Chinese teahouse. Blossom wondered if they would ever meet again.

[Unknown]

 _"Medic! Medic! I swear...I swear, I will not let you die!" Butch screamed out desperately as he tried to administer first aid on his badly injured patient in order to regain a semblance of reality within this surreal situation. Butch is only twelve, and this is his first time seeing someone dying before him. To make matters worse, Butch is now covered in blood, and his jadeite eyes are now filled with tears. He looked at the blue eyes watching with tender feelings._

 _"Please...please stop..." The soft accented voice of the woman reaches his ear, and he stopped for a moment. The slumping patient knows it as well, and understands that this is no experience a child should face. The battlefield is a cruel one, and her injuries from the explosion of an artillery shell is fatal. But seeing a person dying before their eyes not something a child should see. She leans her head on her shoulders, and if she had arms she would have hugged him to comfort him and she have legs, she would stood above him as she hugs him._

 _"No! I...There's a way to fix this!" Butch voice trembled as he protested, his arm still scurrying in the first aid box to find something to fix the situation. The lady gently leans on Butch's head sideways causing him to turn towards the woman._

 _"That's enough, I beg you. Please." The figure said in an anguished voice. Butch drops backwards on his rear, not believing that this is it the end of a life. The woman looks at him with bright blue eyes filled with tears, her sclerae is now pinkish in color. Butch watched in pain to the woman's suffering, as her blood-tinted tears flowed down her cheeks and her chest moving up and down breathing her last breaths._ _The little boy is now sobbing, with his right palm combing her dark brown hair while the other palm holding the head of the woman up gently,touching her cheek damaged by the shrapnel of the blast in a cross-shaped scar. The fair woman smiled as she turned paler and paler from the blood loss._

 _"No, I don't want to..." Butch cried as his lips quiver with sadness. The woman shushed the sobbing boy._

 _"I don't have long to live. Unexpected things will happen, Butch. Can you play the song in my music box one more time?"_

 _"I-I-I!" Butch tried to speak, but he is choking up from the emotions welling up inside his body. The lady smiled at him, and butch picks up her necklance and pressed the music box before it opened up to play a tune. Butch recognized it for it is her favorite song, "As Time Goes By". The song's title is not lost on him, as she is slowly succumbing to her injuries and as time passes, she is getting worse._

 _"Mon Petit Verde, life's a journey, and mine had come to an end..." The lady coughed out blood, and Butch realized that she must have internal organ injuries._

 _"Please, don't speak anymore! Help's on the way! Medic!" Butch cried out loud, trying his best to keep the woman alive. But the woman continues on speaking to the jadeite-eyed boy._

 _"But...you know what Butch?_ _" The spark of life from the lady's bright blue eyes are now fading away, and Butch could only watch as blood runs down her mouth down on the sides of her mouth and her chin._

 _"Please, please don't leave me..." Butch voice is now a whimper and as she slowly looked at her with her bloodshot eyes, her eyes are streaming down tears mixed with blood. With the last ounce of her strength, she said what she wants to say to the little boy._

 _"There's always a silver lining as every ending has a new beginning. Time will heal all sorrows..._

 _"Please, don't..."_

 _"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things apply." The blood start pooling down on the floor like a red lake, soaking the shoes of the Rowdyruff Boy._

 _"Please!" Butch cried out, but the lady is coughing blood and breathing her last._

 _"Live Petit Verde, live long ...and ...prosper..." The lady's last moments are as noble, pure and as bright as the whitest snow. Butch watched as her blood-red tears runs down her cheeks, and her eyes finally becomes glass-eyed and her face froze in a kind and gentle smile. Butch was about to call out to her before suddenly the door to the room they are in slams down._

 _"BUTCH WE NEED TO LEAVE!" Brick's voice pierced through the scene, and Butch turned around to see his brothers barging into the ruined home. They both grabbed the raven-haired boy and dragged him away, despite the boy's protest. The young boy howled in anguish as the distance between the boy and the woman grew further and further._

Butch wakes up in a cold sweat, with tears running down his cheeks. As he gets himself up, he cursed.

 _That dream again_ , Butch thought to himself as he shakes his head and wipes his tears away. He wondered why is he dreaming of Syria and of _her_. Today is not going to be a good day at all for the Rowdyruff Boy. The moment between him waking up and going to school is a blur for the raven-haired teenager, as his mind is preoccupied with the disturbing dream he had this morning.

As Butch entered into the school grounds, he is clearly in a really bad mood. He does not like his dream from this morning or to be exact the dreams he had been dreaming about for the past few days. The same image of him trying to save _her_ played constantly, the warm, deep red of her blood covered him like a paint on a tapestry and the memory of the light of life fades away from those bright blue eyes is something he will not let himself forget. His thoughts drifted back further back further to a time where he could see her as a whole human being, the beauty of her limbs and slender frame not overly tall nor willowy, but utterly spellbinding. As his imagination run wild, he cursed his memories for remembering her.

He remembered her like it was yesterday. He remembered that she is his unit commander during the time in when he and his brothers are fighting in Syria on the side of the rebels. He remembered her as a kind and gentle soul, who loved to listen to old songs and old Hollywood movies, with her favorite being "As Time Goes By" and "Casablanca" respectively. He even remembered that she loved the song so much because her father made it into a music box pendant that she always wears around her neck. He remembered her speaking about her past, and him speaking to her about his past. He remembered how the Rowdyruff Boys and the woman bonded like brothers and sister. He remembered the little pranks he and his brothers does to her and how the three Rowdyruff Boys and her kept each other company in the cold Syrian night. Alas, she is gone now. He could only remember her name and her existence as his tribute to her as time goes by.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice cuts into his mind, causing him to realize that someone asked him to give way to enter into the classroom. A slender knee-length copper-haired lady with a red ribbon holding her hair is now looking at him. Butch watches as Blossom realized who she asked and her expression immediately changed, and she is now glaring at the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy. Perhaps he would just make fun of her and this negativity would go away. But Butch realized that the Powerpuff Girl is wearing a necklace with a pendant, with a cross emblazoned on it and an emerald stone at the center of the cross. His mind immediately registered the object, and his utter surprise and shock over the item is overwhelming. His stare is not lost on the Powerpuff Girl.

"What are you looking at?" Blossom asked the jadeite-eyed Rowdyruff Boy, but realized that his attention is not on her legs for once. She finds that odd, but then she turned to see where he is looking at. Immediately realizing what could be the reason for his stare, she turns her attention back towards the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Stop staring at my chest you pervert." She said angrily. But to her surprise, his eyes are not his usually lustful eyes when he gaze upon a woman of his fancy as she had seen him done a few times. His eyes are the eyes of seeing something important that was lost for ages and rediscovered, and she swears that he is seeing tears gathering in his eyes.

"Blossom, where did you get that from?" Butch said, his voice heavy with emotion as he points at her pendant.

"Why, you want to buy it?" Blossom asked the Rowdyruff Boy as she tried to mock him. But she realized that his reaction is not what she is expecting. His usually bright jadeite eyes are now cloudy and dark. The onyx-haired teenager boy speaks up, his husky tenor voice much deeper than usual.

"Can you open the pendant Blossom?"

"Butch, what are you-"

"Press the emerald for three seconds. That would open the pendant."

"Yeah right Butch, like that would-"

"Do it." Butch said sternly as his eyes glowed, his voice trying to not crack under his emotions.

Blossom's concern that he may blow up the school with reckless abandon if she refused, she decided that she would do as he says. If anything, if it does not do anything, she can always admonish him for his instruction. She holds on to the emerald for three seconds, and at first nothing happened. Blossom was about to say something to Butch when surprisingly, the pendant opened up. Blossom lets go of the pendant and the pendant is now playing a sweet and beautiful melody melody. The ethereal misty ringing tune of the music box gives a sense of timelessness and passion, but each ring comes with a tinge of sadness, as if longing for a time that once was before. Blossom is pleased by the unknown function of her pendant but she realized that it only does so after Butch gave her the explicit instructions. She wanted to ask Butch how does he know that the pendant is a music box, and she turned her attention to the well-build teenager. His jadeite eyes are now glowing dimly, his expression filled with sadness.

"You have not answered me Pinkie; where did you get this from? Butch's harsh and piercing question surprised Blossom and suddenly Blossom felt her arms being grabbed by the jadeite-green teenager, his eyes showing a sense of desperate disbelief.

"I-"

"Where did you get this from?" Butch's voice cracked as he asked her. The grip of the muscular teenager is strong and she can feel the tightening pressure on her wrists becoming more and more intense. She could feel her wrist hurting as the pressure continues.

"Butch,you are hurting my wrists..." Blossom tried to ask Butch to let go of his grip, but it fell to deaf ears.

"Did you get it from a peddler? Ebay? The black market?" Butch's eyes are now desperate, and as his speech and emotions becomes more incoherent. Seeing the dangers of an unstable Butch, Blossom tries to calm him down and also to let go of her wrists. Blossom is now very afraid of what Butch would do as his eyes are now a mess of emotions; rage, anger, fear,and desperation. Blossom could not escape his grip and she realize that he is using his superpowers on her without him realizing it.

"Butch please, calm down and let go..."

"STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH ME PINKIE! TELL ME!" Butch roared, causing the slender girl to jump and close her eyes. The other students are now looking at the two superhumans,wondering what is going could only do one thing in this situation before it goes out of control.

"STOP!" Blossom shouted,snapping the Butch out of his maddening trance.

As he realized what just transpired, he looked at the wrists of copper-haired Powerpuff Girl and sees the bruise marks of his grip on her wrists. Butch had just tried to hurt a girl physically without any provocation and a great sense of guilt overcame him. As the other emotions within Butch rushes into him, his mind and body did the only thing it could do.

Blossom clearly did not want to shout back at Butch but his actions could be much deadlier if left alone for any longer. Now that he stopped, she wanted to explain about the pendant. But she was suddenly stopped in her tracks by the sobbing sound of the Rowdyrufff Boy. The lips of the Rowdyruff Boy quivers and his muscle tremor as Blossom watched. His erratic but slow breathing, along with his sniffing shocks even Blossom, as Blossom had never seen him like this before. Suddenly the male teenager broke down in tears.

"Butch? What's going on?" Blossom asked Butch as he cried.

"Blossom, what's going on? Sounds like there is a fight and suddenly Butch is crying and stuff." One of the student asked as Blossom pats the head of the Rowdyruff Boy.

"I'm taking him over to the nurse's office. Just inform Miss Krakow for me will you, Tim?" Blossom informed the student. The student nods and Blossom led the student out from the class. As the other students watched and started murmuring, she smiled uncomfortably as she tried to reason with the class over this situation. The fact still remains that Butch is now crying like a little baby.

"Alright, come on Butch. I need you to walk with me alright?" Blossom asked the teenage superhuman being to cooperate with her, and surprisingly he is complying with her. Blossom figured that this is for the best, as informing the class that he is an emotional wreck over a pendant would be devastating to the Rowdyruff Boy.

Blossom reasoned that whatever mental shock he had received from the pendant that Renée gave to him must be something big. She wondered how these two individuals in her life are connected to each other as she leads the teenager to the nurse's office. As they entered into the nurse's office, Blossom noticed that they are the only two individuals in the office now. Blossom leads the tall teenager towards one of the chairs and lets him sit down and she noticed his reddened eyes. Blossom wanted to push him away, but something in her decide to hug him back and let him cry. There is no resistance from the raven-haired teenager as his head is now on Blossom's shoulders and her arms are now embracing the back of his head and the back of his shoulders.

Blossom can feel Butch's warmth and also she noticed how broad his shoulders are as they trembled. She could hear his labored breathing as he cried, and to her surprise he is now embracing her in a hug. The transparent way in which he showed his emotions is not something she would want to take advantage of. As he continued on crying, Blossom commented to herself that this is the first time a man had cried over her shoulder. Despite the annoyance of the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy and how her hear desires to get back at him, she could not bring herself to exploit this situation to her advantage. Blossom wished that she is much more crueler at times, but at times like this she is glad that her years of crime-fighting and being a defender of all that is good had given her a heart. This went on for a while before she felt his embrace becoming weaker before disappearing entirely and the sobbing sound is gone entirely.

"You alright?" Blossom asked, not knowing if it is the right question to ask him.

"Not really, Pinkie." Butch's voice trailed is significantly calmer than he was before, but the sadness in his voice is not going away anytime soon. So she lets go off her embrace and as he looked at her with his reddened eyes, he saw Blossom's concerned eyes. Butch had never seen her eyes being so caring and nurturing before and as Blossom touched his arm for a brief moment, the distraught teenager felt the warm touch of her fingers for a moment.

"I see..." Blossom trailed off, not sure what else she should be saying to Butch.

"Thanks." The sudden token of gratitude by the onyx-haired teenager caught Blossom by surprise, given that Butch tends to be an obnoxious person when interecting with her.

"Thanks for?"

"Thanks for bringing me here, and..." Butch's voice trailed off, and Blossom realized that he is talking about her embracing him and letting him cry on her shoulders. She smiled, knowing that at least it helped him somehow. However, his eyes are still staring at the pendant and Blossom decided that whatever it is, it is for the best that she let him take a look at it. She lifts her hair as she takes the necklace off her neck and passes the necklace to the male teenager. The male teenager looks at her with wide open jade-green eyes.

"Go ahead Butch." Blossom beckons, and the jadeite-eyed teenager takes it into his palm and looks at it. Butch's eyes are now much more kinder and softer, and his lips quiver once more. He presses the pendant once more before it opens up, playing the somber song once more. His eyes turned to the cover of the pendant and he showed the pink Powerpuff Girl the words that are carved into the cover of the pendant.

"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things still apply." Blossom reads it out loud and looks at Butch but his eyes are in a daze. Moments later, he snaps out of it and he sighs as he passes the pendant back to her reluctantly.

"Sorry Pinkie. Look, I think I need to be left alone. Take this pendant with you, alright?" Butch's voice is much sadder and the atmosphere of the room went much darker. Blossom looks at the brooding male, but decided to take him on his word. She gets up from her chair and moves towards the door before closing it gently as she walks away from the nurse's office. Blossom wondered what on earth is going on with Butch, and why is he reacting adversely to the pendant that Renée gave her. This is something she would need to understand and find out.

 _But how?_

* * *

[Somewhere in Uptown Townsville, Townsville: 7.00pm]

The French brunette smiled bitterly as she stood in front of her apartment door. She noticed that there is someone in her apartment or to be exact, _something_. She opened the door to see a bright red individua with pincers for its arms, wearing a deep maroon red longcoat with pink fur and long black boots sitting on the couch in her apartment is a. The brunette sighed as she closes the door behind her, before walking towards her unwanted guest. The red devilish figure with a widow's peak asked the woman as she sits on the couch opposite the effeminate ethereal demon.

" _So how's your week, Fennec?_ "

"Eventful to say the least. Setting up my organization takes a little bit of maneuvering. Before long, your factory will be up."

" _Good, good. That is good news indeed._ " Him said giddily, as the woman before it crosses her leg.

"I found the Powerpuff Girl known as Blossom with the intelligence I had gotten." The brunette informed the demon. Him gets up from the couch and walks behind the woman and smiled as he puts his arms around the woman in an embrace.

" _Well, what do you think about the little pink one then?_ " Him leans its head down and whispers to the brunette's ear. The Frenchwoman's eyes are closed as she answered him, her arms pushing away the pincers of the infernal being.

"She is smart, but has her vulnerabilities."

" _Yes, that is her nature after all_." Him cackle with sadistic glee.

"If the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys worked together, we would be in big trouble. " Fennec answered Him. The effeminate being lets go its embrace and rises up.

" _On the contrary, my plans require that they have emotional connections with each other. Good and bad. That saying, being friendly with the enemy...you like to live dangerously don't you?_ " Him asked the lady in return. The lady's expression did not change, and as she opens her eyes, she gives the demon her answer.

"I'll do my job my way, and stay out of it."

" _That's good to hear. I am worried that you will not be able to hold up to your end of the bargain. It would be unfortunate if you renegade on your bargain, right Fennec?_ " Him said sweetly, but with a veiled threat. This is not lost on the brunette, and she hissed back at him.

"If you have nothing else to do, leave me be."

" _Well then, I wish you the best of luck_." The demon wished her, and disappeared in a pinkish red smoke. Fennec could hear the fading diabolical laughter of the demon echoing in her apartment. The brunette sighed as she gets up from the couch. She takes a walk towards the fireplace and sees a photo frame from on top of the fireplace and looks at it. In the picture were the image of three little young boys and her on top of a T-72 tank with each of the boys wearing a balaclava and showing their eyes cobalt blue eyes, cinnabar red eyes and jadeite green eyes respectively. She smiled bitterly as she picks up the picture and gently touches it. She had not expected that she would meet up with the three little boys once more, especially the little boy with the forest green eyes.

"Children grow up so fast, don't they? How fast time passes by..." The lady said bitterly before she puts the photo frame back on the fireplace and walks away, with a bloody tear in her eyes.


	17. Chapter 17: Reminiscence

Chapter 17: Reminiscence

[Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 12.00pm]

The results of the interrogation with Marlon Lafarge are rather fruitful to say the least, but the interrogation had also divulged information that Brick finds alarming. Brick came to know that there are around seven kingpins of the 'red candy', known as the Archons of Townsville of whom they only knew about five of them, and he had only seen one of them in person. True to Bubbles' observation two weeks ago, it seems that the are recognized by their animal motifs, but the Frenchman with the high cheekbone mentioned that he knows nothing of the other two as they had kept a low profile, though the rumors persist that one of them is essentially the true leader of this cartel of superpowered human beings. So far based on the list of the names of the five kingpins that Marlon Lafarge divulged, Brick knew four of them; 'Bat' is the leader of Los Noches that hurt Boomer, 'Spider', which Brick deduced as the multiple-armed freak, 'Tigress' the Asian woman that pulled the bat out from the pier, and 'Bear' the Russian giant that caused the destruction of Club Rodina. The only one that Brick had never heard before is the one called the 'Fennec' or 'Fox' and at least they knew that the 'Fox' is of European descent with a cross-shaped scar on the person's cheek. It appeared that the 'Fox' is responsible for the mass-production of the 'red candy' and he had information on where the 'Fox' was last spotted.

This information had brought him to the entrance of Chinatown on a Saturday afternoon. Brick looks up and sees a red-painted Chinese-inspired architectural arch with similarly painted pillars, its beams decorated with intricate oriental designs of Chinese calligraphy and roof covered with jade green tiles, with the two Chinese guardian beasts flanking the structure.

 _I would expect the tigress be here rather than a fox_ , Brick thought as he puts his hands into his red jacket and walks into the gateway.

The atmosphere of the Chinatown is bustling and peaceful to say the least, despite the violence that is engulfing Townsville. As the visitors and inhabitants of Chinatown go on with their lives, Brick watches with great disinterest. But slowly the disinterest turned to surprise as Brick tried to navigate through the entire enclave as it is a claustrophobic enclave. Brick could not help but to be reminded by the packed and crowded streets of Hong Kong as he passed through the area. As his eyes and nose picks up on the sights and smell of Townsville's Chinatown, he recognize the smell of Cantonese-style roasted meats that were hanged on display in Chinese restaurants and the smell of incense sticks upon little altars with little deities within. Little Asian children were playing by the pavement where Brick is walking by, and he is always amazed by how easily these children switch between English when he asked them for directions and suddenly switching back to their Chinese dialects as they spoke to their elders. The old and nostalgic Chinese songs are playing in the streets, and he could not help but to appreciate the songs themselves despite not knowing a single word of it.

After some time of navigating through the streets, he finally found himself staring at a Chinese plaque with the exact letters of where the 'Fox' was last sighted. It appeared to be a Chinese teahouse with some little snacks of some sort served in small steamer baskets, and the hectic nature of the teahouse is something he is not so familiar with. Seeing the majority of the patrons being of Asian descent, he wondered why did the 'Fox' appear here as the person would stick out like a sore thumb. In fact, he joked in his kind that by standing out here, he would stand out so bad he would be known by his name. He chuckled at the idea, but was soon forced to swallow back his chuckle as he heard his name being called.

"Brick?" A youthful female voice called out to him, and as he turned around he saw a rather attractive teenage woman before him. She is dressed in a pink cardigan sweater and a black mini skirt, her legs clad in a fully black pantyhose with matching black boots, showing off her fine shapely legs. The poudretteite-colored eyes of the female is framed in black-rimmed glasses that compliments her attractive eyes and also long, smooth flowing copper-colored hair tied with rose red bow ribbon.

"What are _you_ doing here Blossom?" Brick asked.

* * *

[Chinatown, Townsville: 1.00pm]

Blossom is once again at her usual haunt at the Chinese enclave of Chinatown. As she walks pass the streets of Chinatown and greets the inhabitants of the enclave in both Cantonese and Mandarin, she wondered about the connection between French woman named Renée and Butch. It has been a few days since the incident with Butch and she is still just as clueless as to what had transpired between the two.

Unfortunately for her, she could not tell anyone of the events that had transpired between Butch and herself, as this is a personal matter for the black-haired teenager or even the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys. Robin is usually the person she would talk to about these kinds of things but seeing that there is more than meet the eye, she rather not get Robin involved in it.

If she talks to Bubbles, her concern is that she has the tendencies to be overemotional and will get many other parties involved in the matter. Personally, Blossom believed that that would be uncalled for. As for Buttercup, the simple fact that she generally hates them is enough to stop Blossom from talking about the sensitive issue with her raven-haired sister. In fact her concern is that she would use the information to blackmail the green Rowydruff Boy to let her do her bidding is not something Blossom will allow. The adults of Townsville are generally incompetent at times, with the exception being , , and Professor Utonium. But with those three, they would be far too inquisitive and this is the reason why Blossom avoided them like a plague as this might cause an investigation of epic proportions.

The only other people that she could talk to are the Rowdyruff Boys themselves, but she is never really close to any one of them. Such thorny subjects can be a source of conflict between her and the boys. This point in itself is hard to deal with as she wanted Townsville to not have to clean up after their rage like what almost happened with Butch in the school. These issues are really annoying Blossom and she wished she had not received that pendant from the woman. She would need to think of the issues in the best way she know how; with _Dim Sum_ and Chinese tea.

As she approaches Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse, she noticed a familiar figure standing before the entrance looking at the sign. The tall individual is wearing a deep red newsboy cap and a matching dark red jacket covering his black turtleneck shirt, the only visible part of his hair is a long knee-length thin braided ponytail tined with a dark red cloth at the base of his head. She walks up to the figure and finally her lips moved to express her surprise.

"Brick?" Blossom called. The figure turned around, his cinnabar-red eyes are now looking at Blossom with great surprise.

"What are _you_ doing here Blossom?"

"What are _you_ doing here Brick?" She asked the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy back. She could see that Brick's expression is that of disbelief, and as if her presence had ruined something for him. The red-capped teenager looks away, and personally Blossom take offense to him not answering her.

"Brick, don't act deaf in front of me. I know you are listening." Blossom asked with a sterner voice this time, causing the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy ponytail to sight and relent.

"Fine,fine, you got me. I asked first by the way. So care to tell me what on earth are you doing here?"

"You are standing in front of my favorite Chinese teahouse." Brick looks up at the plaque of the teahouse after Blossom informed him of where he is standing and he slaps his palm on his face.

"It just have to be here. God sure find it funny to arrange such coincidences."

"Right...what about you?" The lamentations of the red Rowdyruff Boy is none of her concern, but she knows that the red one does not simply do things just because he wanted to. He always got a reason and a plan for anything and everything. Years of fighting against him had ingrained that into Blossom's mind, and she is not going to betray that hard-earned experience. However, his answer is something she did not expect.

"Can we go inside? It is kinda chilly out here." Brick asked the pink-eyed teenager, and she nods in agreement. As both of them entered into the teahouse, an elderly lady's voice called out. Brick turned his attention to the owner of the voice and the old elderly Asian lady is now speaking with Blossom in some Chinese dialect. Blossom answered the lady fluently, and they chatted away. Brick watches as they laughed a little before he noticed the lady elbowed the Powerpuff Girl and said something in a cheeky manner. Blossom blushed and immediately said something in the Chinese dialect hurriedly. The old lady laughs and points towards an empty table. As the two superpowered beings walked towards the table, Brick could not help but to ask Blossom what just happened.

"So what happened between you and the old lady?"

"Mrs. Soong asked if you were my boyfriend and if I am here on a date with you. I said no." Blossom's voice trailed off a little, but Brick heard it all. He started laughing out loud, and Blossom is now looking at him angrily.

"That's golden Blossom, that is just plain comedy gold." He gives off a genuinely honest smile, which surprises Blossom. This is perhaps the first time she had seen him smile in such a way and personally it does make him a little more approachable.

"Anyway, they are showing us to our seat." Blossom informed Brick and the two superhumans are led towards a table. Blossom and Brick sat down on their seats and the silence between the two starts to set in. As Blossom looks at the red-eyed Rowyruff Boy scanning the teahouse, she wondered if this is his first time in a Chinese teahouse.

"First time in a proper Chinese teahouse?"

"Not my first time, but I am impressed by this particular store's authenticity. It really reminds me of the teahouses in Hong Kong." Brick commented.

"You've been to Hong Kong before?" Blossom's lighted up at the mention of the 'pearl of the orient'. Brick decided that it is best to speak to the Powerpuff Girl unless he wants her to trail him around for the rest of the day.

"Yeah. But I didn't stay there for long."

"I see..." Blossom's voice trailed off as the silence between the two once again descended upon them. Both of them are now looking at the lively teahouse, and time passes by for a few minutes before Brick voice out his true intention of coming to this particular teahouse.

"My sources told me that one of the 'Archons' frequents this place. That's why I am here Pinkie." Brick said without looking at her.

"Sources? Archons?" She asked with a quizzical tone as she leans forward, eager to listen to the rest of the explanation. The Rowdyruff Boy takes a deep breath before continuing on answering the Powerpuff Girl.

"That is what the underworld called the kingpins of the 'Red Candy'. Bubbles' was right that they were named after animals, though I don't know why animals are chosen." Brick explained to Blossom and takes a sip of tea.

"So how did that bring you here?"

"My intel told me that one of them by the codename 'Fennec' frequents this place. So far I know that the person is of European descent but that's about it." The waitress arrived with their pot of tea, and Blossom checks the pot for a moment before pouring the first round of the tea in the bowl where the cups are located. Brick is still scanning the teahouse, looking for his suspect.

"Huh, any idea how this person looks like?" Blossom asked as she takes out the hot tea cups from the bowl, and pouring the tea into a smaller teapot. She then takes the smaller teapot and pours the tea into the three cups that the teahouse had provided for them.

"Thanks for pouring the tea. As for the person's identity, I've not the slightest clue though the word on the street is that the person spotted here is in charge of the manufacturing of the drug and has some injury on their face." Brick takes one of the teacup and blows at the surface of the tea before taking a sip. Blossom takes her tea and takes a sip before putting the tea down gently on the table. Blossom puts both her elbows on the table, with one of her arms supporting her tilting head, while the other arm resting on the other joint.

"Feels like you are finding a needle in a haystack. it could be anyone." Blossom commented, and Brick could only click his tongue irritably to convey his contempt as he takes another sip of the cup of tea.

"Yeah, sucks that way Pinkie." Brick said as he puts down his cup of tea. Silence once more permeates between the two superhumans, and honestly there is nothing much that they had in common other than being the leader and the brains of their respective group of superhuman siblings. They are like water and oil, liquids but are antagonistic against each other and can never find a way to mix around. Blossom takes her sip of tea once more before the waitress returned with her order of _Dim Sum_.

As Blossom takes her sip of tea, she recalled that Brick is Butch's brother, and perhaps with a common topic of his brother they could talk about something. Blossom hoped that she could ask him about the question burning deep inside of her. Perhaps with the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys, Blossom could get a more reasonable answer. However she is not sure how to word it carefully, as she does not know how Brick would react to the pendant. The silence between them is slowly becoming more prominent despite the bustling and busy teahouse atmosphere. Brick noticed the sudden silence from Blossom, and her uneasiness at the lack of conversation between them. Brick decided that he might as well make the situation less awkward for the Powerpuff Girl, as he recalled that once upon a time ago, his unit commander in Syria once told him that women can't live on silence.

"What's with the silence? No quick retorts to demean me today?" Brick asked in a taunting manner, but the silence continues on. He turned his attention away from the teahouse surroundings to the Powerpuff Girl to see why is she still so silent. He realized that Blossom's shoulders are a little more tense than a few moments ago, and it appeared that she is uncomfortable over something. It was then that the young teenage lady opens her mouth.

"Actually, I would like to ask you about one thing. Do you recognize this?"

Blossom reaches to her neck and revealing her beautiful neck line. Brick noticed that the Powerpuff Girl is wearing a silver necklace which she covered with her sweater. She pulls the chains of the necklace out to reveal a onyx-coloured pendant with the markings of a cross on it with an emerald in the center of the cross. Brick's eyes immediately opened wide, and his expression frowned and his lips are stretched horizontally with the lower lip pushed up and the lip corners turned down. Blossom noticed that Brick's expression changed, and he has the saddest expression that she had ever seen him had before. However unlike his brother, he is not breaking down into tears or raging against the world. Brick reaches out for the pendant and he pressed the emerald for a short moment, before the pendant opens and plays an ethereal somber tune. Blossom is surprised that Brick knew how to open the pendant and play the song within and this confirmed that Butch's brothers know about the pendant as well, and perhaps the history behind the pendant. As she wanted to ask the ruby-eyed teenager how he knew about the pendant knew, she noticed that he is perturbed by the presence of this little music box pendant. Brick closed his eyes before staring at Powerpuff Girl with eyes filled with sadness.

"I know what you want to ask."

"Brick..."

"How do I know how to open this thing? The question is more like; do I _want_ to tell you?" Brick answered back. She noticed his tone is more subdued than his usual predatory tone.

"Butch saw it the other day and he broke down and I have to take him to the nurse's office. He broke down _hard_. What's all this about?" Blossom is now looking at Brick with eyes that will not budge away from the truth until she gets to the bottom of it or die trying. Brick looks at her and the pendant before. This relic of the past had returned to his arms, and he did not really want to answer her.

"Butch broke down? How come I didn't hear anything about it?"

"Well, I kinda talked to the class to the class later after I sent him to the nurse's office that he bumped into my raw onion extract that I planned to use for my science project. The students can be idiots at time, and they believed what I said. He used his superpowers on me, and I am still healing from his grip." Blossom folded one of her cardigan sleeves and the bruise in the shape of a grip is around her forearm. Brick immediately groans, realizing that his brother had hurt a Powerpuff Girl while they are all still in the observation period. If she wanted to, Blossom could report to Principal Nadia and Lilith about this and that is the last thing he wants for his brothers and himself. Well played, Brick said to himself.

"That idiot..."Brick sighed, before he poured himself and also the Powerpuff Girl another round of tea. Blossom taps her finger on the table as the flow of tea entered into her cup. The young male teenager takes the tea and takes the tea like a vodka shot before putting it down on the table.

"So, what's with this pendant, and why is Butch so...emotional about it?" Blossom said hesitantly. Brick gives her a glare that could scare even then most hardened criminal. Blossom looks at Brick with a certain sense of apprehension, seeing that Brick if often the most intimidating among the brothers. But instead, his glare turned to something much more gentler, his shoulder relaxes and he sigh once more. Brick noticed the expression of the red-headed girl and he drinks another sip of his tea before he decided on the best way to inform Blosssom.

"You care to listen to a story Blossom?" Brick asked. Blossom was taken a little aback by Brick's question but she nodded her head.

"Alright, let's start it this way. Once upon a time, in a land filled with fertile lands and deserts, a vicious war is being waged between the ruler and its people. The war started when the people, inspired by the other peaceful revolutions in the region had changed their previously oppressive governments to one that is for the people and by the people. The ruler however is a megalomaniac, and he decided to answer the peaceful protests of his people with fire and bullets. This caused the peaceful people to turn violent, taking up arms and plunge the country into civil war. At the time, the rebels were trying to take over this city, and it is the largest city in the whole nation. The rebels were desperate, and they asked many people to join their fight. Many took up on their call, some for God, some for glory, and for my brothers and I, we took up arms for gold, just to complete the three G's of why people wage war."

"You were mercenaries? But you guys were ten!" Blossom exclaimed with shocked eyes, but Brick shushed her. Even though she does not appreciate being shushed but this time it is necessary for her to know what is going on.

"Eh, we were funded by the US government and also the other nations that wanted the government to go down, so we went in. Plausible deniability so to speak. We are the Rowdyruff Boys, and we are the bad boys with superpowers. No one would bat an eye if we enter there, as we do not fight for justice, good or anything of those idealistic things. Besides at the time, we can take down divisions of the US military by ourselves if we wanted to." Brick said nonchalantly. Blossom is not that naive and she knows that there is some truth in that. Black operations are something she have heard before, but to think that the government of the United States of America used the Rowdyruff Boys in their proxy wars is something she could not stomach.

"That's the world babe. Anyway, we were assigned to this special foreign mercenary regiment and we were placed in a squad under the command of a nice and upstanding woman along with another twenty people. This woman is perhaps like thirteen years older than us, but she sure can lead. In fact, I must thank her for she is my mentor. Us brothers of course at the time disliked being commanded by a lady, and we did make her life a little bit of a living hell for a while. But somehow, through thick and thin, she managed to win our hearts and we treated her like a big cool sister. But Butch, oh boy..." Brick gave a bitter smile as Blossom poured him more tea.

"That idiot, he had not realized it yet but we siblings could see it as clear as day that he had a crush on her. Even Boomer the idiot also knew how Butch felt for her. He started to bond with her, but I am pretty sure that she saw us as little kids under her command. As we grew in the battlefields, we are proud to say that thanks to her leadership and our superpowers, we are able to do many things without the lost of lives or at least minimize the lost of lives. Those were the times, those were the times. We really believed that we are able to turn the tide of war and let these darn people win their revolution. But then everything changed a year later."

"What happened?" Blossom asked, as she poured herself some tea and takes a sip.

"The world did. The civil war became a proxy war between the great powers of the region, and each external nation did their own thing to make sure their influence grow in the nation. And three years ago, one nation decided to enter into the war after a formal request by the regime. That nation decided that the most pragmatic thing to do is to train up the poorly-trained army of the government into a ruthless fighting machine and decided to also bombard the rebels with continuous bombardment of their air force and missile forces. They intervened with a bang so to speak. Many people are murdered every day in the front, but when this nation came in, it escalated. Every single day and night, it rained fire and it killed many of us." Blossom realized that the teenager eyes are now much darker than before, and it seems that his moodiness had grown significantly.

However, the way Brick is telling his tale and the events from this country, it sounded very familiar to her. Indeed, based on how the events are unfolding, it reminded her of the assignment she did for her Middle East and North African political studies assignment. It was then that the name of the event flashes into her mind. Despite knowing of it, she could not believe her mind and she definitely do not believe that the Rowdyruff Boys were involved in what is considered the most brutal war of the present age.

"This story...this...this sounds like the Syrian Civil War. You were there?" Blossom speaks up but her voice breaks a little. Brick raised an eyebrow before his eyes lightened up in a dark way, his smile a vicious but sad one.

"Always the smart one aren't you? Now that the location's revealed, let me reveal what happen to the city that we are fighting in, Aleppo. You see, despite our efforts, we are now losing the battle for the city of Aleppo. If Aleppo falls, the rebels would soon fall like dominoes. It is just a matter of time. It was then that I spoke to my brothers and told them that we would have to leave Syria. If we stay, we might be captured by the Russians and be tested upon. Those Russians are heartless I tell you, but they sure know how to fight a dirty war." Brick laughed hollowly as he raises a hand to call the waitress to refill their tea pot. As the waitress came and went away with their pot, Blossom asked the capped teenager.

"But Butch will not leave?" Brick smiled, and he knew that Blossom's always the one that can see patterns well enough.

"You don't say Blossom? Anyway, Butch and I argued for a while until he gave his term; we leave with her or leave him. Anyway, I gave my word we will leave with her, knowing that most likely I would break it. To be honest, I would agree to anything if it means getting my brother out of this hellhole." Blossom nods her head as the waitress returns with the water. Brick pours the tea into the smaller teapot before pouring the tea to Blossom's cup and his own.

"I said to myself jokingly that it would be convenient if she would just get out of the equation to get us Rowdyruff Boys out of Syria. But as they say, be careful what you wished for." Brick waits for a moment as he lets the implication of what he is about to say next sinks into her head. Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in shock. Blossom's eyes have started to water as she knows what is coming next.

"Well, on the night when Butch is trying to tell her to come along with us, a barrel bomb was dropped on our location and killed off most of our squad. Mercifully, the rest of our squad died a quick death. But not her. Fate decided that she would have to suffer before she died." Brick paused as his voice trembled a little, and he is reluctant to tell the pink-eyed teenager what is to come next. To Brick's surprise, the copper-haired girl voiced out the question that he does not want to describe.

"How did she died?" Blossom closed her eyes as she asked the question, knowing that whatever comes next from his lips would be horrible. Brick respected her bravery, and thus he would tell her the graphic details and deliver the product. Even if it would hurt his heart once more.

"Her arms and legs were blown and shredded by the explosion, and the explosion waves injured her internal organs. Butch is the one that is next to her, and saw her last moments. She died before his eyes, and I am pretty sure she must have said something to him. Her words shocked him enough that we can take him away without any resistance. By resistance I mean punching the crap out of us. Anyway, we were able to get out from Syria by passing the Turkish border. The end." Brick ended his story, and he can hear the copper-haired girl sniffing and her eyes are flowing little droplets of tears. Brick's lips also quivered for a moment, but he decided that he needs to stay strong.

"That's horrible...just horrible." Blossom said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"In retrospect, I believed that is the first death that mattered to my dear brother. The side effects are still observable today. One of them being his obsession with slender girls with shapely arms and legs." Blossom looked at Brick with surprise as he went on to further explain this particular consequences of the lady's death.

"His obsession with her warped his mind, and her body shape became the body shape he looked for in his ideal woman. I am pretty sure he doesn't know it, but his compulsion will compels him to flirt and protect ladies with such slender arms and legs, as his psyche will never let him forget her. She will forever haunt his mind until he decides to let her go." Brick reasoned.

The silence descended upon them and now both are sipping on their tea, and Blossom wipes her eyes once more. She never knew the past of the Rowdyruff Boys to be that grim and dark, let alone what Butch had personally experienced. Butch's maddened expressions made sense to her now, seeing that he is experiencing a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. Brick however puts his palm over her shoulder, to console her with her emotions.

"Not your fault, it is just as it is. A memory from the past." Brick said before lifting his arm away from her shoulders.

"But it is just so sad." Blossom answered, her tone a somber one.

"Sad is sad, what can be done? If you want your mood to lighten up, let me say something to you; I should be thanking you for not reporting about Butch hurting your arm and for you to tell me what happened."

"Not sure if that is a good thing to say or not, Brick."

"Speaking about telling stuff; How did you get your hands on this Blossom?" Brick points at the pendant, his eyes curious about the presence of this lost item from a time long ago. Blossom thought for a while before she answered the man.

"I got this pendant from a person named Renée about a week ago. I didn't think so much of it until Butch reacted to it." Brick spits his tea on the table out as she mentioned the name, surprising even the Powerpuff Girl. Suddenly Blossom realized that she have said something as he suddenly hold Blossom's shoulder and shakes her.

"Renee?" Brick asked with a tone of utter shock.

"What's wrong?" Blossom is taken aback by the sudden reaction.

"Renée Delacroix?" Brick asked, and this time it is Blossom's turn to be surprised.

"How did you know Renée?" Blossom asked as she did not expect this line of conversation with Brick.

"Where have you seen her? Where?" Brick's eyes are now upon her, seeking for answers.

To Brick's surprise, he noticed that Blossom is now looking at another direction with her own surprised expression and her hand moved up to point at the direction of the entrance of the teahouse. Brick turned immediately to where Blossom is pointing to see a woman with a cross shaped scar on her cheek passing over the teahouse. Brick recognizes the waist-length braided hair with locks that framed her fair milk-white face. Brick lets go of Blossom's shoulder and rushes out the entrance.

Blossom was taken aback by this sudden development and tried to catch up, but his speed and also the the sudden obstacle in the form of a waiter impended her from catching up. The waiter drops the tray of food down on the floor as he collided with Blossom. As Blossom slipped on the food and fell down on her rump, she saw the Rowdyruff Boy is already opening the door and exiting the restaurant.

As Brick opens the door and stands on the pavement facing her he could see the slender frame of the waist-length braided brunette walking in front of him. Brick chases after her, his face turning pale as if he had just seen a ghost. His mind could not comprehend all the information at once and he could only voice out his thoughts in shock as he points at her. The only thing he could do now is to voice out his disbelief.

" _Renée_?"

The two individuals are now frozen in place as the rest of the pedestrians are walking on the pavement. The slender woman with the brown braided hair turned around, and her bright blue eyes meets Brick's cinnabar-colored eyes. The dark strawberry blonde-haired teenager watches as she walks towards him. The woman and the teenage boy are now looking at each other face to face, and the moment is so tense that it could be cut with a knife. Suddenly, the woman touches the cheeks of the Rowdyruff Boy tenderly with her palms.

" _Pe_ _tit Rouge_."

"No one had called me that for over five years." Brick said with a nostalgic voice filled with sadness as he touches one of the hands that is on his cheek for a brief moment. However, her arms is cold as steel and as he touches his arm, he could feel the artificial joints of her fingers and wrists. Of course they would be prosthetic arms, Brick thought as he lifts his palm off hers. The eyes of the woman is filled with relief and sadness as she puts down her hands.

"You have grown, Brick. I remembered the time where you were just at my hips. And now look at you... You are now a head taller than me." The woman said in a nurturing manner, but Brick's expression is more stoic.

"And you somehow managed to come back from the dead Renée...or should I call you _Fennec_?" Brick's voice and expression hardened as he mentioned the words. The lady smiled sadly and pats him on the side of his arms. He stares at the brunette, his eyes seeking for answers that only she could answer. The woman looks at him with a bitter smile, and she hugs him. Brick was caught unaware by this gesture and his face redden as he felt her chest pressing against his body.

"I do not want to hurt any one of you boys, if given the choice." The Frenchwoman's voice is trembling as her lips quiver. Brick looks up to the sky, trying his best to not let his emotions take over him as he pats her head. The familiar smell, the sensation of her warmth, the fibers of her hair in his fingertips, the strength of her hug. He could feel it all coursing through him and his body remembers her hugging him during those lonely nights in the Syrian deserts.

"Yet, Boomer is injured because of what you have done." Brick whispered out loud, as his eyes started to glow dimly. Brick is angry, but at the same time he wondered how could he be angry with a person who had taught him everything he knew, and above all taught him to be human.

"It is my sincerest wish that what I am doing will bring about a more peaceful world." She said softly, but her voice is filled with conviction.

"Even if you have to destroy the world? Butch would be very disappointed in you." Brick said, his voice cracking. The teenage boy immediately felt a weight on his chest as she buried her face into it.

"Yes, if it is all for a blue and azure world. Butch would understand." Renée said as she buried her face into his chest, but her voice is as clear and pristine. The brunette lets go of him, and take a few steps back. Brick sees that her eyes start to shed blood through her eyes and they started to roll down from the bottom of her eyes. Brick stared as several streams of blood drops from her eyes rolls down the fair milk complexion of the brunette woman.

"Brick!"

Blossom called out to the strawberry blonde-haired Rowdyruff Boy as she exits the teahouse. She saw Brick standing on the pavement staring towards the braided lady with the scarred cheek. Her face registered the woman as the same French woman that gave her the pendant, and as she approaches the red-capped Rowdyruff Boy, she noticed that his face is utterly pale and is in shock.

"What have they done to you?" Brick voiced out his thoughts towards the woman before him.

His mind could not comprehend that the woman that had taken care of them for all those years in the battlefields of Syria had turned into something he could not even begin to explain .The woman touches her cheek and realizing the stream of red liquid is running down her eyes. She cover her eyes with her forearms and disappears into the sea of people on the streets of Chinatown. Brick and Blossom are now looking into the crowd, surprised and shocked that Renée Delacroix appeared before them. Blossom turned around to the red-eyed teenage boy only to see him mutter a sentence.

" _How are you alive Renée_?"


	18. Chapter 18: A Nightly Talk

Chapter 18: A Nightly Talk

[Townsville High,Townsville: 12.00pm]

It has been two weeks since Boomer's battle with the superpowered gangster, and his arm are now good as new and he is able to take off the bandages from his chest, though his chest would would take more time to heal. The regenerative powers of his physiology is something he is always thankful to have, but the time for him to heal back to normal is perhaps the longest he had ever experienced in his fifteen years of is also the week where the observation is finally over. The Powerpuff Girls would be off their case, and they can more or less do whatever they want. By right, this is something to celebrate.

However, the looming issue about why Him brought them here troubled Boomer,and also the job that Him asked them to do. Him is never known to be a straight shooter for its plans, and its agenda is as ambiguous as its androgynous gender. To add to the current confusion, this 'red candy' epidemic has Him's fingerprints on it. Why the heck did Him even want to spread a drug that would only draw attention to his operations? Is there something he is missing?

And then there are his brothers.

For some reason, Butch and Brick are particularly moody for the past few days and Boomer honestly believes that his brothers are having their male period and have hormonal imbalances. But the reason for why those two would be moody are very different based on Boomer's experience. Butch tends to be moody when he was confronted by something that he could not understand and it hurts his sense of self. Brick on the other hand tends to be moody when something unexpected slaps him in the butt. Boomer tends to not interrupt them when they are moody, as that often means that he would get an ass-whooping from Butch or a psychological ass-whooping from Brick.

As he turned around the corner to enter the hallway leading to the cafeteria, he felt some soft cushion-like thing bumping against his abdomen. His mind registered it as a girl bumping into him, and as he looked down he sees a girl with long, flowing copper-colored hair tied with a ribbon in a low ponytail. Boomer immediately recognized the girl that bumped into him.

"Blossom?"

"Oh, I am so sorry I-Boomer?" Blossom looked up to him in surprise, her eyes revealing that she is not expecting herself to meet a Rowdyruff Boy.

"Yes, how may I take your order? Would you like fries with that?" Boomer tried to crack a joke,but Blossom is clearly not amused.

"Really funny Boomer." Blossom said sarcastically as she looks at him with pink eyes but Boomer nudges her with his elbow.

"I am the joy and the laughter for the Rowdyruff Boys. What can I say?" Boomer winked, causing Blossom to roll her eyes.

"Say nothing Boomer. It makes the world a little better." Blossom snarks back, causing Boomer to wince.

"Ouch, that burns more than it should Blossom." Boomer said to the Powerpuff Girl,causing the Powerpuff Girl to give him a victorious smirk. Suddenly Boomer felt a presence behind him and as he turned around, he accidentally slammed his elbow at something that felt like someone's ribs. Boomer immediately wanted to say sorry but is stunned into silence by the presence of a tall well-muscled individual with jadeite green eyes and raven black hair. The raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy is looking at Boomer with bloodshot eyes and Boomer immediately regretted his actions.

"Boomer,that _hurts_." Butch's husky tenor voice is as tranquil as a silent forest, but Boomer knew that it is often this voice that marks Butch as being very mad. Boomer had been avoiding his brother for the past few days as he is currently experiencing an extended season of being in a bad mood. It all started with him returning home one day and Brick, being an entity of intimidation himself, noticed that there is a 'disturbance in the force', so to speak. When inquired, his green-eyed brother shot them a glare that could freeze hell over.

Butch was about to say something to Boomer when he noticed the slender teenage girl with the long, flowing copper hair before him. Both of them locked eyes with each other, and immediately Bokmer knew that something happened between bloodshot green eyes immediately looked at Blossom with what Boomer can only describe as an combined expression of guilt, shame and unease while Blossom has an expression of unease concern. Boomer may be an airhead and maybe an idiot in life, but he is always someone who knows what is going on in a person's heart when it matters. From what Boomer can see, there is something on her mind and it is something to do with his brother. Before Boomer could even say anything more Butch walks away from her in a hurried pace, ashamed to even face the Powerpuff Girl any longer then he needs to. As the black-haired Rowdyruff Boy enters into the cafeteria, Blossom is watching him with great concern in her eyes.

"Anyway,I am kinda going to the cafeteria to join Butch. Um...wanna join us?" Boomer asked politely despite knowing the obvious answer to the question. Blossom ponders for a moment, however she shakes her head. Now, it is Blossom's turn to walk away from the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy and in the opposite direction of the cafeteria.

 _What did that stupid brother of mine did this time_ , Boomer asked himself as he saw Blossom walked down the hallway. Boomer tried to catch up to her, and as he touched her shoulder Blossom turned back and looked at his cobalt sapphire eyes with her rose-colored eyes.

" _What do you want_?" The saying goes that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned is quite true in Blossom's case as the tone of her voice is utterly spine-chilling. Boomer smiled nervously and is unable to say what he wanted to say to her. Blossom rolled her eyes before moving on down the corridor and turns around the corner. It was then that Boomer found his voice back.

"If there's anything, you can talk to me about it! My door's are always open!" Boomer shouts down the corridor, knowing that Blossom's heightened sense of hearing would pick it up. Alas, he expects that the Powerpuff Girl will not bother with him, but it is chivalrous to say so anyway. But now he is utterly curious as to why these two,who often fight like cats and dogs, are in such an intense situation of awkward unease.

Boomer enters the cafeteria and notices his onyx-haired brother sitting near the glass window, staring blankly to the sights beyond the window. He walks up to his brother and takes a seat in front of the jadeite-eyed hunk, figuring out that this is the time to be the annoying little brother to get his attention. Boomer sticks his index finger into his mouth before poking his finger into his brother's ear. Immediately his brother jerks and two very angry jadeite eyes are looking at him with murderous intent.

"Good afternoon Butch. Glad to know that you are back to the real world." Boomer said without even any hint of remorse as he takes out his grilled cheese sandwich.

"Screw you Boomer."

"Anyway, nice awkward moment there with Blossom." Boomer played his annoying brother card once more, but Butch is not biting at his attempts to provoke him.

"And?" Butch's eyes are not looking at his brother, but Boomer knew that he needs to pry further to know what just transpired between them.

"I asked her if she wanted to join us for lunch, but she bolted off. What happened between you and Blossom anyway? I though you guys are on flirting terms?" Boomer asked. Butch's silence is something that Boomer takes note of, as his silence often means that he struggled to find a way to explain the situation to Boomer. Usually if he is pissed by something, he would already opened up with curse words and complains,even whining. Alas he is not, so that means that he is also partially at fault as well. Now this is an interesting situation for the young sand-blonde teenager, for his brother rarely admits to any of his faults.

"Shut up Boomer." Butch dismisses his brother, and Boomer knew that he needs to prod deeper a little. Who knows, Boomer thought that he might be able to get the truth.

"The last time I saw you this moody is when you remembered Renée. What is it this time?" Immediately Boomer received a glare of Butch's jadeite irises, glowing with a fiery light. Boomer realized he had just said a taboo word with Butch. Rule number one with Butch; never talk about Renée in front of him. But this reaction with the friend from a long time ago. raises another flag in Boomer's mind. Butch always acts violently when it comes to Renée, but his reaction is something bizarre as his aggression is much more muted than what Boomer is used to. As he leaves his brother alone to munch on his grilled cheese sandwich, Boomer's mind raised another red flag. Why is Butch not running amok when he heard her name? Could it be that he had blown up prior to this? Did he blew up in front of Blossom? And how did Blossom get mixed into this mess? For this he need to inform his other brother that Butch is suffering from a Renée episode.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville: 9.00pm]

Later that day, Boomer returned home to see his orange-haired brother had closed the door to his room. As usual, he can sense the predatory atmosphere emanating from his room however his predatory aura has muted a lot since two days ago. If it was two days ago, not even the devil will knock on the door. Boomer wondered about why his brothers are such women when it comes to their emotions, and as the 'heart' of the group, he need to pull his right as an annoying brother to get what he needs to know.

"Heya Brick, I'm respecting your privacy by knocking but asserting my authority as your brother by coming in anyway!' He said cheerfully befor knocking the door once and opening the door forcefully, only to see his red-eyed brother looking at him buried inside his blanket, revealing only his now flaming red eyes.

"Wow,that is adorable Brick." Boomer immediately said something before anything else happens. That usually stop his brother from doing anything that would murder him. Or his brother would murder him harder. He is not sure which would be the reaction today. Brick is clearly pissed, but he did not pounce on the Rowdyruff Boy. This is a good sign as the former scenario is now in play and Boomer is glad that his brother did not murder him outright today. He decided to take the opportunity to speak out his point as soon as possible.

"Heya Brick...I don't know if you know this but I think that Butch is experiencing another Renée episode but this time, it feels quite bizarre. He's kinda tamer than usual for some reason. More emo, less rage-y, yknow..it's weird." It seems that the woman's name sparked something within the red-eyed individual, and Boomer realized that he had just added kerosene into the flame. The room suddenly became that much colder and it felt as if winter had just arrived in the room. The feeling of fear, despair and helplessness slowly creeps up in Boomer like tendrils of an octopus, and that is a sign for him to leave the room.

"Get out." Brick snarled. If the fiery orange-haired teenager were not projecting his killing intent, Boomer thought that the wrapped-up Brick would be adorable. The red-eyed fiery glowing glare is such that Boomer swore that he just saw the bed sheets had just caught on fire. Boomer decides to not test his luck and immediately exits the room, slamming the door in the progress. Boomer walks to his room and entered his room while closing his door gently. As he lets out a sigh, he wondered what is going on with his two brothers. It has been a while since Boomer had seen such emotions in their brother, and both of them lit up at the very mention of the same name; Renée.

 _Am I missing something here,_ Boomer asked as he lies down on his bed.

Renée still holds a special place in all their hearts. After all, Boomer is pretty sure that the braided brunette taught them everything they knew, from warfare to being compassionate beings. Butch is perhaps the one closest to her, as Boomer recalled that his feelings for her is more than what Brick and himself felt about her. Boomer remembered how she always defended him when his brother picked on him, and have taught him on how to sneak up on his brothers and have his sweet cold revenge. This in turn had made him the stealthiest among his brothers. He chuckled before another memory from those times flashed in his mind; the time where the woman watched the stars of the battlefields of Syria, while singing songs. He remembered singing the song ' As Time Goes By' with Renée on the roof of a ruined building in the urban landscape of war-torn Aleppo, and that is the first time he discovered that he could sing. He remembered the braided brunette woman with the bright sky-blue eyes and slender physique shining so brightly in his mind, and as he gets up to get a glass of water, he decides to hum the song that she loved so much to commemorate the memories of those bygone times. As he fills up his glass of water while humming, he wonder how things would change if she is still alive today.

Seeing that his glass of water is filled, he figured that perhaps he would turn on his laptop and find 'Casablanca' to watch while he takes his glass of water. As Boomer walked back to his bed, he opens up his laptop andwith a little bit of searching, he found the streaming for the show that he wanted to watch and clicks on the movie that and let it play. As he watched the movie, he is further reminded of Renée even more as she told him of what the story is about and at the time, he disliked this movie. It took him a while to truly appreciate the movie,but only after..

 _Knock,knock,knock._

 _What the hell?_ , Boomer said in his mind as he heard a knocking on his window. Boomer wondered how could anyone be knocking on his window as he lived on the second floor. He sensed a presence at the window and he turned towards his window ready to strike with a blast of his eyebeam. He was greeted by the sight of an unlikely hovering visitor clad in a pink turtleneck sweater, with matching black handbag, black knee-length skirt and black boots outside his window.

"Blossom?" Boomer said to himself as he walks up to the window to open it. The slender teenage girl with the long flowing copper hair waved at him albeit with a very reserved smile as the windows are opened. He had always wanted to have a girl in his room, but he clearly did not expect that girl to be the commander and the leader of the Powerpuff Girls. There's always a first for everything in life.

"Well, come on in Blossom." Boomer said nervously.

"Thanks, and sorry for the intrusion." She said as she floats into his room and before he could offer her a seat in his chair, she takes a seat on his bed. As Blossom comb her fringes behind her ears shoulder and tilts her legs towards one side as she combs her copper hair aside. The way in which she combs her hair and revealing her neckline and a little of her collar bone really makes his heart skip a beat. As she looks back at him with her full lips and rose-colored eyes, Boomer said to himself that this imagery is usually the beginning of how some of the sexual fantasies of the males of Townsville High's student student population starts.

"Nah it's cool. I don't have any problem with a girl on my bed." Boomer said in his usual cheeky manner.

"Ah..." Blossom verbally said her verpal pause and blushed as she realized where she is sitting. Boomer chuckled before offering her a seat on his chair. Blossom switches seat from the bed and onto the chair. He then takes a seat on his bed before he leans forward and rest his elbows on his lap, his hands hanging limp from his elbows.

"So what do you have for me today Blossom?" Boomer said as he tilts his head and paying his undivided attention.

"Well...you said that I can talk to you about anything. So here I am." Blossom said hesitantly.

 _That worked_?, Boomer asked himself. But Boomer is a little confused as well as he is the least likely person that Blossom could talk to, since they rarely interact with each other.

"Um...okay?" Boomer's voice having a slight crack as he answers the Powerpuff Girl. Boomer is really not sure on what they will be talking about, and if the brother finds out about her being in his room there will be hell to pay on his part.

Blossom noticed his awkwardness, and she struggled to find a way to explain herself. Blossom does not know why she was here to begin with, as her mind just agreed to the fact that he had offered himself to listen to whatever troubles that Blossom had. This had led her to use her right as their observer to search through the records and find out where the Rowdyruff Boys are staying at.

 _I seriously feel like I am stalking him_ , Blossom said in her mind as she understands the implications of abusing her status for a personal reasons. She does not even know if she should be talking to Boomer about the things in her mind, as they are related to the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Hm, this must be something big if you thought that I fit the bill. This must be something you can't talk to your family huh?" Blossom's silence confirmed Boomer's suspicions.

"Yes...and honestly I don't really know if I should be talking to you about it." Blossom answered uncertainly.

"Right...what kind of topic would you not even tell your girl friends or your sister? Hm...are you pregnant?" Boomer asked absent-mindedly.

"WHAT!" Blossom's screamed out loud at Boomer's question and immediately Boomer covered her mouth with his hands, and Blossom noticed that his eyes are particularly fearful.

"Dang it Blossom, my brothers are home! Do you really want them to see _you_ here?! _In my room_?!" Boomer hissed at her, his voice almost pleading for her to not do anything stupid. Blossom shakes her head, knowing that it will be situation critical if that happens. Blossom answered Boomer with a muffled voice, and Boomer assumes that she agreed to what he is saying to her. Boomer looks around before he finally uncovers her mouth.

"You almost gave me a heart attack. Not to say that I am healing right in my chest since that stupid fight..." Boomer said in an annoyed manner, scratching his head as he does so.

"Not my fault that you said something that shocking!" Blossom hissed back at Boomer.

"Then what else would you want to come to a guy's room to talk? Unless you want me to get you pregnant or something...wait...you _want_ to be pregnant?" Boomer's face is soon met with a palm strike by the redhead. The teenage boy slams down on the ground,and without mercy Blossom kicks him in the stomach. The teenage boy hold his voice in despite the sharp pain, knowing that if his brother barge in when they see the Powerpuff Girl kicking him in his room, he would be in fifty shades of trouble.

"Urgh...and I thought I took you up on the talking offer!" Blossom exclaimed out in a soft voice,rolling her eyes in disbelief. As she stands up and tries to get to the window,her ears suddenly picked up on the background voice of the show that he is watching and the conversation caught her attention.

" _Play it once Sam, for old time's sake."_

 _"Ah don't know what you mean Miss Elsa."_

 _"Play it Sam, play 'As Time Goes By'."_

As she heard the words 'As Time Goes By', she turned around and saw that it is a black-and -white movie, and the scene is in an old club with a young white woman with wavy hair speaking on the screen. Boomer noticed that Blossom is for some reason enthralled by the show as he got up to and looking at the screen of his laptop. Her eyes are now glued on the screen as she watched the scene unfold.

 _"Well Ah can't remember Miss Elsa, Ah'm a little rusty."_

 _"I'll hum it for you."_

As the woman on the screen starts humming, Blossom recognizes the song as the same one in the music box pendant. The humming was soon followed by the black man in the suit playing the piano, looking up to the ceiling trying to remember the tune reluctantly as he played by the ear.

 _"Sing it Sam."_

Blossom watches as the black man started singing the sadly romantic song, and to Blossom it sounds ethereal and timeless. The song pulled on her heartstrings, as it is both beautiful and sad, and the fact that the song has lyrics only made if more poignant than before.

 _You must remember this,_

 _A kiss is just a kiss,_

 _a sigh is just a sigh._

 _The fundamental things apply,_

 _as time goes by._

"Pretty sweet huh? This is one of my favourite classics, 'Casablanca'. It's brings back a lot of memories for me and my brothers." Boomer informed the Powerpuff Girl of the movie . He had forgotten to pause the movie when Blossom arrived. But Blossom did not reply the Rowdyruff Boy. Blossom instead reaches for her handbag and puts it on her lap. Boomer's curiosity grows larger as she opens and rummages through her bag.

 _And when two lovers woo,_

 _They's still say 'I love you'._

 _On that you can rely..._

 _No matter what the future brings,_

 _As time goes by..._

"Where is it..." Blossom said to herself as she rummage in her bag. Boomer decided to pause the movie as he wondered what on earth is she searching for. Boomer watched as she digs into her bag as if she was finding for a rabbit in a top hat for a magic show. Finally she pulls out an object from her bag and reveals it to Boomer; a pendant with a cross and an emerald embedded within the remembered the object from a distant memory, and he thought that he would never see it again. He looked at Blossom with a sense of bewilderment, wondering how she came across this particular object. As Boomer takes the pendant from Blossom, he pressed upon the emerald for the pendant to play a nostalgic tune that etched a smile on Boomer's face as he read the words inside the pendant.

"The song of the show...it is the same tune as the one in this pendant." Blossom said to Boomer.

"But this pendant...How?" Boomer asked.

"This is the reason why I want to talk to you." Blossom informed the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy and he is now staring at her with a brief moment of disbelief before he recomposed himself.

"Talk about what exactly?" Boomer's voice is less cheerful than before,and Blossom felt a little guilty as she continued on.

"I want to talk to you about Renée." Blossom said to Boomer.

"Renée..."

"Brick and I bumped into each other on Saturday, and I told him,as I told him about the reaction that your brother Butch had when he saw this exact same music box pendant. Brick told me about Renée and how she...", Blossom paused for a moment before continuing, "Died. It was then that I told Brick about how I got this pendant and Brick and I somehow managed to see Renée."

"You and Brick saw Renée...you are kidding me." Boomer's eyes are now in dark disbelief.

"I can't really joke about something when Brick is as pale as a ghost when he saw her before him. Butch had never seen her before, but he did react when he saw the pendant. He gave be a bad bruise and also he cried in front of everyone, so I kinda helped him calm down." Blossom 's feeling of further unease creeps into her voice as she speaks to Boomer.

"I think we can leave it as that for Butch, he's an emotional idiot." Boomer said curtly and frowns as he absorb the information in. Boomer now knows why Brick and Butch are in such bad moods. Meanwhile, Blossom wondered if she had offended him in a big way as he never answered anyone in such a manner. Blossom is more surprised that Boomer did not have an adverse reaction to the French lady like the rest of his brothers. Uncomfortable by the sudden silence, she tried to speak out and apologize.

"I am-" Blossom's apology was cut out by Boomer's calm response.

"Don't be. At least you are the first one who told me about this." Boomer answered her, and an atmosphere of silence descended on them. Blossom squirmed a little as she realized that she had just made things a little more awkward. Boomer takes a sip of water as he watches Blossom trying to say something in a coherent manner.

"It...it feels as though I had opened a Pandora's box, and I really need someone to talk to about this." Blossom expresses her deep-felt concerns.

"Ah...now I get it why you can't speak to anyone else. Anyway, want to have a glass of water?" Boomer offered, but Blossom shakes her head. Boomer immediately burst out laughing, causing the copper-haired girl to jump out of her seat. It seems that Boomer is back to his old attics, at least on the surface. Boomer shrugged at Blossom's response before he continued on.

"Suit yourself." Boomer said to the red-headed girl with the rose-pink irises.

"It seems that they are avoiding me for the past few days as well as we walked in the hallways. I mean...I don't speak with you boys often, but I can see that they are taking extreme measures to avoid me. It feels like they are blaming me for something I've done, and honestly I think I am guilty of opening the wounds from your past." Blossom expressed her thoughts to Boomer, and to Blossom's surprise, Boomer is shaking his head.

"They are not hating you for anything. On the contrary, I believe that my brothers are thankful that you allowed them to see the pendant. That pendant is a relic from our past, a relic we thought was never to be found ever again." Boomer said with a bitter smile on his face.

"Then why-" Blossom was immediately cut off by Boomer's continuation.

"But at the same time, you are right that you have opened a wound to our past. That past hurts us, and it is a struggle to come to terms with the past. If what you said is true, then right now my brothers are fighting _themselves_." Boomer takes a sip of water and outs the glass down at the nightstand before stretching his arms.

"I see." Blossom said as she looked doen on the floor. Boomer noticed her dejected behavior and he puts his arm on her should, causing her to look up

"Right now, I think that my brothers are trapped in a battle in their mind: To accept that she is dead or she is back from the dead for a reason." Boomer then takes his palm off her shoulder and rests it on his lap.

"Back for a reason?" Blossom asked, noticing the specific term used by Boomer to describe his brothers' emotional turmoil.

"Blossom, when someone's comes back ftom the dead, it is _always_ about something. No one's coming back from the dead because they want to. If they could, every dead person would be back from the dead. Believe me, I've been there." Boomer smiled darkly as he takes another sip of water. Blossom dare not ask the sapphire-eyed teenager about his horrifying experience in the afterlife, especially when Blossom and her sisters are the ones responsible for that experience to happen.

"Then what do you think is the reason for people to come back from the dead?" Blossom asked. Boomer scratches his head for a moment, trying to think of an easier way to explain why people come back from the realm of the dead.

"People come back from the dead because they are forced to _or_ they have to. Take us for example, we three brothers are ressurected from the dead mainly to kick your asses for good by Him. The only reason why we are still here is because we didn't finish the job. I personally will never finish the job, as I want to live. Of course we can always do other more _despicable_ things to you girls to keep it going for a long time." Boomer smiled darkly as he explains and Blossom felt a chill down her spine.

"That's disturbingly reassuring." Blossom said uneasily, as knowing that the Rowdyruff Boys are keeping themselves in check and not cross a line that should not be crossed with the Powerpuff Girls is a very uncomfortable thought.

"Yeah, of course it does. But we are forced to come back from the dead. Not because we have to." Boomer drinks the rest of his water before he gets up to the bathroom to refill his glass. Blossom's eyes trace the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy and ask him the thought she had on her mind.

"What's the difference between the two? Aren't they the same thing?" Blossom asked. Boomer looks at her with his cobalt-blue eyes before he turns away and enters into the bathroom.

"If we have to come back from the dead, that means we have a great purpose to return to the land of the living." Boomer turn on the faucet to refill the glass with water. Blossom is quite perplexed by Boomer's use of the word, and as Boomer exits the bathroom, he is holding two glasses filled with water. He hands one of the glass of water to Blossom as he sits down opposite her. Boomer's hand is still holding the glass of water right before Blossom. Faced by such insistence,Blossom is forced to take the glass of water from Boomer's hands.

"Anyway about what you said a moment ago, you mean like ghosts and stuff?" Blossom asked, and Boomer gives her a nod.

"Those things are there because they had some unfinished business. They can't rest in peace until the deed is done or they are kicked back to where they came from." Blossom nods as Boomer explains.

"I've seen that first hand." Blossom said as she remembered how Abracadaver the magical zombie caused mayhem because he seek vengeance on the girl that caused his demise. For such a vengeful reason, she targeted the city of Townsville and Blossom for said revenge.

"Renée's back for a purpose. What's her purpose is beyond me, but I reckon that it is her choice and she it needs to be respected." Boomer said as he takes a sip of water and so did Blossom. Boomer inhaled deeply before he exhales it all out in a sigh.

"Even if the choice brings you in conflict with her? I don't see how you could accept such a choice." Blossom suggested, not understanding how a person would be willing to support a choice that hurts them.

"The Renée I know had passed on a long time ago, and her memory will still live on with me. This new Renée is an abomination and I will personally see to it that I will send her back to whence she came." Boomer said coldly,and Blossom is taken aback by his response.

"That's cold...how could you? You grew up with her and went through so much..." Blossom protested, as she could not believe Boomer's answer. Boomer laughed out loud once more, but this time his laugh is much more sinister than before. Boomer looks at Blossom with his cold cobalt blue eyes, and his eyes are a man filled with an undying conviction of seeing through whatever his mind is set out to do. He stands up before the sitting Powerpuff Girl and speak out his mind.

"How could I? For one, she will _never_ give up that pendant...over her dead body. For me the truth's simple; she's dead and this woman calling herself Renée had sold her soul to the devil to be back here in the realm of mortals." Boomer points a finger at the pendant, his voice filled with righteous conviction. Blossom is utterly taken by surprise as Boomer is perhaps the least responsible and foolish of the three brothers. Suddenly Boomer gives another sigh and lies down on his bed. Before she could say anything further she could hear the sound of the door knocking.

"Yo Boomer, what the hell are you doing in there?" A husky tenor voice asked the blue-eyed boy.

"Heya Boomer, we're coming in!" Another teenage boy's voice said with disregard for Boomer's privacy. Suddenly Boomer grabbed Blossom by the arm, open the wardrobe and stuffed her into the wardrobe before she could even protest nor ask what is going on. As the water splashed on her face and her sweater, Boomer closed the wardrobe. The moment was quick enough that it happened in just a split second before the door to Boomer's room was opened forcefully. Blossom was forced to watch the event unfold from the wardrobe slits.

"Boomer what the hell is with the loud noises?" Blossom noticed that the leader and commander of the Rowdyruff Boys is wearing just some black shorts while the tall,hunky teenager with the jet-black hair is just wearing an underwear. For many reasons, seeing these two Rowdyruff Boys half-naked is usually the start of many sexual fantasies of the female student population of Townsville High. It clearly does not help Blossom's case that the wardrobe is stuffy and warm.

"Um...I am just practicing on how to be a villain in a play for the theatrical club." Boomer walks to his chair and takes a seat on the chair where Blossom was sitting prior. His two other brothers entered into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Can't you do that quietly Boomer? It is hella annoying." Brick complained.

"But, I can't get into character if I can't do it loudly." Boomer lied to his brother, and Blossom is amazed by how quickly and seamlessly he could lie. This felt exactly like how Bubbles lied to the professor once when they sneaked out of the house to a friend's party without even flinching.

"We get it, we get it. But seriously stop it." Butch said out with disapproval. The raven-haired person walks into the room and takes a seat where Blossom was sitting just a few minutes ago. The red-haired teenager also entered into Boomer's room and takes a seat on Boomer's bed. Blossom clearly did not expect herself to be in such a situation. Boomer decides to lean on the wardrobe where Blossom is located.

"So why are you guys in my room exactly?" Boomer asked.

"I swore I heard a girl's voice." Brick's suspicion made her heart beat faster, as she was worried that she would be found out. As she looked at Boomer, his body gesture betrayed nothing of the sort.

"That's me." Boomer said without even flinching.

"Right, you can't do a woman's voice to save your own life." Butch said.

"Is this womanly enough for you?" Boomer's voice is now surprisingly feminine and Blossom realized that his voice sounds exactly like her own. The other boys looked at him with very disturbed looks. Brick's jaw in particular dropped when he heard Boomer's 'feminine' voice.

"Boomer...I didn't know you could do that." Butch said with amazement.

"You never asked." Boomer answered confidently in his best impression of Blossom's voice. Blossom is also very surprised by this particular talent of his, as none of the Powerpuff Girls are able mimic a person's voice. Also she finds it creepy that he could replicate her voice so easily. She would have to take a mental note of possible chance of her being tricked by Boomer in the future.

"Anyway Boomer, seriously stop with this drama voice thing. It's creeping me out." Butch said as he shudders.

"Alright,alright." Boomer's voice slowly returns back to his normal voice, and as he does so, Brick accidentally rests his elbow on Boomer's laptop and immediately the scene from the old black-and-white movie played once more, causing Butch to react. Brick also turned his attention to the old black-and-white movie, and his usually predatory and fierce eyes are now much more gentler. Blossom could not help but to notice that those are exactly the same eyes that she saw when he was reminiscing about their past two days ago.

"What the hell Boomer...Why are you watching Casablanca?" Butch is looking at Boomer with a deadly glare. The green-eyed teenager is visibly uncomfortable and confrontational towards Boomer and the teenage boy is now clenching his fist, his knuckles cracking as he does so. Boomer turns his attention towards the black-haired teenager and replied.

"Dude...If Renée were here, she would not stop me. Hell she would make me sing song! She'd be rolling in her grave by now if she knew we were fighting over this." Boomer said derisively and immediately Butch punced into action and grabs the sand-blonde teenager's t-shirt by the collar and slams him on the wardrobe. Blossom jumped a little as the wardrobe bent a little almost touching her.

"Don't you _dare_ speak about Renée that way!" Butch growled at his brother. Boomer grabs his brother's arms and pry them open from his collar.

"At least I kept calm and carried on with her being gone! You sure as hell didn't let go!" Boomer called his brother out and immediately Butch launches a punch at Boomer's face. However, Butch's fist is intercepted in mid-air by Brick, and Brick's palm is now smoking from Butch's punch. Blossom watched as the three brothers are now looking at each other in silence. Brick immediately lets go of his brother's fist, and Butch pulled back his fist and hissed in disgust.

"What the hell is that for?" Brick asked sternly. Butch immediately barked back at Brick, his voice particularly agitated and violent.

"Get off my case! You're one to talk, cooped up in your room and being moody and all that nonsense since you came back on Saturday afternoon!" Butch admonishes his long-haired brother, causing Brick to react to the provocations of his taller brother.

"Up yours Butch! Like you know what I faced on Saturday!" Brick shouted back at his green-eyed brother, while showing him the finger. Butch slaps off Brick's hand and prods at Brick's chest.

"Oh sure asswipe, please do tell what you faced! Maybe we all can work out this together and solve your little problem!" Butch shouted aggressively, daring his brother to retaliate. Brick's eyes are now glowing with anger, and the veins on Brick's temple is now visible and pulsing.

"A ressurrected Renée Delacroix being part of the 'Red Candy' matter is not a little problem!" Brick slips up as he slapped Butch's prodding finger away from his chest. Blossom watched as the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys are now looking at Brick, and Brick realized that he had just slipped out something that should not be said . Boomer looked at both Butch and Brick while Brick looked at Butch, the two brothers expecting something to happen. Butch's eyes are now wide open, and his initial aggressive swagger is now gone.

"What did...what did you just say?" Butch asked his dark strawberry blonde brother, his voice suddenly soft and tranquil.

"Crap." Brick cursed.

"Brick...what's going on? And what do you mean by Renée being alive?" Butch asked as his expression turned from surprise to something else that Blossom could not figure out.

"Damn it... alright, alright. I'll talk. I got a lead that one of the kingpins of the drug hangs out around Chinatown, so I went there and Renée appeared. I identified her as the kingpin based on the scar on her cheek,and it the same as the one when Butch saw her bled out to death." Brick scratches his head as he turned his attention to Butch and explain himself, albeit reluctantly.

"Shit. She still looks the same?" Boomer prods with a question and Brick nods his head. Blossom is amazed by how Boomer is able to act as if he had heard this for the first time despite Blossom telling him this information just a few minutes ago.

"Barring the super-advanced prosthetics, she didn't _aged_ a day." Brick emphasized on her age, knowing that what he is saying defies all logic.

"Does she have her pendant on her?" Boomer asked.

"No...that...um...somehow, that went to Blossom's possession. Somehow Renée met her and passed that to her." Brick reluctantly admits to the situation.

"So...she had seen Renée before. For all you know, Blossom would think we are are in cahoots with Renée and we are all in trouble if she knew." Boomer mentioned the matter regarding Blossom, but Brick reassured his sand-blonde brother. Blossom is really impressed by how Boomer is able to act out as if he had just heard about the news just moments ago

"She knew, but Blossom basically only knew our about our former relation to Renée, and also Reneé's death. I made sure to tell her to take her off us. She will only be told what she needs to know. You got me Boomer? That goes for you Butch...Butch?" Brick's warning trailed away as he realized that his brother is now staring at him without even a light of life in his eyes. Butch immediately jumps on his brother and started wrestling him down on the ground. Brick is struggling as his green-eyed brother is now trying to choke him to death.

"YOU ASSHOLE! YOU KNEW WHAT'S UP AND DIDN'T TELL US?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ABOUT HER! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SHE MEANS TO ALL OF US?!"Blossom pulls herself back as she watches the savagery of the green-eyed teenager choking his brother and banging his head on the ground. Blossom closes her mouth, trying hard to cover her gasp. It was then that she smelled ionized air and sparks of electricity. A loud zapping sound could be heard and suddenly a loud thud could be heard. Blossom crawled forward and saw that the onyx-haired teenager is now lying down on the ground smoking from his body. She noticed that Boomer had an energy apparition of a baseball bat in his arm. Brick is now coughing and gasping for hair as he looked at Butch.

"Bro, you alright?!" Boomer asked as he helps his red-haired brother to get up. As Blossom looks from the slits of the wardrobe, Boomer prods his energy-based baseball bat once more and the black-haired teenager is now jolting on the ground for a few seconds before Boomer takes his bat off him.

"Thanks. Maximum charge?"

"One hundred thousand volts of electricity. That should take him out for five minutes or so. He is a tough cookie after all." Boomer shrugged.

"God damn it. I'll take him downstairs. He needs to get the 'Catatonic Special' or else we would lose him. We'll talk about this later Boomer." Brick sighed as he lifts his hunky brother over his shoulders and opens the door.

"Gotcha Brick." Boomer waved his hand as Brick closes the door with Butch in immediately turns towards the wardrobe and opens it, allowing Blossom to come out. As she straightened herself out, Boomer takes a seat and watches Blossom with a smile. Boomer chuckled and Blossom gave the Rowdyruff Boy a very uncomfortable smile. Boomer then pulls one of his nightstand drawers and passes a towel to the Powerpuff Girl to wipe her face with.

"As you can see my brothers are a mess, and it takes a whole lot of work to get them off the events of the past. Trust me, I've seen more violent bouts. Let them resolve this issue by themselves."

"But-"

"Only those that are willing to accept the truth will move on. For them, the truth is still out of reach." Boomer interrupts Blossom as he passed by her and bends down to grab the glass that Blossom dropped in the wardrobe. As he gets up and turns towards the Powerpuff Girl, the Powerpuff Girl had taken out her sweater and is now squeezing some of the water away from her sweater. As he looks at her graceful neck, shoulders,collar bone and her shapely chest supported by a pink bra being visible due to her wet sleeveless white shirt, while she wring her sweater with her slender beautiful hands. Boomer can understand now why Butch have the physical hots for her. Hell, this view is exactly the wet dreams of teenage boys and maybe some teenage girls in Townsville High. A wet Blossom. He could not help but to chuckle once more before he takes a towel from his wardrobe.

"What?" Blossom asked the sand-blonde teenager.

"Now that I look at it, you really do have the same body structure as Renée." Boomer's eyes are now on her chest, and Blossom realizes where he is looking before she throws the wet sweater at his face. Boomer responded by throwing her a clean towel in which she used to wipe herself dry and cover her chest.

"Pervert."

"All men are pervert. It is how they act that makes them harmless or dangerous.." Boomer said as he takes the wet sweater from his face and passes it back to her.

"You're a very dangerous man Boomer. You are not to be underestimated." Blossom said uncomfortably as she puts the towel over her shoulders. Blossom's impression of the 'dumbest' Rowdyruff Boy changed after seeing his interaction with her and his brothers, and she finds him to be a person with hidden depths.

"More like no one gives me the respect I deserve." Boomer said with a dejected tone, a tone that knows that the world does not respect him at all. Boomer's tone is not lost on Blossom, and Blossom decided that perhaps Boomer deserve a compliment for this one time.

"I concur." Blossom said in agreement as she wears back her sweater and passing back the towel to Boomer. Boomer's face contorts into an expression of surprise as he grabs the towel. He clearly did not expect the Powerpuff Girl to compliment him at all, especially over something like this. That made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"Thanks Blossom. It was nice of you to drop by, and I hope our conversation had reorganized your thoughts before my brothers interrupted our talk." Boomer said, hoping that she got what she wanted from him. Blossom gives him a genuinely sincere smile, before giving out a chuckle.

"It did somehow. Thanks Boomer for talking to me and hiding me in your wardrobe. This will be our little secret." Blossom gives Boomer a wink, and Boomer finds that a refreshing thing to see from the commander of the Powerpuff Girls. Even she can be cheeky if she wanted to, Boomer thought to himself and personally he would like to see more of this cheeky Blossom in the future.

"If you need any help or someone to talk to about the problems you can always find me. I'm all ears and maybe, just maybe I can help you a little. But right now I need you to go before Brick comes back suddenly. I heard him walking up the stairs." Boomer smiled as he walks towards the window and opens it. Blossom takes a step on the frame of the window, before looking back at Boomer.

"Yeah thanks for having me." Blossom thanked the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy and waved at him. Boomer gives Blossom a wave back and a smile before she flies out in a stream of light. As she flies away into the starry night, Boomer closes the window, his smile turning into a bitter one. As he walks towards his bed, he closes his eyes to absorb all the emotions that are now flowing within him. He breathed in before jumping on his bed and stares up to the ceiling.

 _Fate's being a real bitch huh_ , Boomer said darkly in his mind.


	19. Chapter 19: Declaration

Chapter 19: Declaration

[Unknown]

The demon is watching the multitude of screens and Him looked at the unfolding events as it did some aerobics. As he reaches for the screens, several tiny orbs materializes in its pincers, thirty-four to be exact. The reflection of a red orb, forest green orb, a blood red orb, a cobalt blue orb, a white orb and multitude of gray orbs can be seen in the eyes of the demonic being, and it smiled viciously.

In order for its plans to come to fruition, Him needs the most potent ingredients in the mixture to create the reactions that it needs. In this particular case, Him needs the most rawest emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger...those are a few of the emotions that Him needs to make his perfect bouillon. For that purpose, Him had created the perfect bouillon cube for his plan; the impossible drug known at large in Townsville right now as 'Red Candy'. The drug essentially reaches into the darkest possible recesses of the genes and also their hearts to pull out the emotions for Him to harvest. Of course the bulging muscles and superpowers are interesting side-effects, but the senseless radiance of raw emotions out essentially made the emotions concentrated enough for Him to mine it out. Also with the addictive nature of the drug, the user will use the drug more and more causing the emotions of the drug user to be more raw and primal. In addition, the destruction and suffering the user caused while under the influence of the drug would affect the people around them, causing their emotions to become much easier for Him to mine. In many ways, it is a win-win situation for Him's emotion-mining operations.

However these strong emotions that it managed to mine from the citizens of Townsville is nothing compared to those of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. The emotions of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys are of the highest and purest quality, allowing Him to make a special variant of its 'red candy', the ones that it had given to his lieutenants. These special ones performed exemplary, allowing even purer and more potent emotions to be mined and even more purer candies to to be produced. Admittedly,it is a fun side effect of Him bringing in the Rowdyruff Boys to Townsville,but one which also further its own plans. The boys will have their place in Him's plan, but as of this moment they are not included in the calculation. Now that the initial testing of the drug have yield results, it is time to move on to the next phase. Time and time again had proven that the emotions mined during battle are the purest and most potent, especially when there is a large congregation. This in turn made the 'red candy' production purer and potent. The next phase would need to engineer this reaction in a larger scale.

Him snaps his pincer and the space before Him is shrouded in a reddish pink fog. A platform with the replica of Townsville rises from the fog and several apparitions covered sections of the city. Little Moscow, Little Italy, the Jewish Quarter and Irish Quarter were covered with the apparition of a white bear, while Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Saigon,and Little Tokyo are covered with an apparition of a white tiger. As Him looks over the scale model, he notices that Uptown Townsville and the industrial areas is covered with the apparition of a white fox, while white bat spreads its wings over the poorest neighborhoods of Townsville urban population. The only areas not under anyone's control are the suburbs, and Him could understand seeng that the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys are living in the area.

" _Ananse dear,what do you think of the current spread of our forces? Hm~?_ " From the shadows, a tall and lanky raw umber-skinned man dressed in a red sweatshirt with matching sweatpants and shoes appeared and stands beside Him, his pair of hazel eyes looks at the platform.

"Currently the cops an the army and army stopping us from expanding inna downtown Townsville."" Ananse points towards the Townsville Police Station before moving his finger towards the nearby military base.

" _Yes, the police and the military base are an issue. So what do you propose, my dear little spider?_ " Him asked the tall African man sweetly.

"Me suggest dat we neutralize dem before we tek ova the city propa. We also need fi split the boys an the girls apart as we attack." The tall lanky man reasoned.

"How do you propose we do that _araignée_?" Another voice came from the darkness and a brunette lady with a cross -shaped scar on her cheeks appeared in the current meeting.

"The bat had shown dat we can tek dem eff we fight alone wid dem." The lanky umber-skinned man reasoned. As he pulls his fingers across the board from the Morningstar residence towards downtown Townsville towards a rather unassuming building.

"The orphanage can be use to split dem along wid the attacks on the police station an the army base. We need fi split dem furtha but that up to who fight which one of dem." The deep accented voice of the African man comments on their situation. Before long, several shadowy figures appeared from the darkness.

"I will be taking the police station, but would need some of Medved's men for the battle." One of the figures reveals itself, the light emanating from the the scale model reveals a blonde Asian lady with her face covered partially by her collars as she points towards the police station.

"No _Tigresa_ , I want to take the police!" Another figure steps out into the light projection of the mock-up model. The owner of the voice is wearing a bat-like mask with large pointed ears and a revealed mouth framed by the famgs of the mask. The protest of the Hispanic gangster at the blonde Asian woman's suggestion caused the woman to her attention to him.

"You are too obvious, and your idiots would not know how to storm a police department and they would kill every police officer. We need the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys to be pulled in, not emboldened by our efforts." The Asian lady mentioned as she squint her eyes, and as the two glared at each other, a large burly arm reaches towards the National Guard base with his pointing finger.

"I take base with my _Bratva_. But I will need Ananse's help." The Russian mobster announced with a booming stoic voice. The figure turns his head towards the others to see if there are any objections, but he received none in return.

"I will take the orphanage. I like little children...they are so fragile and fun to play with." The amber-eyed figure declared with sadistic glee, causing the others except Him to eye the figure with great apprehension.

" _Sure, I believe your needs can be_ _accommodated_." Him said with a smile on its face.

"What about my needs, _diablo_? That _puta_ took my target!" The bat-masked figure points at the Asian female,his voice filled with derision and contempt. The blonde Asian rolled her aquamarine eyes.

" _Well batsy, why waste time with the police if you can take down the District Attorney? Taking down the face of law and order in Townsville must be the most glorious thing to do for Los Noches._ " Him reasoned to the hot-headed Hispanic gangster as it points towards the District Attorney's office. At the suggestion of the infernal being, Murciélargo stares at the office with great interest.

"Interesting, deal." Murciérlargo answered with great excitement.

"That leaves you Fennec. Where will you be going?" The woman with the high collar asked a figure in the darkness. The figure appears before the replica of the city, revealing her pale milk-like face with a crossed scar on her cheeks.

"I will be moving around to enforce the situation since those boys may come to the aid of the Powerpuff Girls." As she brushes her mahogany braided hair aside, she points points towards the Morningstar Residence. Medved was about to ask the vulpine-like lady, however the lady glared at the bear-like man with her cold chilly blue eyes, causing him to take a step back. Medved's action surprised even himself, for he had never backed away from anyone before let alone a woman.

"For old times' sake." Fennec answered stoically. Him smiled, knowing that Fennec's chosen battlefield would be the most interesting battlefield there is.

" _And I will be here farming the emotions from all the mayhem. Now that we all know what we want to do it looks like we are going to paint this town red._ " Him said and he starts to cackle before exploding into a maniacal laughter.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Townsville: 9pm]

"Girls!" The professor cried out while the girls are preparing for bed. The three girls groaned as they wondered what the professor wants this time. The three Powerpuff girls hover out from their bedroom and downwards towards the living room, dressed in essentially their sleeping clothes. Blossom is wearing a simple white t-shirt and pink sweat pants, while Buttercup's tanktop and short green boxers

"Professor, what's going on?" Blossom asked and the square-jawed parent of the Powerpuff Girls increased the volume of the television set to let the girls listen in on the news. As the eyes of the Powerpuff Girls are now looking at the screen, they could see that it is a sudden broadcast. They all started to land down and take their places; Bubbles is sitting on the sofa with the professor, while Blossom is sitting down on the ground. Buttercup on the other hand decided to stand up and watch the news.

"Reporting live form the scene of the crime in the TPD attack, and we have just obtained of the attack by one of the assailants. I want to warn all of those watching that what you are about to see is very graphic."

The scene on the television set changes from the newscaster to a scene inside the Townsville Police Station office and it appears that the video is filming towards the reception area. Within the footage, a slender Asian woman dress in a black collared jacket that covers the lower part of her face while the upper part of her face is covered with a large aviatior-style sunglasses with sleeves enveloping her arms and ending in white -glove like extensions. The bottom of the short black jacket reveals a long dress with her long slender legs in pantyhose with long shin-high boots. The woman is standing in front of the reception with her back facing the camera, and the officer is looking at her with disinterest. The footage catched the conversation between the lady and the police officer at the reception.

"I am a friend of Commisioner Mataseranu. I would like to meet him please." The lady speaked monotonously.

"Sorry lady, he's currently in a meeting. It may take a while, have a seat." The police officer gestured for her to take a seat in the waiting area without even looking at her. She takes a look around the whole reception area as if examining the entire structure of the reception. She tilts forward towards the officer and knocks on the glass, catching the police officer's attention.

"I'll be back." The lady calmly turned away from the reception and walks away from the reception counter, disappearing from the camera's view. The camera continued on filming the officer doing his paperwork in the reception counter, where suddenly the sound of a speeding car could be heard. Before the officer in the reception counter coukd even react, the sudden image of a car crashing into the reception counter is seen.

The camera moves on to show the lady exiting the vehicle,patting her arms in a job well done. The camera turned around to show a group of men armed to the teeth with assault rifles and heavy weaponry entering into the breach that the car had made through the entrance of the police department.

"Alright, let's find Commisioner Mataseranu. We will not stop until we find him. Once we get him, we take the surviving officers hostage. Move." Immediately the camera is now following the lady and the armed men as they stormed into the police station. Like a macabre action movie, the footage shows the police department being assaulted by gunfire and explosions with gunfights erupting at every corridor and room. Some of the policemen managed to hold out as they fought back, but suddenly some of the assailants covered their mouths and their clothes started ripping apart showing their excessive red muscle mass with bulging veins and arteries. These brutes charged forth and slammed into the police officers like battering rams. Meanwhile, the criminals are now throwing grenades into some of the rooms.

The view of the camera trails the lady as she made her way towards the commissioner's office. The camera's shook as it ducked for cover as sound of speeding bullets flew over the cameraman's head. Suddenly the gunfire are silenced and as the camera rose up, it filmed the lady's skin slowly turning red. The camera continued on recording the augmented woman as she scoured the hallways for the commissioner's office. Soon enough, her eyes squinted and the camera view focused on what she is looking at. Emblazoned on the door is the word "Commissioner Mataseranu" and with a single pull, she pulled out the door and she entered the room. The footage followed the woman into the room and standing before the woman, a balding gray-eyed man with creases on his face aimed his handgun at the woman.

"Good evening Commisioner." The woman said as she puts her arms behind her hips, with one hand gently holding her other wrists.

"Freeze!" A deep man's voice could be heard.

"We could do this the easy way,or we could do this the hard way. Surrender, and it will stop." The red-skinned woman offered, but the man shook his head.

"If a cop surrenders to crooked crooks like yourself, there will be no future."

"Suit yourself Commissioner."

The woman dashed towards the commissioner, and the man fired several gunshots. The view of the camera went significantly lower out of sudden as the cameraman lied down on the ground dodging the bullets. A loud broken sound is heard and a man's screaming caused the shooting to end. The view of the footage looked upwards, showing the tall woman grabbing the commissioner's arm. With one swing of her arms, the man flew above the view of the camera and the sound of something slamming to the wall could be heard with a loud crack. The view of the footage soon rises up and it turned behind to show the commissioner slumping down, covered with blood and a crater on the wall where the commissioner camera turned around to face the red-skinned woman as she sat on the commissioner's desk, crossing her legs. She rests one of her arms on her lap before she turned her attention towards the camera and waved at the camera in a candid manner.

Suddenly the screen blacks out for a few seconds, before it turned into a true blood-red crimson before a song played in the air. The song appears to be rather jovial and the lyrics innocent, but such was the nature of the song that it makes it lyrically dissonant as the positively innocent song rubs against the prevailing mood, making it even creepier.

 _Who can take a sunrise?_

 _Sprinkle it with dew~_

 _Cover it with choc'late and a miracle or two_

 _The Candy Man..._

 _Oh, the Candy Man can..._

 _The Candy Man can._

 _'Cause he mixes it with love,_

 _And makes the world taste good._

Blossom is now looking at the screen without a care in the world except to this particular broadcast. The joke is not lost on Blossom, as the song made a reference towards the current situation that Townsville is experiencing with the drug, and the allusion could not be placed so poorly obvious for those that understand it.

 _Who can take a rainbow?_

 _Wrap it in a sigh~_

 _Soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie._

 _The Candy Man_

 _The Candy Man can._

 _The Candy Man can,_

 _'Cause he mixes it with love_

 _And makes the world taste good_

 _Now you talk about your childhood wishes,_

 _You can even eat the dishes._

Suddenly the voice slowly turns from a charming, clean tenor singing and phases out to a voice that is best described as utterly malign and sinister, as the voice becomes a reverberating echo with two completely different voices speaking in tandem and just slightly out of sync, almost mathematically calculated that one could distinguished the deep male voice and a higher-pitched female-like voice giving a jarring quality. As the background music starts to play out of tune, the voice continued on singing. As the background chorus voice distorts with the background music, the voice is slowly overwhelming the other voices until it is the only voice remaining.

 _Yes, the Candy Man can,_

 _'Cause he mixes it with love,_

 _And makes the world taste good._

 _A-candy Man, a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man!_

 _A-candy Man, a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man!_

 _A-candy Man, a-Candy Man!_

"Him." Blossom said with venom infused in her voice, knowing the identity of the being singing the song. The ringleader of this situation had finally revealed itself, though Blossom doubt that the other Townsville citizens are able to discern the organic-qualities of the effeminate demon's voice from the synthetic voice modulators. As she watched the screen, the voice started coughing and clearing its throat before speaking to the watching audience of this macabre broadcast.

" _Hello, City of Townsvile and I'm pretty sure that you are watching this once the video in the tablet is being played. Oh, where are my manners! Let me introduce ourselves...we're the Lunatics, the shot-caller of this little game! And tonight have we got something to show you~!_ "

" _We're here to spread the word of wisdom and hope, and giving everyone an offer they can't refuse! You are all trapped and imprisoned by your logic and sanity. The logic and sanity stops you from understanding the outside world keeping it hidden like a dark shroud. It is darkness, as far as the eyes can see and honestly it is dull. Thus, we are here to be the light upon this hour, showing you that there is something out there! Leave it to us to show you a whole perspective of life, and I would like to share that with you!"_ A loud cackling laughter is soon heard, sending the chills down the Powerpuff Girls' spine. The voice soon returned, but the voice is now a darker voice without any of the previous levity. The voice is now as dark and guttural as the blackest pits, its voice reverberating inside the hearts of everyone like a dark ringing of an alarm clock.

" _So Townsville, let me impart my declaration upon thee...tonight, do what you want. Kill who you want, and when morning comes, you to shall be reborn as you will wake up from sleep screaming at the thoughts of such liberty and freedom! Be free, like us!"_ The voice suddenly returned to is discordant, happy and carefree voice, further heightening the unease of the whole matter.

" _Oh! Time to go, but just remember, smile! Don't worry, we'll be back very soon. Hang onto your hats, folks, cause' you ain't seen nothing yet!"_

The video immediately cuts back to the newscaster, whose face is visibly pale and shocked. The news channel continued on showing the stunned newscaster for a few seconds before cutting to a transmission cut with the words 'Please Stand By'. As the deafening tone continued on playing through the air, the Utoniums are shaken to the core. Blossom is silent in shock, while Bubbles is burying her head in the professor's chest while Professor Utonium embracing her in his arms and calming her down. Buttercup on the other hand is cracking her knuckles by just clenching her fists.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Townsville: 9.00pm]

"This is bad." Boomer said as he munched on a handful of tortilla chip. Brick and Boomer are watching the live news feed and they are watching the news intently.

"Very bad. Him just made its move." Brick said to himself as he takes a chip off Boomer's bowl of tortilla chips. Brick frowned as the television set before him played clips of the storming once more. Suddenly the news channel came to life once more.

"Breaking news at nine! We have received reports that Fort Marks is under attack! Live at the scene is our reporter, Sarah McKinsey! Sara, can you tell us what is going on?" The footage turned to a view of a woman with a bulletproof vest and steel helmet just a block away from a military base in flames with the sound of gunfire and artillery echoing in the background.

"Hello Jim, as you can see behind me, the base is under attack by unknown assailants and a fierce battle is erupting within! And...!" Without warning, the night sky was suddenly illuminated with several flares erupting in the air, and several of the streams of smoke with glowing heads slowly descended into the base. As the flares descended, several streams of trailing smoke entered into the base and several mushroom clouds erupted throughout the base, lighting up the moonless night.

"Sara,that's a warzone out there!"

"Yes indeed Jim, and-" suddenly the sound of screeching wheels echoed in the video feed and the footage showed three tanks with square tiles on it drove by the reporter. As the reporter watched, one of them rammed into the checkpoint of the base and entered into base. The second tank followed suit, while the third stop at the side of the road and rotates its turret to face the inside of the base. Suddenly the tank outside opened fire with its cannon and the camera shook.

"Sara, are you alright?"

"Yes..Yes I am! As you can see here, the base is being stormed by military -grade weapons, and honestly I don't even know how they got a tank!"

Several tanks and tracked armored vehicles with much smaller turrets and guns with several tubes mounted on both flanks of the turret passed by her and opened fire as they entered into the flattened checkpoint. Before long,several wheeled armored vehicles entered into the gap that was made by the tanks and armored tracked vehicle. One of those wheeled armored vehicle pulled up and suddenly the back hatch of the vehicle opened to reveal several heavily armed men ran up to the news crew.

"Jim, I'm afraid I will not be able to report as the assailants found us and we-" A rifle butt hits the head of the news reporter with such force that she fell down on the ground. There were shouting and screaming as the armed men pushed the news crew down to the ground with assault rifle barrels aimed at their heads. The footage cuts itself before Brick turned off the television set. Boomer was about to ask his long-haired brother why his brother turned off the television set but his red-eyed brother stood up and turned towards him.

"I just saw an American base being stormed by Russians with T-90s, BMTP-72s and BTR-80s for support. Tell me what's wrong with that image."

"They are heavily armed?"

"That's an understatement Boomer. That's an _army_."

"I have to admit, those guys sure are crazy." Boomer complimented the perpetrators as he puts his bowl of tortilla chips down on the have the Townsville Police Station to be stormed by a bunch of mercenaries and hoodlums is one thing, but to have an armored corp attacking an army base is an unprecedented matter entirely, especially upon American soil.

"Boomer, these Russians are mad, even by the standards of their countrymen."

"How'd you know they're Russians?"

"They're speaking Russian Boomer. Don't you remember Ukraine? The unit we're in are filled with Russians."

"Ah, I remembered those drunkards." Boomer recalled with a smile on his face.

"What about the Russians?" Brick and Boomer turned around when they heard the husky tenor voice, and they saw Butch coming down from the stairs. As Butch takes a seat beside his blue-eyed brother, Boomer passed the bowl of tortilla chips to his jade-eyed brother. Butch looked at Boomer quizzically, wondering why his brother passed him the bowl of chips.

"This would help." Boomer shrugged, and Butch looked at his other brother to find out what is going on.

"You always have the knack to come in when there's a fight going on. Our dear effeminate figure just made its move." Brick turned on the television and the scenes of the 'declaration' and attacks are being played again and again on the television screen. Brick and Boomer allowed their brother to absorb the news before they let Butch speak.

"It appears that they are making sure they took out all the threats before they go about their business. But why not attack the Powerpuff Girls? They are the most dangerous threat in Townsville. They can take them down if they wanted to." Butch said as he observe the news coverage of the events that are unfolding before him. Since his long-haired brother revealed that Renée is still alive, Butch had not rested well and it showed in his slugginess and the bags under his eyes.

"But taking cops hostage and those tanks... they are rather audacious aren't they?" Brick expressed his opinion, wondering about the rationale behind the attacks.

"Ah...but maybe, there is refuge in audacity my dear brother." Boomer said in an imitation of a British detective, complete with a bubble pupe which he took out from thin air.

"Right, what do you have in mind Boomer?" Brick sighed as he knew that this could either be a very brilliantly stupid idea or a stupidly brilliant idea. It is a tradmark of his cloudcuckoolander brother. Butch also turned his attention to Boomer, interested to know what's going on.

"I think they are doing this is because they know they can escape with this. I mean, let's be real here for a moment. It is very stupid to attack the cops and the army"What if their goal of doing all this big things is to do something else entirely? With the attack on the police department and the army base, they have pulled people's attention away from everything else."

"Go on..." Brick beckoned his blonde brother to continue on. Boomer's line of though is particularly sound this time and he would hate to interrupt his brother's mind now.

"I mean...if I'm a crook I just want money. I can bribe the cops and stuff to let things slide. Why would I want to attack them? Why do I want to piss them off?" Boomer reasoned.

"I get what you are trying to say. So right now, I think we should be asking; what do they want to accomplish out of all of this?" Brick puts the question on the table, realizing the flow of Boomer's train of thought.

"Brick, its called intimidation." Butch interjects to inform his carnelian-haired brother of the obvious answer.

"For the normal people it will be intimidation. But for others it can have a different meaning." Brick explains to his jade-eyed brother.

"Brick, get to the point. What the hell does Him and his cronies want?" Butch asked, irritaited by his brother leading him on.

"What if they just want to provoke the Powerpuff Girls?" Brick cuts to the chase, and Butch raise an eyebrow.

"What benefit would they get from provoking the Powerpuff Girls?" Butch exclaimed, as that is even dumber than attacking the police and the army.

"They essentially make the Powerpuff Girl's unstable." Brick answered, and he takes a tortilla chip from the bowl.

"Unstable? What do you mean unstable? They are the most predictable people on earth." Butch asked, not getting his brothers' conversation. Between an idiotic savant brother called Boomer and a true savant named Brick, Butch is lost between their reasonings.

"Exactly Butch. Attacking the only means Townsville could protect thenselves without the Powerpuff Girls will make the girls more prone to step in and stop them especially when things are dire for Townsville. Their goody two shoes nature only makes them more rash when innocents are involved."

"The hostages makes sense in this context, as it would prevent the Powerpuff Girls from just demolishing the buildings. " Boomer joined in, happy that his brother know what he's on about.

"Great... so we need to think of what would make them act without a second thought to protect the innocent. That narrows it down." Butch throws his hands up in the ir as he sarcastically get his point across.

"It would need to be extraordinary I guess. So the usual crook things are out as well." Brick mentioned. So that takes out the banks, art galleries, museums and other such locations. The boys sat around to think of the issue and wondered what could possible provoke the Powerpuff Girls in such a way that they will take the bait. For all they know, everything is something that could provoke the Powerpuff Girls. The three boys pondered for a moment before Boomer's sapphire eyes opened wide open.

"Crap. I think i know where they would attack. I don't know how they will find it out, but if I am right, the place I am thinking about will be attacked." Boomer said with a horrified expression.

"Where Boomer?" Brick asked.

The news channel immediately comes back live and the boys turned their attention to the television set. The newscaster's face is now paler than asbestos the lips of the newscaster quivers as he delivered the news.

"Br-br-b-br-br-breaking news! Thirty minutes ago, a man reported to be in bandages and robes just entered into the orphanage and held the ten personnel and fifty-three children hostage. It seems that this fiend had taken advantage of the TPD incident and the army attack. Wait, what goi-"

Suddenly the screen pixelated to show a little brunette girl with twin pigtails is now on the screen,holding a piece of paper. As the bright blue eyes of the little girl watered up, the laughing on the camera side of the video could be heard. As the Rowdyruff Boys watched on, the fiendish voice asked her a question.

"Hello little girl, what's your name?" A wheezing, gravelly voice asked the little girl. The little girl turned towards the source of the voice, not sure what to do.

"An-n-n-n-" The little girl is terrified beyond all measures and she is siezing up from the fear.

"Look into the camera dear, and say your name or else I would hurt one of the little children here." The voice threatened the little girl, the grating wheezing gravely voice becoming much more menacing than before.

"An-n-a-Belle." The girl managed to say her name,but the tears are already flowing down her cheeks.

"That's very nice name. Now, please read the letter that's in your hands."

"D-d-dear Powerpuff Girls. I have in m-m-y hands the lives of fif-fif-fifty-three children a-a-and ten staff of th-th-i-is orphanage. If n-no-one come here within the hour, I-I-I will start hurting them one by one, starting from the one reading the letter. So p-p-pl-ease come and save them."

The little girl finally broke down in tears, and the sinister laughter of the deranged individual echoed in the speakers. The camera view turned around and a person wrapped in bandages like a mummy and a robe is now looking at the camera with its amber eyes. However, upon closer examination the eyes of the figure does not have any irises and pupils. The camera is put down and the figure walks towards the little girl and carries her before putting her on his lap.

"I am a man of my word, and I will wait in this chair. In one hour, I will start with her."

Suddenly the footage fades out in a static before it returned back to the news channel. As the new development is being reported on, the three brothers watched silently. Boomer watched with a frown on his face as his face slowly turned pale. Brick and Butch looked at each other, noticing that Boomer is unusually affected by the footage of the orphanage situation. As Brick reaches out to shake his sand-blonde brother out of his thoughts, the young blue-eyed teenager speaks out.

"Of all the orphanages, it just had to be _that_ orphanage. Guys, I believe this will be the place where the first fight starts."


	20. Chap 20: The Good, The Bad and the Fugly

Chapter 20: The Good, The Bad, and the Fugly

Buttercup's heart sank as she saw Annabelle being forced to speak in front of the camera for all to see. She will not stand by as those children suffer any more in this world. She immediately walked out from the living room and heads towards the stairs. Bubbles noticed the sudden change in Buttercup's demeanor and immediately rushed towards her athletic sister and pulled her sister into her embrace from behind at the foot of the stair. The green-eyed Powerpuff Girl soon realized that she was being held in place by her sister, and as she moved she noticed that her sister is not budging.

"Let go of me Bubbles!" Buttercup snarled as she struggled to get out from Bubbles' embrace.

"No! I'm not going to let you do something stupid!" Bubbles cried out as she tightened her embrace into a bear hug. As Blossom regained her composure, she realized that her siblings are now struggling with each other at the foot of the stairs and she rushed towards them to break them up. Professor Utonium also noticed the commotion and heads towards the girls, knowing that this is going to get messy really soon.

"Girls! Calm down!" Blossom shouted.

"How can I be calm when our city is burning to the ground!" Buttercup yelled back at her sister. Blossom shot a glare at Buttercup but Buttercup is not backing down.

"We need to have a plan! We can't just go in without having a plan! We don't even know what we are up against!" Blossom reasoned, but Buttercup's shoulders are already tensing up.

"Screw that, those kids will not have that much time! I'm off to the orphanage!" She speeds up the stairs in a beam of light and turns into their room. Blossom and Bubbles chased after her, but as they entered into the room, they saw Buttercup perching on the edges of their circular window. The mirrors of their neighbors' house are shattered by the sound of the sonic boom as Buttercup sped through the sky. Blossom and Bubbles watched as they saw the distant glimmer of Buttercup's trail blazing through the night sky.

"So what do we do now? Bubbles asked her sister, uncertain about their course of action this harrowing night. Blossom turned her eyes towards Townsville and knows that they would need to fight individually. Sadly enough,the villains had gotten them this time. Among all of them, Buttercup always had the strongest sense of putting evil deeds in its place, and the orphanage scene is perhaps the most despicable one among the three. Blossom sighed, knowing that tonight will be a very long night for every one of them.

"Looks like we have to leave the orphanage to her. I'll take the police station, and Bubbles you need to go to Fort Marks. Do not engage unless you are engaged upon." Bubbles nodded her head as Blossom advised the blue-eyed Powerpuff long, the other two Powerpuff Girls also flies off in a streak of light from the round windows of the Utonium Residence, heading towards their chosen locations.

* * *

[Maxwell Orphanage, Townsville: 10.05pm]

Buttercup reaches the orphanage within five minutes and several news channel vans are already outside the orphanage covering the event. As she hovered above the scene and surveyed her surroundings with her infrared, she saw everyone is located within the dining hall. All except two figures sitting in front of the entrance. She noticed that something is really odd about the figure as her infrared vision registered the perpetrator as extremely warm. Significantly warmer than most normal humans. She pressed the button on her belt, and she is now clad in her battle regalia. She never liked fighting in the O.U.T.F.I.T, but this time she is taking no chances.

Buttercup descends down towards the courtyard and she noticed the news reporters are already reporting as her toes touched down on the concrete pavement of the courtyard. Fortunately for Buttercup, being a superhero is part of her job description and her presence here would not be questioned. As Buttercup shuts out the noise of the camera shutters and the hectic sound of reporters making their reports and asking her questions, she walks up the steps towards the door of the orphanage. She inhales the air into her lungs, and then exhales it out to calm her nerves down.

 _Blossom, I hate it when you are right but I have to do this_ , Buttercup thought as she kicks down the door with her foot. Her kick caused the door to be broken inwards from the hinges. As the door slams down on the ground, Buttercup finally sees the mysterious perpetrator of this crime and also the little pigtailed brunette with the bright blue eyes sitting on a simple wooden chair. The little girl's are already red from the crying, and Buttercup's anger builds up in intensity as the figure sitting on the chair continues petting Annabelle like a little kitten on his lap.

"Ah, you are early." The figure said in a grating wheezing voice as he puts down the little girl from his lap, but putting her in front of his legs. As the figure stands up to be at least two heads taller than her, his pupil-less eyes suddenly slides away revealing a snake-like slit in place of his iris. The only sound breaking the silence is the sobbing of the little girl, and Buttercup could only watch as the figure gently caresses Annabelle's hair. Buttercup is already gritting her teeth before, and she was about to pounce on him to give the fiend a beating of a lifetime when the figure puts out a bandaged palm to stop her.

"Don't you do anything funny Buttercup. I have rigged this place to explode if you so dare to do anything reckless...well you know what happens to them." The grating wheezing gravely voice informed the Powerpuff Girl, and wags a finger at her as he pats the head of the small child. Buttercup shot a glare at the man and flipped the bird at the man.

"You cunt-juggling thundercunt! You'll gon-" Buttercup growled her curse, but the figure is not amused nor affected by her provocation. Immediately one section of the orphanage was blown out, silencing Buttercup in her tracks. As the part of the orphanage collapses, Buttercup's forehead is now breaking in a cold sweat.

"Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. But it does make me really unhappy." The wheezing sound of the man's voice is utterly unnatural and sounded like he is in much pain. But the malice in his voice assured Buttercup that she will give him no mercy, and Buttercup prepared herself for anything that the man would do. The man

"You son of a bitch." Butttercup hissed, her eyes glowing brighter with her anger. The man presses on the trigger, causing another section of the orphanage to blow up once more, and this time it is closer to where the hostages are being held.

"Language. This place is primed with a voice-activated detonator. For every time you curse, a bomb will detonate, and even I do not know which bomb will detonate. It could be the one in the bedroom, or it could be the one where the hostages are being held. Your choice." The man looks at Buttercup with no-nonsense eyes, and Buttercup fists are now trembling with fear and hatred at the robed figure before her. Suddenly the robed man started laughing, his laughter coarse and broken like a broken engine.

"How I love to see you suffer. But I know I am missing something." The wheezing gravelly voice commented and Buttercup's lime green eyes are now wide open in abject horror. The bandaged arms of the hornet mutant are now grabbing a little brunette girl with twin pigtails by her shirt while another arm is holding a machine pistol to the little girls head. He then shoots a shot at the little girl and grazing her legs, causing the little girl to yelp in pain.

"YOU ASSHOLE! LET HER GO!" Buttercup yelled, and the figure laughed hard as he pressed the trigger. Another section of the orphanage blows up once more, and Buttercup's face turned even paler as she had forgotten that the place is primed to blow for every curse word she said. The man laughed once more.

"Yes, that is what I wanted to see; that desperate look on your face. When your reason is taken over by the turmoil of your emotions within. Let me put on something extra. Alright little girl hold onto this very hard or I'll shoot you in the head. Do you understand me?" He commanded her and the little girl nodded her head with fresh new tears in her eyes. He takes out one of the grenades and forced the little girl to hold the grenade in her small hands at gun point. As she done so the robed man puts a grenade on the little girl's hands and pulls the pill. Buttercup's heart sank even further into the abyss as she realized that the grenade is now primed to explode within seconds if the little girl lets go of it.

"Good,good. I want to see that expression on both your faces. If you do anything stupid like trying to save this little girl right now, I will shoot her arms and her reaction would be to let go of the bomb. If she lets go, it will explode in three seconds. Of course you would get superficial injuries, but for her?" The tone of the fiend is now filled with sadistic glee. Buttercup's eyes are filled with tears and despair as she watched helplessly on this situation. She wanted to scream, but her voice is not coming out.

"As for you little girl, if you dare move away from this spot I will shoot your arms. So don't get any bright ideas to get help." The remaining color on the little girl's face had now left her, and she drops down on her knees. The bandaged robed figure is now looking at a very desperate Buttercup, and the figure is now walking towards Buttercup. Buttercup knew that she is now trapped by the ropes, and she looked up to see a pair of sadistic amber eyes looking down on her.

"What do you want." Buttercup's voice is now soft and meek, knowing that she is now at the mercy of the insane monster.

"My hobby is the is to peel the skin off the rabbits I catch, especially cute little bunnies like _you_. Be a nice sport, and if you give me my high, they go. If not, they die. Let's begin." The figure grabs his robes and pulls it off his body, revealing an upper body entirely wrapped in bandages and bandoleers with multiple vials of liquid around his chest and arms. On his brown-clad pants, several belts of grenades hanging loosely and two beam machine pistols can be seen. As the bandage wrappings around his arm started to unravel, Buttercup did not even want to find out what he is revealing and she fires her eye beam at the figure. With a single swat, the figure deflects the beam outside the orphanage into one of the newscaster trucks, causing two molten holes in the truck. Buttercup is shocked that the fiend managed to deflect the eye beams, and she noticed that the bandages on the arm in which the figure swatted the eye beam with are now burning brightly in green flames from her eye beams.

"Surprised Buttercup?" The man shows her his burning arm and to Buttercup's horror, his arm is an amalgamation of several thousand large hornets crawling up and down. The sound of buzzing angry hornets echoed throughout the orphanage and the hornets slowly lifts off from his arm and hover around him. Each of the hornets are as long as a person's finger and each has a large yellow-orange head with a bright orange thorax and bands of bright red and yellow-orange hue on its abdomen. As each one of the buzzes around the man, Buttercup realized that the large hornets are infused with 'red candy'. Several of the hornets are already flying towards and Buttercup readied herself.

"Stop!" The man barked, and the hornets stop just shy of a few inches away from her face. The hornets hovered around her, their angry buzzing echoing in her ears before returning to the man. The man finally unwrap the wrappings around his arms to show a swarm of swarming hornets crawling on his red, pulsating skin. The man takes several of the vials on his arms and puts it between his fingers. The hornets slowly unlatches from its arms and hover around him, and he points the vials in his hand towards Buttercup, showing the countless welts on his whole entire arm.

"Wh-what are you?" Buttercup said in disgust.

"Pain and suffering." He immediately throws the vials towards Buttercup, and reflexively Buttercup covered her face with her forearms. The vials broke upon contact, and she is drenched in some liquid on her forearms and also some parts of her head and body. The buzzing of the hornets intensified and Buttercup knew that it is time to make a run for it. As she ran, the hornets broke into pursuit, and as Buttercup watched behind her the hornets are puncturing through the wall like large-caliber bullets. She fired some of her eye beams at the hornets, but the hornets appear to be able to dodge the eye beams with ease.

 _Goddamit,_ Buttercup cursed. The only time she fought against an insect-themed villain is when she was five years old beating the heck out of Roach Coach, but those insects were more or less normal ones. But these hornets are not normal as the hornets are slamming into everything and not taking any damage at all while destroying everything in their path. She shudders on how their sting would feel like, and she honestly don't want to find out. As she run into the office room of the orphanage, she grabs some of the folders at the hornets but to no avail.

"I will guide you through a world of anguish beyond your imagination, little girl!" The voice of wheezing gravely voice shouted out triumphantly as she comes out from a corner of the room and realize that the man is now looking at her with his serpentine eyes from all the broken walls. She noticed the beam machine pistol in his arm aiming at her and she managed to jump away from the beam bolts fired at her. She rolled into another room and she crashed into several furniture. As Buttercup tried to get up, she could hear something dropped nearby her and to her horror, she saw a grenade entering into the room. Unable to dodge in time, the grenade exploded and she was flung across the room.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Buttercup rubs her head as she tries to regain her composure. Suddenly she heard the buzzing sound of the insects coming closer and she knew that fighting in such an enclosed area is not beneficial to her. The wanton recklessness of the figure is not lost on her and his willingness to destroy the orphanage with grenades, beam fire and superpowered hornets would endanger the hostages. She scanned the horizon shortly before noticing a window of opportunity; an unobstructed view and path towards the maniac. She decides to take it without a second thought and she flies towards him like a speeding bullet, tackling him and crashing into a wall to the Buttercup and the figure rolled on the ground, she could hear the camera taking pictures of her fight and she realized that the reporters would need to get out from the area fast.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Buttercup yelled towards the reporters, and as she did so the swarm of angry hornets flew out from the orphanage like a red cloud . The reporters and cameramen immediately started looking for cover as the hornets hover above their master. Buttercup lands an elbow blow to the figure's face and realized that something is off about her blow. It felt hard and textured, and she soon found out why. The figure tore away his bandages around his face and suddenly a swarm of hornets flew out from the unraveled bandages to attack Buttercup. As Buttercup rolls away from the hornets, the other hornets saw the opportunity to attack Buttercup and they dived on to her. As the hornets sting the Powerpuff Girl with their stingers, Buttercup realized to her horror that their stingers are piercing through the armor and as the venom is being secreted out from their stinger, it slowly dissolves the bindings of her armor.

"Do you think I would let all my little pretties out to hunt you? They are my sword and my shield." The figure said menacingly as he stood up, his face covered with welts. Buttercup's O.U.T.F.I.T had fully clad her from head to toe to protect her from the rampaging hornets but only just. Buttercup could see in her sensors that the armor is failing, and the hornet venom dissolving the layers of her armor at an exponential rate. As she futilely tried to swat them away, she see that the figure is now walking towards her with a few vials of the mysterious liquid that he threw at her earlier. The figure squats down beside her as she struggled to get the hornets off her,dangling the vials over her to let her see them clearly.

 _Wait till I get these stupid hornets off me, I will kick your ass_ , Buttercup cursed inward as parts of her armor slowly breaks down.

"These little things are pheromones vials, and anyone covered with them will be attacked by my hornets with extreme prejudice until they perish. And my, they do suffer as they perish as the venom from my hornets would feel like several burning red-hot nails being hammered into the groin. After they are done with you, I will let my pretties have their way with the people in the orphanage." The man said with glee as he wheezes. Buttercup's eyes glowed with righteous anger and she immediately screamed out in rage.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She swings one of her arms inwards and a glowing crescent hits the figure in the face, exploding in his face. The hornets immediately stopped attacking Buttercup and surround themselves around their master. Seeing the opportunity, Buttercup rolls away from the hornet master and gets up on her feet. As pieces of her armor drops down on the ground, she knows that the armor will not be able to take much more. Looks like she would have to go all in to get this guy. The smoke from the man's face dissipates to reveal a smiling welted face.

 _He smiled_ , Buttercup said to herself. He just took one of her energy attacks directly to his face, and even the other 'Candyman' that took her attack roared in pain. But this man is smiling, _grinning_ at the blow to his face. The man looked at her and cracks his neck, before cracking his knuckles.

"That felt good, little girl. Now, let me show you what _Zanbur_ can do." With a snap of his fingers, Buttercup is now seeing a sigh unlike anything she had ever seen before.

The hornets are now hovering around him like the rings of Saturn, and he takes several grenades from the straps on his thighs. To her surprise, he takes his knee off the ground and a swarm of hornets flew under it and he steps on to dangle his other leg in mid-air before another swarm hovers under the leg and he steps on it. He slowly ascend above her, and he threw some of the grenades down upon her. Buttercup rolls away as the grenades explodes all around her, and suddenly several beams starts to blast the concrete flooring around her. As she dodges the figure's strafing run, she throws several of her energy crescents at the figure. The hornet swarm however came between her energy crescents and the figure, causing large explosions to erupt in mid-air.

Three beams bolts cuts through the smoke and hits Buttercup in her abdomen, causing a series of explosion that propelled her backwards. Several pieces of her armor to break out and expose her stomach to the elements. Realizing that her stomach is now vulnerable, she throws several more energy scythes at the figure. The scythes made contact with the hornet swarm and created a large smokescreen around the man. As the smoke dissipates, the hornet wrangler noticed that Buttercup is no longer in the courtyard. The hornets around him buzzed with anger, and as they flew in an elliptical pattern around the man. He looked down below him and noticed that several dozen of his hornets are already dead from the green-eyed girl's energy projections. He would need to figure out a way to stop her from killing his primary means of protection. The pain from the blast on his face is still stinging him, but he enjoyed the sensation as it truly made him felt alive.

"Come on green one, is that it? Are you sure you want to run away from me? I will attack the little children if you-" Before he could even finish his sentence, his hornets intercepted another energy blast from behind him, and he turns around to fire several beams at the general location of where the attack came from. Several more of his hornets fell to the ground, scorched by the heat of the energy. The hornet handler smiled, knowing that there is still some fighting spirit within the Powerpuff Girl.

Buttercup on the other hand, is not smiling at all. She is now hiding behind the bushes in the courtyard, and she honestly hated that she need to hide from the figure. She just barely avoided the beams from his machine pistol, and despite her durability she could not take too much of those beams, grenades nor hornets any longer. The grenades and the beams are the least of her concerns, but those are enough to weaken her armor for the hornets to attack her. Seeing how those hornets broke and dissolved her armor, she know that those things will instantly injure or even kill her if they attacked her in one go. As she watches the hovering beastmaster shooting random shots into the building to goad her out, she touches her face armor and pulls her damaged face armor from her face revealing her lime-green eyes.

This villain is tougher than she thought, and his defenses are top-notch. Even Mojo Jojo's robots are not this tough, and the only thing tougher are the aliens that once invaded Townsville that Mojo Jojo defeated with his own bare hands. She honestly wished that the mutated chimpanzee is with her now, as he would be really helpful right now. Those darn hornets are the main problem, and she needs to figure out something fast or else he would turn his attention to the children in a flip of a dime. Buttercup looked around to see what else she could do, and her lime-green eyes suddenly noticed something below the figure. She saw several dead hornets on the ground, scorched and in pieces. Buttercup smiled as she know how those hornets are killed.

 _They are weak against my Booms_ , she thought to herself.

Knowing that the hornets are killed by her projectiles, she wondered how she could kill them all in one go. She got the means in the form of her 'Hurricane' but that would require them to lump themselves into one spot for her to use it. Suddenly her mind that she does have the means. But that means she would need to make herself a target. She weight the risks and the rewards of the situation, and she decided that the risks is worth the rewards. She takes in a deep breath, knowing that this will hurt a lot, and she could be dead in the attempt. She closed her eyes, and let her body relax as she gathers all the energy within her body to go about this particular plan of hers.

In a flash, the green-eyed teenager speeds towards the man, and he fired several beams at her. She dodges the beams easily, and as she comes closer the beast master throws several grenades at her. The grenades detonates in midair, and as she flies through the explosion several pieces of her armor is now breaking apart and falling down on the ground. She continued on, knowing that he would resort to one particular mean of attack. The man grabs several of the pheromone vials and throws it at her, and they break upon contact with her armor, covering her with the liquid. The hornets immediately flies towards her, enraged by the hormones. As the swarm made contact with her and engulfed her, their stings and bites penetrated her skin and armor, the venom of the sting causing an indescribable pain for the Powerpuff Girl. But despite the pain, she is smiling for she is waiting for this exact moment.

Buttercup crosses her arms inwards, causing a large vortex of coruscating lime-green energy to form and sucking in everything within the short vicinity of the spinning maelstrom. The hornets were sucked into the vortex and they burst into green flames as they are caught by the spinning energy vortex. The vortex collapses, causing a large burning inferno to engulf the skies and incinerating the remaining hornets. As the incinerated hornets descended like flaming rain on the ground, Buttercup is now glaring at the man with glowing green eyes despite her hole-riddled armor and large raw swelling wounds from the stings. Buttercup's breathing is labored, for her body is bombarded with the sensation of an indescribable pain to the point where she would pass out from the pain if she did not have such a strong will to kick the person's ass.

"Impressive, very impressive." The hornet wrangler complimented the Powerpuff Girl.

"You are going down now." Buttercup snarled despite her heavy labored breathing, and she is ready to give the man a beating of his lifetime. However the man is now laughing despite the lost of most of his hornets, and this irks the onyx-haired girl to no end. Suddenly the man tears off his face, revealing hornet-like head beneath it. As the antennae of the aberration rises up, the multiple black compound eyes of the being with yellow irises are now looking at Buttercup. Its orange mandible started to move and to Buttercup's horror and disgust, it started speaking.

"Do you honestly believe that I got nothing up my sleeves?" The man tears off the skin on his torso piece by piece until his torso reveals an insect-like exoskeleton shaped like human musculature that alternates between bands of dark red and a yellow-orange hue. Behind his back, two pairs of membranous wings are held together by small hooks and the forewings are larger than the hind ones. They started beating and the overwhelming buzzing sound of the beating wings hurts Buttercup's ear as well as those newscasters still reporting. The remaining hornet swarms leaves the feet of the hornet-like being and are now encircling over his head, giving him the appearance of an angel with a halo.

Buttercup suddenly noticed that he is no longer in her sights and before she could even react,she felt a sudden concussion behind her head and she crashed down on the concrete pavement. Her mouth is now bleeding from the sides and she turned up only to receive another crushing stomp in her stomach. The hornet mutant picks her up by grabbing her neck with his slowly shedding arms and looks at her with an unnatural stare that scares the soul as he chokes her. Buttercup stares at the being with contempt and shot her eye beams at his compound eyes. The blast caused the mutant to let her go on the ground as it clicks angrily. She gives him her hardest double kick at his chest causing him to crash into the orphanage. Buttercup coughs as she tried to relieve the pressure from her neck.

The mutant rises from the ruins and to Buttercup's horror,he got Annabelle in his arms, and the little girl's arms are now trembling as she hold on to the grenade. He walks towards the Powerpuff Girl and stops short of an arm's length from her. Knowing that the fiend will stop at nothing, Buttercup is paralyzed by the fear of what he will do to Annabelle.

"How low can you go?" The Lunatic said as he suddenly opened fire to Buttercup's legs Buttercup cried out in pain as she buckled and dropped on her knees. Buttercup gritted her teeth as the laser beam hit the raw parts of her flesh,causing it to sizzle. Buttercup groans in excruciating pain before he grabs Buttercup's leg with one of his arms.

"Yes, that sounds rather nice isn't it? Now let's see if I can make your screaming pitch sound even higher." The figure kneels down and he dig one of his thumbs into her open wound. Buttercup's body went into shock, and she is unable to scream out from the pain that reaches straight to her bone. Before her mind even registers the pain, the fiend then shots Buttercup's left arm, destroying the damaged armor and scorching her skin. Buttercup's suffering is such that her eyes are now flowing with tears, but her face is utterly paralyzed in a catatonic expression. The little girl is now crying her heart out as the mutant shot every limb of the Powerpuff Girl. The pain finally registering in her mind, the Powerpuff Girl is now gritting her teeth, not wanting to give the sadist any satisfaction in torturing her. The combined pain from both the hornet venom, laser beams and the thumb digging into her wounds are taking a toll on her body.

"Hm...this is boring. Time to play a new game." The fiend said in a bored voice.

Suddenly he threw the little girl up and as Buttercup watches Annabelle stalled in mid-air, the fiend shoots the pig-tailed girl. The shot grazed her shoulder, causing her to let go of the grenade. Buttercup eyes opened wide in shock and anguish and she wanted to scream, but her throat is now allowing her. A choking whimpering sound is all that Buttercup could muster as she reached her hands upwards to Annabelle. As her eyes starts to blur, she cursed her weakness and she hoped that somehow, something or someone would help save little Annabelle from her fate.


	21. Chapter 21: Goddess Of The Storm

Chapter 21: Goddess of the Storm

"Hey asshole!"

The hornet mutant turned around to see an electric blue pillar slamming into his face and propels him into another section of the wall in the orphanage. In midst of this confusion, Buttercup saw a blur stepping on a small electric blue pole of some kind and launches itself towards the little girl and the grenade. The figure spins in the air and the electricblye object that the blur is holding hits the grenade . With a metallic cracking sound,the grenade is launched up towards the sky, and the little girl disappeared into the blur. The primed grenade immediately blew up, lighting up the dark moonless sky. The explosion jolted Buttercup from her limbo of consciousness and unconsciousness, causing her eyes to focus once more and looked at what caused this sudden turn of events. As her eyes readjusted itself, she saw a figure holding the little girl with one arm while the other arm is holding an electric blue baseball bat made out of electrical energy. Buttercup recognizes the person as her mind registered the black hoodie with blue flames and his sand-blonde hair and bright sapphire eyes.

"Boomer?" Buttercup's voice cracked with surprise and her eyes are now flowing with tears.

"I'm honored." Boomer puts the little girl down and he looks at the little girls blue eyes with his own blue eyes.

"Alright kiddo, I want you to hide okay? Don't come out until big sis calls you alright?" The little girl nods, and runs towards the bushes. He then walks towards the Powerpuff Girl and lifts her up with one of his hands. Despite her injuries, she managed to stand up.

"What the heck are you doing here Boomer?" Buttercup asked the Rowdyruff Boy, her perplexed look is obviously something the sand-blonde teenage boy expected to see.

"Saw the news and came by as soon as I could." He gives Buttercup a cheeky smile before he looks away to find where the bug-like opponent went off to.

As Boomer scanned his surroundings, he saw the devastation of the battle between Buttercup and the hornet-like monster and Boomer readied his two Battlers for any incoming attack. Suddenly both Buttercup and Boomer heard a very loud buzzing sound to see that the figure emerged from the rubble within the orphanage. Seeing that the aberration is still alive, Buttercup stares at the mutant with hateful eyes.

"Ah, a Rowdyruff Boy. How surprising." The figure's voice is slurry and shaky and it seems that the concussion from Boomer's Battlers had managed to stun the insect-like man to a certain degree.

"Well I am just full of surprises." Boomer said. The hornet-like man immediately fired upon the Rowdyruff Boy, causing him to dodge away and in response he threw his energy baseball bat at the monster. The aberration dodges the attack and the bat hits a section of the orphanage.

"Be careful, the hostages are still inside the building!" Buttercup yelled. Boomer did not even have the time to respond to the injured Powerpuff Girl as he dodged a few more beam bolts speeding past him. Boomer watches as the flying insect is moving in an erratic and unpredictable manner. However as with everything in life, Boomer knew that sooner or later the randomness will come back to a particular sequence that will make sense. Several more beams and grenades were thrown at Boomer, but Boomer dodges them skillfully while never averting his gaze away.

Boomer is now scanning the movements of the hornet and found what he was looking for. Boomer immediately threw his energy baseball at an empty spot in the courtyard with all his might. To Buttercup's surprise, Boomer managed to hit the face of the hornet-like being, causing one of his eyes to be blown out. Boomer gives an approving smile as he managed to nail his opponent in the eye. However, the injured monster managed to aim two of the beam machine pistols at the sand-blonde teenager and opened fire at full automatic at the same time Boomer destroyed his eye. Boomer's reactions are not fast enough for him to dodge the counterattack. All the beam bolts hits Boomer flat in the chest and he was propelled back towards Buttercup. Buttercup dodges the incoming Rowdyruff Boy and finds himself crashing on the concrete surface, causing the concrete to crack. Buttercup watched in horror as the chest of the Rowdyruff Boy is on fire, but the Rowdyruff Boy gets up as if it was just a flesh wound.

"God damn it, and this is my favorite hoodie!" Boomer cried out loud, and he pats the flames until they disappeared. Despite his outwardly jovial appearance, Buttercup noticed that something is wrong with the sand-blonde teenager. He is particularly pale, and the teenager is drenched in cold sweat. His bleeding lips are quivering as he smiled, and immediately Buttercup pulls his arm away and looks at his chest. What greeted her eyes is the particularly raw chest wounds, the new scars on his chest are overlapping with the pinkish scars of his previous injuries. Realizing that Buttercup is looking at his chest, the blue-eyed teenager smiled with a guilty smile on his face.

"My chest must be that hot if you are looking at them like that." Boomer tried to joke it off, but Buttercup is not falling for it.

"Boomer, you're not healed yet!" Buttercup cried out. The breathing of the Rowdyruff Boy is much more labored than before, and Buttercup knew that it must have hurt the Rowdyruff Boy bad.

"Hell yes, I'm not healed. But what can I say? I'm an idiot." Boomer tried to laugh it off, but he soon hissed in pain as he grits his teeth. No point lying to the Powerpuff Girl, he thought. This is the exact reason why Brick had told him not to get out and fight. Right now, based on a percentage system on how alright he is, he scored at a solid seventy percent. His arm may be healed, but the scars on his chest are something else entirely. The beams from the Candyman that he fought the other day has a particular property that prevented his regeneration from healing quickly, and now with this new blasts on his chest, it would take him even longer to heal. Suddenly Boomer heard several incoming projectiles that are unlike the beams nor the hornets that he had used so far. Without any hesitation, Boomer jumped at Buttercup and pushed the Powerpuff Girl aside. Boomer felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he lands down on the floor with his body.

"BOOMER!" Buttercup cried as she noticed three large black needles impaled itself in Boomer's shoulders. Buttercup was about to grab on the needles before Boomer grabbed her arm in turn.

"DON'T PULL THEM OUT!" The Rowdyruff yelled in pain. Boomer knew that the wounds in his shoulders are large wounds, and pulling them out would cause severe blood loss.

"You will pay...I will sting you all to death!" Both superpowered teenager turned their attention towards their opponent's voice and are now faced with a particularly intimidating sight. The hornet-like being looked at them with his mangled face, and one can sense the unbridled anger and fury that the being has towards the Powerpuff Girl and the Rowdyruff Boy. The insect-like mutant is now holding an orb in each arm, and several dozen large black needles are floating around the orbs like a flower. Suddenly the arms of the aberration splits apart and the aberration now has two pairs of arms, and the other two arms reached for the machine pistols around its waist. A loud buzzing can be heard, and a swarm of hornets are now surrounding the hornet aberration in an elliptical orbit around the being.

"Where the hell did those weapons came from?!" Buttercup exclaimed her disbelief, but the corner of her eye noticed that the needles embedded Boomer's shoulder detached themselves and floats back to take its place among the dozens of black needles floating around the orbs. Boomer yelled out in pain as the blood sprayed out from his shoulder like a geyser.

"Ah shit...I am bleeding." Boomer's weakened reaction surprised even himself. The teenager's face is now paler than before, making him ghost-like in appearance.

"You ruined my face...Everything dies in seven minutes." A wheezing, gravelly voice informed them, its voice filled with anger and malice as the beeping countdown sound of timers suddenly ringed in the ears of the superhumans. Buttercup's mind is now shocked beyond compare at the monster's declaration and knew that he had just primed the bombs to explode. Boomer's heightened super senses noticed that the orbs are generating a particular kind of energy that he is familiar with surrounding the orb and the black needles.

 _Electromagnetism_ , Boomer said in his mind as he realized what the energy is. Before he could even warn her about the properties of the black needles, the figure puts the two orbs near each other, and the needles propelled themselves with great speed towards the two teenagers. As Buttercup and Boomer dodged the attack, the figure opened fire with each laser machine pistol and sprayed the areas where they are dodging to. Buttercup rolls away from the incoming fire while Boomer is deflecting the laser bolts with his energy baseball bats back at the insect-like monstrosity. The being shot back at the bolts causing several mid-air explosions, before the swarm of hornets penetrates the smoke from the explosion to seek and destroy his opponents.

"God damn it!" Boomer said as he flips in midair while the hornets crashed to the ground before flying upwards to trace the Rowdyruff Boy. He spins in mid-air to dodge a few of the black needles which passes him barely. Buttercup herself is not faring very well either as she was deflecting the needles with her arms, barely avoiding them from impaling her arms or other parts of her body. She threw several more of her energy crescents at the incoming hornets, causing some of the hornets to disperse while the others are incinerated.

"Any bright ideas Boomer?" Buttercup yelled at the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Just one, but I would suggest you get out from here. Go and get Father Maxwell and the kids out!" Boomer shouted back.

Buttercup nods and speeds into the orphanage. Seeing that they are splitting up, the monster aims its needles at Buttercup. Buttercup saw the needles and the beam machine pistol aiming at her, and as the needles and the bolts of beam fire speeds up towards her, she realize that she could not dodge it time. However a large number pillars of lightning strikes down in the space between Buttercup and the hornet-like being causing the beam to dissipate and the needles to be struck down. Buttercup looks up to see where the lightning is coming from and realizes that there is a large dome of lightning forming above the courtyard and covering where Boomer and the fiend are standing. The figure turns his attention towards the blue-eyed teenager, whose eyes are now glowing with an electric blue.

"Nope, you're playing with me." Boomer said weakly and winks at the direction of the Powerpuff Girl. Despite his paling complexion, the boy gives Buttercup a thumbs up. Knowing that he is essentially buying time for her to do her thing, Buttercup nods and puts her trust at the blue-eyed teenager.

Buttercup speeds towards the dining hall where the hostages are being held and she stop short of entering into the dining area which is now lighting up with the emergency lights. She scans the area and with her array of super sight, she spots several sensors and also plastic explosive being planted on the ceiling and also the foundation pillars within the dining hall. Any wrong move and the ceiling would explode and bury the children and the staff under several tons of rubble. To make it worse, the sensors are planted on the walls and also the entrance, thereby eliminating the two easiest means of rescuing the hostage. The sound of sobbing children echoed throughout the dining room, and Buttercup tried to put on a smile to assure the children that everything will be fine.

"Alright guys, I'm here to save you. Everything will be alright." Buttercup said with a soft and reassuring voice. However her wounds are such that the children are now crying even harder. Seeing their beloved friend being hurt to such an extent is unbearable for the children, and the cryibg only grew louder and more anguished.

"My child...What happened to you?" A bespectacled man stands up and speaks to the Powerpuff Girl, and Buttercup recognize him as the priest that takes care of this orphanage.

"Father Maxwell, thank god you're alright!" Buttercup's voice choked a little as she exclaimed her relief.

"God always watches us all. Where is the bandaged man?"

"You mean hornet monster. Boomer is holding hin at bay, but I got only...six minutes before this place blows up."

"My child, what can I do to help?" The father asked, hoping that whatever he could do would alleviate the situation that they are facing and also giving Buttercup the help that she needs to save them children of the orphanage. Buttercup takes another deep breath before she speaks once more with Father Maxwell, knowing that the priest's observation will make or break her plans.

"I need you to tell me where the wires to the bombs are so that I can use my eye beams to cut the wires. My vision can only detect the heat from the bombs and also generally large items. I can't see the wires since they are mixed up with the rest of the wiring in this room. I will then make a hole in the wall to get you guys out. It is the only way that I can get you guys out." Buttercup asked with a great amount of urgency in her voice, but she is trying to keep a calm tone as to not panic the children even more than necessary.

"Alright child, I will see what I can do." The father looks at the sensor wires and noticed that the wires are of different thickness and of the same color. The man of the church also noticed several items that looked out of place and his face froze in horror as he realized where the vials are located.

"What's wrong Father Maxwell?" Buttercup realized the priest is very silent and some color faded from his skin.

"They have several vials of silver liquid in here on the bombs attached to some wires. I think they are mercury." The father's voice is filled with a sense of dread that immediately pierced through the green-eyed Powerpuff Girl's heart. Her heart dropped as she realized that the situation have gone from bad to worse. Buttercup would want to scream out loud and thrash the place, but right now that is neither productive nor necessary. Buttercup cursed under he breath, making sure that the children did not hear her.

She heard about these kinds of bombs from the cops before, those bombs that are made to be sensitive to any motion. With any movement on the bomb, it will blow up sky high, and Buttercup knows that she is not the most delicate among her sisters. She can never pull off what Bubbles or even Blossom do when it comes to fine motor movement actions, and she cursed in her mind once more. She is now uncertain about how she could get them all out in one piece. Anything she could do would trigger something. Her mind is now in a fritz, as her mind literally stopped thinking for a moment and the pressure of the situation dawned upon her. And to make it worse, the cops and the bomb disposal square are now being held hostage by the fiend's ally. She can hear the battle between Boomer and the hornet monstrosity is becoming more and more intense, and she knew that she does not have a lot of time left. She can hear Boomer is running short on his breath and he got only approximately three minutes before he collapses from blood loss.

Her thought is holding on to the concept of time. Why is she holding on the concept of time? Surely she does not have the time to hold on to a thought if it does not help her save these people. Her mind is caging her thoughts about time as if it is holding it in a box, and as she cursed her mind for being square, something in her mind clicked once more. Time and square. Time and square. Her mind then clicked once more and she remembered Professor Utonium. Why is she thinking of these three concepts at once? It does not make any sense, as this had nothing to do with the children. Her mind clings on another element, and now she has to content with four things in her mind; time, square, Professor Utonium and children. She wished that she would not hold on these thoughts like how Mojo Jojo would keep on rambling on the same thing over and over again. She needs to move her thoughts out from there, and not hold on to past concepts. Suddenly it all clicked in Buttercup's mind. Buttercup frantically checks if her communication link in her helmet is still operational. After making sure that it is operational, she immediatelh opened the communications channel with the only person that can help: Professor Utonium.

"Professor, Professor, can you hear me?" Buttercup called Professor Utonium, hoping that Professor Utonium had what she hoped he did not throw away. As she waited for the professor to call back, she hoped that the fates would not abandon her and the people in the orphanage at their time of greatest need.

"Buttercup! Thank god! Your vitals are getting worse! And your communications array is rather hazy!" The professor speaks to her with a tone bordering on mania, relief and fear.

"No time to lose Professor! Do you still have that time portal from when we were kids during Parent Career Day where Mojo Jojo jumped into the time portal and tried to change the past?" Buttercup asked frantically, knowing that she does not have the time to converse with him about the tiny unimportant things. Professor Utonium instinctively answered the Powerpuff Girl, but his voice is utterly dumbfounded by the request of the Powerpuff Girl.

"Yes, I do Buttercup, but why?" Buttercup turns on the life video feed from her intact eyepiece shows the professor the room with sensors, explosives and hostages in it. The professor gasped as he saw the bombs strapped to the ceiling of the room.

"Open the portal to this particular time when I am talking to you and aim it at the orphanage's dining hall! And get that big pincer thing to grab these people out in five minutes! NOW!" Buttercup basically roared and the Professor's line is now silent and several scrounging sounds could be heard. Within seconds, the professor is now speaking to Buttercup once more.

"Buttercup, I would need you to distract whatever it is that can disrupt me from getting these people out. Do you understand me?" The professor's voice is calm, but there is a sense of urgency and importance in his voice. Buttercup nods her head and stand guard over the entrance as her ears picked on the familiar wavy sound of the time portal being prepared and tuned to the intended time period. Suddenly Buttercup sees a glowing swirling ripple in the room, and the children in the room screamed out in terror. A pincer-like object comes out from the portal, and the children are trying to stay back from the object. Realizing that the children are afraid, Buttercup turns around and tries to assure the little children with a calm and reassuring voice, but they are far too scared to even take notice.

"Guys, it's alright. Its the professor with his Time Portal. He's come to take you out from this place."

"I'm scared!" One of the little children cried out, and the rest are now sniffing, sobbing or crying out loud. It was then that Father Maxwell decided to speak to the children. The priest hugs one of the children, a little boy with red hair and freckles on his cheek and pats his head.

"Boys, girls. I know you are scared, as we all are. Buttercup has never hurt or lie to you before, right?" The little boys and little girls nod in agreement, though the sniffing sound and sobbing sounds are still being heard.

"So please children, trust Buttercup as you had always trust her. Especially in this time of darkness." The bespectacled man said with a nurturing voice, and seeing that the children are a little more calmer, he carries the redheaded child and hooks him on the pincer. He hugs the little child and gives the little child a kiss on his forehead before the pincer pulls the little child into the portal.

"I got something!" Professor Utonium cried out in Buttercup's headset, and Buttercup and the rest of the hostages endured a tense moment before the communication link in Buttercup's head comes back online once more.

"I got the little child! It's okay little boy, everything's gonna be alright..." Buttercup is relieved that Professor Utonium had gotten one of the children. Buttercup decides to take out her cell phone and called the professor's number. The phone call was picked up, and the Professor's voice can be heard.

"Buttercup, what's going on? Did your communications link broke down?" The concerned voice of the professor can be heard over the live voicefeed. Buttercup takes in a deep breath. Her heart is glad that her random memories and her quick thinking had succeed, and she thanked the heavens above for allowing these people to experience the mercy that they so deserve on this earth. She then breathe out and then started to speak with the professor.

"Professor, right now I need you to talk to Father Maxwell. He is the priest managing the orphanage, and you two would need to coordinate the efforts to evacuate everyone. Boomer needs my help." Buttercup said to her father figure, and several moments of silence between father and daughter were observed before the Professor speaks again.

"Alright Buttercup. Please come back home." Professor Utonium said, his voice heavy with concern and his love for Buttercup.

"I will Professor. Father Maxwell, I will leave the phone here at the entrance with the loudspeaker on for you to coordinate with the Professor alright?" Buttercup turned around and watches the gray-eyed man looking at her with a smile.

Knowing that the evacuation is in safe hands, Buttercup turns around to engage back in the fight. Suddenly a voice called her, and she turned around to see Father Maxwell looking at her with determined eyes.

"Kick that asshole's butt for me." The priest grinned as he said his request to the Powerpuff Girl. The other staff and the children gasped, for they had never heard the priest ever cursed before.

Buttercup's initial surprise at the priest swearing soon turned to a wide grin, and she gives him a thumbs up before speeding off to the courtyard once more. As the portal returned once more, Father Maxwell gives her a thumbs up and proceed to coordinate with the professor.

"Professorn Utonium? This is Father Maxwell, I need to know how many people can your portal carry?"

"I can pull everyone out if everyone holds on tightly in one chain." Professor Utonium answered the priest.

"Alright people, we will be evacuating the children first, followed by the rest of us. Is that clear?" Father Maxwell's voice boomed as he commanded the staff to help with the evacuations.

Buttercup smiled for once throughout this night, as she heard the voice of Father Maxwell coordinating the evacuation. As she enter into the courtyard, she noticed that it is now raining at the courtyard alone, and she saw that the hornet is now gaining an upper hand against the blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy. He looks really messed up as she saw that he got several grazes, stings and burned clothing. As compared to Boomer, the being appears to not be severely affected, and she realized that she would need to enter into the fray once more to turn the tide of battle.

"Boomer, tag out!" Buttercup cries out as she dashes towards the pillars of lightning.

Boomer heard Buttercup's voice and knowing what to do, he flies towards her. As both of them reached the pillar of lightning, their arms reached out for each other . The pillar of lightning opened up for a brief moment before Buttercup grabbed the hand of the Rowdyruff Boy and threw him out while she entered into the cage of lightning. As she stopped in her tracks and the lightning pillar closes once more, she looked at the aberration once more.

"Well, keeping this lightning cage while fighting and dodging sure is tiring." Boomer said to her weakly as her back faces him.

"Keep this cage up no matter what. I am going to end this now." Buttercup said as she clenched her fist.

"What do you think you can do, green one?" The man-hornet boasts as he aims his weapons at the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"Kick your ass." The Powerpuff Girl is now looking at him with enraged eyes, and as her eyes glowed the gale of wind slowly builds up within the lightning cage. Boomer could even feel the gust of wind slowly sucking into the cage and the fragments from the battle at the courtyard are now being pulled into the lightning cage. As the Powerpuff Girl walks towards the hornet aberration, several pillars lime-green gust of wind appeared from the center of the lightning cage and the gales are sl strong that some of the lightning from the cage is being pulled into the vortex. The man-hornet fires his beam bolts and needles at Buttercup, but to his surprise the beams and projectiles are sucked into the vortex. As the gale pillars slowly combines together, the hornets are also sucked into the vortex and the hornet wrangler realized that he needs to stay way from the vortex. His wings are now beating frantically to resist the pull of the vortex ,but suddenly the man-hornet's wings are ripped out from his body and he was also pulled into the vortex.

"Oh crap, it's a tornado!" Boomer cried out as Boomer struggled to keep his footing and he jams one of his Battlers into the concrete pavement. Due to his lightning cage field, the damage to the surrounding buildings are not as deeply affected, though the glass in the surrounding windows slowly cracked due to the wind pressure. Several explosions could be seen and heard within the vortex, and as Boomer watched, the flashes of the silhouette of Buttercup fighting the man-hornet can be seen with every flash of lightning and explosion. It was then that Boomer noticed that the winds are blowing so strongly that his face is being cut by the pressurized winds. As his droplets of blood entered into the vortex that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Buttercup pummels her fist at the hornet-like being with all her might as the storm rages on, each punch cracking his carapace armor like cracks in a porcelain plate. Soon enough she could see the blood of the being slipping out from the cracks and his mandibles, but Buttercup did not stop her onslaughts of blows. With each punch, she caused further injuries to the man-hornet but at the same time her gauntlets are also cracking under the pressure of the blows. With each blow, the cracks on both the carapace and her gauntlets grew and grew until at last both are broken into fragments. But Buttercup kept on pummeling on with her fists, and the bone-crunching sound of her blows are now audible even amidst the roaring blows of the wind. Her fists started to bleed and as she went on, her eyes are now filled with tears of rage. The energy within her fists builds up to such an extent that her fist are now glowing with a radiant lime green before finally with a chopping right, she punched the man-hornet with all her remaining might.

Suddenly the lightning barrier is broken by a pillar or whirling winds and it slams upon the ground like a strike from an enraged god. The storm continued to burrow downwards and the winds slowly funnel out from within the cage to the particular focal point on the ground. Before long the storm slowly dissipates, and the fragments that were sucked by the storm dropped down on the concrete floor. Boomer barely dodged several of the larger debris sucked by the swirling vortex, and as he turned towards the slowly dissipating lightning cage and swirling tornado, he sees a figure coming out from the eye of the storm. Buttercup's armor is now mostly ripped out, leaving only some parts of her body covered and her bleeding fists, revealing her Olympian-like physique for the world to see. As Boomer watches her take her steps towards the hole created by the tornado, she leans forward and looks down into the hole. Boomer decided to trail behind her and as he took a peek, he saw the limbs of the fiend twisted beyond comprehension and the figure bludgeoned to such an extent that he is almost unrecognizable, lying stiffly on the ground.

 _Truly she is a goddess of the storm_ , Boomer thought to himself as he saw her damaged but still amazingly elegant face looking down with teary eyes filled with vengeance. Her femininity, tenacity and ferocity are visible, and somehow Boomer thought that this image of a warrior goddess fits Buttercup the most.

"Buttercup? Buttercup? Can you hear me?! I've managed to get almost everyone out with only a minute to spare but they told me that one of the children is missing!"

"Annabelle! Where are you?"

Buttercup immediately remembered about Annabelle, and she cried out her name. As the time slowly reaches the detonation time, Buttercup's voice is becoming more frantic as she called out for the little girl. Suddenly Buttercup heard the crying sound of the little girl and burst towards the source of the sound. Behind the bushes, she saw the little blue-eyed girl squatting and shivering from fear. Knowing that there isn't much time left, she grabbed her with her arms and started running toward the gates.

"We need to get out from here now!" Buttercup cried out and Boomer remembered that the place is rigged to explode. Both teenagers struggled to move as fast as they could with their feet, before they realized that they could just jump out with a single leap. As they both jumped over the gate, the whole building detonated with a large explosion, sending masonry and other debris upwards towards the sky before it rained down on the streets, buildings and vehicles around the orphanage.

"Shit...that was close!" Boomer said as he feebly tries to get up.

"Too close." Buttercup said, her strength finally leaving her body. Before ahe coukd even breathe a sight of relief, a figure rises from the flames and Buttercup's heart immediately started beating frantically. The man-hornet is now floating over the flames.

"Shit..." Buttercup's body had finally refused to heed her instructions and she cursed at her weakness. However, Boomer noticed something bizarre about the way the man-hornet is hvering over the flames and how lifeless the figure is.

"Wait...he's unconscious." Boomer noticed that the figure is floating limply over the flames.

"If he is unconscious, how is he able to float?" Buttercup asked in disbelief.

Suddenly the villain's body is shrouded by a reddish pink fog, and to both Buttercup's and Boomer's surprise, a waist-length braided brunette woman with a khaki beret and a sleeveless dark blue sweater top appeared beside the monster's limp body. As the woman looks down upon them, Boomer noticed the cross-shaped scar on her cheek, and her sky-blue eyes and his cobalt-blue eyes met.

" _Petit Bleu_..." The braided brunette said to him as she hovers above the flames.

"You!" Boomer said with shock at seeing the woman before him. The woman smiled at him and waved before carrying the unconscious monster on her back. Both figures disappeared in a fog of reddish pink and as the fog dissipates, Buttercup stared at Boomer.

"Who the heck is that?" Buttercup asked before she collapsed on her knees from the fatigue with Annabelle in her arms. This particular interaction is something she did not expect at all, and despite her tired and injured body, she needs to know what is going on.

"Trouble." Boomer joined her and sits down on the floor beside her. Boomer is glad that the lady did nt pick a fight with them. knowing that they were fortunate enough to not have to fight the scarred woman right after their hard-won victory. Suddenlt he felt a weight lying on his shoukd and as he turned around, he saw that the raven-haired girl with the green eyes is lying her head down on his shoulder.

"Don't get any funny ideas, pretty boy. I am just tired and you're the only thing i can lean on." Buttercup warns the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Whatever you say Ma'am." Knowing that they are all losing their strength, Boomer also leans his head on Buttercup's head. Honestly Boomer thought that if it were not for their stupidly severe injuries, this would be a rather nice thing to experience. It is not everyday that you get a girl to rest her heads on your shoulders. It does not matter that she is leaning on his injured shoulder,for the pain is worth it. However their struggles are not over yet as the reporters and news crew soon surrounded the two two very exhausted and injured teenagers. As they are about to aim their cameras at them, Buttercup roared at them with her last ounce of strength,lifting her head off his shoulders for a moment.

"For fuck's sake, get us medical attention first will you!?" The reporters and the news crew immediately stayed a good fifteen feet away from them at all directions. Buttercup leans back on Boomer's shoulders, too tired to even bother readjusting her body angle. Before long, to the relief of the superpowered teenagers, their hearing picks up on the voices of the medical personnel rushing towards them to provide the necessary medical attention that they need.

"Sweet mother of mercy...Put these two supers into the ambulance and bring them to Professor Utonium's lab!" The paramedics called out as the two teenagers and the little girl are put onto stretchers. Boomer looks at Buttercup before she answered weakly.

"We're special...only Professor Utonium know how to treat our injuries. So Townsville paramedics are always trained to stabilize us girls as they bring us back home." Boomer's mouth opened with a silent 'Ah' before he lied down and look up. As the stretchers are being lifted into the ambulance, both superhuman beings are silent for a while before Buttercup broke the silence.

"Seriously, what kind of knight in shining armor are you? Asking the damsel in distress to beat the crap out of the dragon..." Buttercup asked the Rowdyruff Boy, her voice as soft and gentle as a night's gentle breeze.

"The knight in shining armor that became the distraction for the damsel to kick the dragon's ass." Boomer answered weakly but cheekily. There was a silence between the two before both of them chuckled weakly.

"You suck Boomer." Buttercup said with a jest.

"Well laughter's the best medicine." Bommer answered before he chuckled.

Suddenly both teenagers are now relieving themselves from the stress and trauma of their injuries and harrowing experience by laughing out loud, knowing that their body are finally succumbing to the injuries and the least they could do to distract themselves from the pain and suffering by laughing it all away. The medical staff entered into the vehicle and closed the hatch doors to the ambulance and immediately started treating the laughing and severely injured teenagers. The ambulance immediately left the scene with blaring sirens.

Unknown by the people below them, a malicious red-dressed figure with pincers for arms watches in glee with its emerald-green eyes as it sits in the skies above with crossed legs and arms. Him cackles diabolically before fading away in a reddish-pink fog.


	22. Chapter 22: Basic Instinct

Chapter 22: Basic Instinct

[Outside the Townsville Police Department, Downtown Townsville, Townsville: 10.30pm]

Blossom is now watching the police station from afar as barging into a building filled with armed hoodlums and superpowered brutes is not the wisest thing to do. If the information that she got, it appears that the person leading the Townsville Police Department could be one of the leaders of the 'Red Candy' ring. She looked as the reporters are now reporting outside the police station. Never in Blossom's life would she expect a villain to attack the police and take them hostage. Suddenly she noticed that the entrance to the rooftop of the police station is armed men came out from the door carrying several body bags walked towards the edge of the rooftop. One of the criminals took out a loudspeaker and spoke through it.

"Testing, testing one, two, three. Alright, you newscasters below, you wanted a headline right? Well we don't need dead officers, so you can go ahead and film these instead." To Blossom's horror, the individuals started to unzip the baggs, showing the bullet-ridden and bodies and threw them off the rooftops towards the news channel vans. As each one of the corpses crashed on the vehicles, Blossom looked away in disgust. No one should be treated to such indignities after death, Blossom thought.

"Anyway, if we run out of dead police officers, we will start throwing lives ones. So stay tune for the latest developments!" The man speaking through the loudspeaker laughed a little before he raises his hand and makes a circular motion. The criminals then walks away from the edge of the rooftop and entered back into the rooftop door.

Blossom knew that time is of the essence, and she figured that the best way to enter the premise is by literally entering through the front door. She presses the button on her belt and as her battle regalia envelops her, she knew that this would be a very messy fight. She floats down towards the newscasters, and she tries to avoid looking at the mangled corpses on the vehicles. The news reporters immediately swarmed the Powerpuff Girl and bombarding her with questions. However, she is not interested to take notice of the questions nor answering any of them. Right now, she needs to figure out how to get out of this situation with the least amount of casualties on the hostage side.

The copper-haired girl noticed that there is a gap between the area where the news crew are now situated and the police department. Blossom assumed that from the bullet-ridden floor and the blood trails, this must be the no-man's land established by the assailants of the police department. As she walk into the no-man's land, several armed individuals popped out from the windows and started firing at her with their assault rifles and machine guns. The news reporters duck for cover, but Blossom is just walking through the area as if it is just a stroll in the park. She decided that these crooks would need to chill out.

The ground below slowly freezes over forming stalagmites as a circle of coldness appear around her. As it slowly radiates out in a circle around her, the bullets shatters at it enters into the radius turning into dust. The ground below her started to crack exponentially as the ground freezes from her powers. As the criminals wonder what is going on, the ground finally relented under the pressure and exploded causing large chunks of the road to slam into the windows and walls. The slabs slammed into the windows and walls with such force that a cloud of debris burst forth from the impact. Blossom walked up the steps as it freezes and she entered into where the entrance of the police department was once located. As she entered into the gap, several of the armed criminals fired their guns at her. Suddenly a pillar of cold mist surrounds her and everything that touches the pillar of mist disintegrates into shards of ice. The crooks retreated and Blossom walks forward with an eerily calm, tranquil expression.

By breathing outwardly in a non-focused manner, she can radiate a column of absolute zero within a radius of fifteen meters that would not recognize friend from foe. Due to its dangerous nature, she tend to use her ice breath instead as it can be aimed and focused rather than radiating it in such a manner. However, in this situation, she knew that she need all the defense that she could get, and freezing anything that comes her way is the best possible defense. Nonetheless, Blossom does not want to hurt anyone if possible, and she would rather let the criminals run for their lives rather than to be hurt by her powers. But if the need is such, she would make sure that they will never hurt anyone ever again.

One of the crooks puts something in his mouth, and Blossom watches for the first time the transformation of a Candyman. The extremely muscled and veined brute charges towards her, and for the sake of the poor crook, she decided to just make the ground outside her deadly radius to be really slippery. With a single stomp, the trail of freezing ice passes directly in the path of the brute and causes the brute to slip into a bunch of criminals. With a wave of her arm, she enclosed the brute and the crooks in a box of ice. The brute tried to break out from the box but to no avail. As the other crooks look at her, Blossom's pink eyes are staring at them like a cold and unforgiving tundra. The criminals felt a chill down their spine as she looked into their souls. Their cold sweat turned to icicles and their breaths are now vapors as she walked pass them.

"What are you waiting for! Fire! Fire! Fire!" One of the voice shouted, and the rest of the criminals fired upon her. Blossom walks into the base unchallenged as the crooks's weapons and projectile freezes, while the floor is slippery enough that the crook started to fall down and unable to get up. In addition, the sudden drop in the temperatures also causes some of the criminals to shudder uncontrollably as their body loses their heat and icicles start to form in their hair and eyebrows. Some of the crooks are now throwing grenades at Blossom but Blossom decided to fire at the grenades with her eye beams. The grenades exploded in mid-air and seeing such display of power,the crooks are soon retreating deeper and deeper into the police department.

 _That will make my life easier_ , Blossom said coldly to herself as she realized that they are essentially herding themselves to a corner. She passed through the police station and saw that the assault on the police station is a violent one, several rooms with scorched marks, blood and bullet holes. The path she took stank with the smell of human blood and pieces of organs are still visible in the room, and she finds it disgusting. No one should die such horrible deaths, she thought.

As she finds the staircase to go to the next floor, she was ambushed by several criminals firing their weapons. However their weapons are not effective as the spherical no-man's zone of her powers prevented anything from hurting her. She sighed before she spreads the freezing aura throughout the staircase and suddenly she heard many people slipping down the stairs. Although she wanted to pity them, but right now she is tasked with a job; to flush out the vermin from this hallowed sanctum of law and order.

"BRING IN THE RPGS DAMN IT!" Blossom heard one of the crooks shouted, and she comes face to face with several men with rocket propelled grenades aiming at her. She sighed before the criminals fired the RPGs at her. She ducks down on the floor and let the projectiles fly over as they freeze. The frozen missiles dropped down on the floor behind her and spins on the floor away from her before they explode. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she realized that they had figured out how to bypass her defenses. If the warheads of the projectiles have a delayed fuse, the projectile will still explode even after she freezes them over.

 _Looks like I have to internalize the ice_ , she thought. By breathing inwardly in a focused manner with her ice powers, she allow her body to reach absolute zero and anything she touches freezes. However she could only keep this form for a few minutes at most, as the cells of her body will break apart from prolonged exposure to absolute zero temperatures. The radius of the freezing shrinks and her color palette turned a lighter shade. Her long flowing copper hair turned into a pale shade of pink copper while her pink eyes and fair skin are now almost translucent. She dashes before jumping up and did a drop kick on several of them. As her leg made contact with them, any part of their body that made contact with her body started to freeze. Some of the armed assailants are now screaming in pain as she made her landing. She turns towards them and one of them with the frozen arm swings his frozen arm at her. She raises her leg up in an upward kick to kick his arm away and the man's arm started cracking at the impact of her hit. The man screamed even more as she descends her kick to hit his shoulder with the ball of her feet, freezing his shoulder.

The rest of the men are now charging at her, and she figured she would have to make the most efficient way of taking them down without killing anyone. She activates her powers once more and freezes the surface of the floor. The charging men suddenly lose their footing and falls towards her. She hovers backwards from the frozen ground causing all of them to fall down on their face. Blossom immediately freezes their arms in blocks of ice as they tuched the floor, essentially gluing them to the ground and immobilizing them. As they struggled to get out from their ice bindings, Blossom squats down and deactivates her powers. She then lifts the chin of the one closest to her.

"I am here for the hostages. Where are they?" Blossom asked coldly, and she made sure that her fingers are on his breathing tract.

"Screw you you bit- Urgk!" The resisting criminal suddenly felt a great pressure on his throat despite her light touch. The man's face slowly turns blue before he felt the pressure lifting away from his throat. The man coughed as he tried to get in some air into his lungs. Biology always has its use in combat and interrogation.

"Look, I just do not have the time to see you suffer for your own stupid loyalties. So please cooperate with me." Blossom said in a business-like manner, her pink eyes are as emotionless as the void. She decides that this one would need a little more convincing on her part. She freezes his throat with her fingers, causing the man to panic. Despite his best efforts, he could not scream in pain as his throat slowly cracks. She then touches his throat back again, and the man is now coughing blood.

"Al-right, they'-re in-the training hall." The man's voice is hoarse and gravelly from the damage to his throat.

"That wasn't so hard isn't it?" Blossom said as she gets up and walks away. She honestly did not like what she did, but the ends justified the means. As she ran in the corridor, she wondered why did these criminals took over the police station and held the officers hostage. Why not eliminate all of them? Even though it is distasteful of her to think about it, but if she was the criminal that would be the most reasonable way of dealing with the cops.

She felt a great uneasy sensation in her chest as she arrived in front of the training hall, her chest felt that it was pierced by something. She touched the part where she felt the stabbing sensation and realized that there was nothing there. She wondered if it was an illusion, but Blossom corrected herself instantly. Without thinking too much about it, she kicked down the door and scanned the room. The training hall is a large hall, enough at least three basketball courts side by side and long enough to hold four basketball courts. The room is mostly empty save for some ropes dangling down and some chairs spread out throughout the length of the room opposite Blossom. Blossom spots several police officers are handcuffed at the center of the room and looked at her with a mix of confusion and relief.

"Blossom!" Some of the officer called, but Blossom did not heed their call. Something about this room is off and she honestly felt that she is being watched over by a stalking predator. But the hall is a wide open space, and she wondered why is she feeling like she is in a deep tropical forest with her visibility covered at all angles.

"Pretty sharp senses you have there." A slow and fluid female voice heard the feminine voice and felt an arm resting on her. She turned around to see the a blonde Asian woman with several braids wearing a high collar covering half of her face is standing right next to her. Blossom attempts to react, but realized that the woman had disappeared without her even blinking her eyes. The impossibility of her movement is such that Blossom failed to notice that the woman is now directly in front of her. Blossom understands that she is in trouble as Blossom's pink eyes meets the aquamarine-colored eyes of the Asian. This is the exact same ability that allowed her to hide the spider-like accomplice of hers in plain sight.

"Don't act all surprised." Suddenly she disappeared once more, and reappearing in a sitting position among the seats of the training area. Blossom could not comprehend how she could have moved some twenty feet without her seeing the woman move. Her heightened sense of sight should be able to pick out her movements, but oddly enough she is just appearing at any location at will like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"That's something nifty right there, Tigress." Blossom commented, but honestly she is trying to see if this villain would brag about her skills more. However, the woman with the tall collar is silent. Blossom remarked that this lady is not the usual villain either, as she does not gloat nor go about in a monologue. She walks the talk and shows Blossom enough that she could attack her at any given moment. Blossom gives her fifty points for her style of intimidation.

"Thank you." Blossom turned around to see the slender Asian woman now crossing her legs and sitting in mid-air just a few feet away from where Blossom is standing.

"So, mind if I ask if you would kindly let these police officers go?"

"I would have to refuse, Blossom."

"Oh, you know my name?"

"Who doesn't?" Blossom thought that this villain is not very antagonistic towards her, but neither is she friendly to her either. She would need to do something in order to get these officers out. Blossom noticed that there an officer missing in the group of hostages as she scanned the room. It is now time for Blossom to ask the villain about the person.

"So, where is Commissioner Mataseranu?"

"He's around." The woman reappeared once more, sitting on a chair in front of Blossom. Her feline-like demeanor is making Blossom very uncomfortable.

"Around where?" Suddenly Blossom realized that she is no longer in front of the woman but sitting beside her on a chair that came out of nowhere. Blossom maintained a facade of calmness, but deep inside her she wondered how did she move from one spot to the other without her even knowing. Blossom now had to figure out what the Asian woman mean by that, and also how she is able to phase Blossom in such an unnatural manner. The sensation that she felt it not like anything she felt before, as it felt like she was being covered in a blanket and the blanket folding her to reappear in another location. The Asian woman gets up from her chair and moves her chair in front of Blossom before sitting once more. The woman squints her eyes with a somewhat cheerful expression. It seems that the woman is toying with her like how a cat is toying with its food.

Blossom suddenly felt the woman caressing her hair.

"You have such beautiful hair, and such a beautiful neck line. And these legs..." Blossom immediately freaked out as the woman caresses her leg in a way that made her very uncomfortable. Suddenly the lady kisses Blossom's neck, and Blossom realized that the Asian lady is hitting on her. Blossom jumps away from the chair and falls down on the ground, looking upwards. The imposing female is now looking at her with lustful eyes, and Blossom immediately turns a shade paler and the floor starts to frost whenever Blossom touches. The figure is now a few feet away, and Blossom is now not sure how she could fight a villainess who have the hots for her. The officers watching the situation are also swallowing hard at this particular fanservice, despite their better judgment of knowing that Blossom is a minor with a body of an adult, and the elder predatory woman is a gorgeous Asian female villain.

"Stay away from me!" Blossom threatened the lady, and she wondered if this is sufficient for her to defend herself. The feline-like lady started laughing, and Blossom could not help but to be very disturbed by it. The woman reappeared suddenly beside one of the police officers, and before Blossom could even do anything the lady in the dress touches the man and he disappeared. The other cops are now panicking and screaming, and Blossom is alarmed by this sudden disappearance. Suddenly the officer that disappeared moments ago appeared in mid-air and about to fall down on Blossom. Blossom immediately stops her defenses and managed to catch the officer just a mere few inches before he falls on the floor.

"Officer are you alright?" Blossom asked, but the man appeared to be shocked beyond compared, and Blossom realized that the officer's fear had made him appear much more haggard than he is. The tall-collared woman looks at both Blossom and the shocked officer with very satisfied look. Not liking her smug look, Blossom decided that she will not hold back anymore. Blossom blows her ice breath at the woman, but she reappeared behind Blossom and kicks her in the head. Before Blossom even lands, she was bombarded by a plethora of palm strikes, punches, knee strikes, elbow strikes and kicks from all angles before she crashes on the floor. Blossom gets up immediately only for Blossom to realize that she is crashing into the wall. She speeds away from the wall and hovers to survey what is going one.

"You can't escape me." A female voice whispered into Blossom's ear before Blossom appears speeding towards the ground. Unable to fly away in time, she crashed on the ground. Blossom needs to figure out how this woman's power works as her powers breaks the law of physics. Suddenly a palm strike hits Blossom in the chest, causing her to crash towards the wall and out the training hall. Blossom felt the pain in her chest, and she wondered how the woman is attacking her at all her blind spots. She looked up and saw the woman walking towards her with her arms folded. Blossom shoots her eye beam at the Asian woman, but she swats the beam aside as if it were nothing. Blossom groans inwards as she recalled that these special 'Candymen' are able to swat their eyebeams without much difficulty.

The collared woman walks out from the hole she had made and looks upon the Powerpuff Girl with her aquamarine eyes. As she grabs the teenage girl's head with her arm, Tigress noticed that the surface of the Powerpuff Girl's hair is colder than expected. Immediately Tigress lets go and realizes that her arm almost turn into icicles. Suddenly a large torrent of ice spikes hits the Asian woman causing her to be propelled backwards and crashes into the chairs within the training room. Several spiky ice balls immediately rains upon the woman, bombarding the woman violently. Blossom enters into the room once more, and her breath is now a a cold mist.

"Not bad at all." The deep voice of the tall-collared woman complimented Blossom. Blossom immediately turned and find that the woman is beside her watching the location where 'she' is supposed to be thrown to. This does not make sense in any way whatsoever, and Blossom jumps away from the woman back into the training hall. Her color palette starts to fade once more, as her mind starts to process the situation once more.

Her heart is pounding and she does not know why.

She could feel her body tremble, but she does not know why.

Her eyes are dilating, but she does not know why.

Her breathing is getting shorter and shorter, but she does not know why.

Something dark is welling up within, but she does not know why.

 _It's strange, what this sensation I am feeling_ , Blossom said to herself as the woman enter into the room once more. The intensity of this feeling within her is unlike anything she had ever experienced before, as this sensation is something more innate, something that mankind had once experienced. Something that warns the ancestors of man that danger is afoot, and they should flee.

"Have you noticed?" The woman said to Blossom.

"Noticed what?" Blossom's face is still calm, but the sweat on her forehead flowed and turned into icicles as they fell down her face. She could feel a chill down her spine at the woman's voice. Suddenly Blossom was hit by an explosion from all angles continuous bombardment. The multitude of explosions is enough that even her absolute zero defenses and her O.U.T.F.I.T is now faltering. The ground below her collapsed and Blossom only barely managed to hover as the explosions continued on pummeling her.

Blossom's mind is now racing and she wondered where these explosions are coming from. As the smoke from the explosion clears, Blossom's O.U.I.T.F.I.T is blaring the warning that her armor is now critically compromised. If it were not for her absolute zero ability condensing the O.U.T.F.I.T molecules together, she would have lost her defenses. Blossom wondered how this is possible, as the O.U.T.F.I.T system could even withstand a direct hit from a tactical high-explosive ballistic missile.

"This is something you long lost, long ago. Trace your memories. You became wiser, got stronger, and become able to overwhelm and defeat your opponents. You haven't felt this in a long time have you?" The predatory voice of the woman is now piercing into Blossom's ears, and she is unnerved by what she is implying. No, Blossom thought. The Tigress is not implying anything, in fact she is helping Blossom to understand the condition she is experience. But Blossom knew deep within her that she would not admit to it. But it played once more in her mind, and the name of that feeling, which is the most important feeling in any human existence: _fear_.

"I'm afraid?" Blossom finally voiced out, the answer coming out like an unsavory bile from her throat. The adult woman claps her hand, like a teacher commending a student that gave the right answer to the question she had asked.

"I expected no less of you Blossom, you are truly resilient. Any normal person, upon receiving an attack from me would scream out and go insane from all the fear. They would be unable to bear it, their hearts would burn up and explode and they would suffocate from the pressure of fear." As the woman walks slowly towards Blossom, she disappeared from Blossom's sight immediately. Blossom is now looking everywhere for the dreaded woman, not knowing where she would attack from. Blossom's breathing becomes shorter and shorter, and the calm voice of the woman is now echoing around the room.

"Those hit by my attacks fear everything." Suddenly Blossom's armor was hit once more by a multitude of explosives, causing several pieces of her armor to disintegrate from the explosion.

"If...I step toward the enemy right now, something critical may happen. If I put my hand on them, what would happen? if I throw something at them, what would happen? If I punch them, if I kick them... _what would happen?_ If I moved my fingers, if I switched my gaze, if I breathed in,if I breathed out...They doubt everything and lose all control of their thoughts." Blossom's arms and legs are growing weaker and weaker by the moment, and her sense of anxiety grows with every moment as much as her sense of impending doom. A sense of uncomfortable nausea builds up in her stomach and throat, and she could feel the fatigue coming in to her body. She realized that she is slowly reaching the limits of her defensive abilities.

"But you are doing a great job resisting that with the strength of your will alone. I am surprised Blossom, but that is simply surprise. It is far removed from fear. The core of your heart has already been possessed by fear towards me."

 _Ridiculous_ , Blossom thought. There is no battle in which fear does not exist. But She have overcome it countless times. Every time she survive a life-or -death crisis. She had accepted fear through battle, pounded it down and acquired the power to continue forward. She had never suppress any sort of fear. Fear is...

"Your powers stopped." The aquamarine eyes of the woman is now face to face with her, and suddenly Blossom felt a sharp pain in her solar plexus. No, this is not a pain from being punched in the solar plexus, Blosssom thought. This is a stab to the solar plexus. She looked down and the fingers of the woman have pierced through her O.U.T.F.I.T and blood is now dripping from the woman's arm. Blossom kneels down as the sharp and excruciating pain courses through her body.

"You have overcome fear through experience. All strong warriors who have gotten used to battle experience this delusion. Fear that has a reason is gentle to the mind." Tigress said to Blossom as she swings her arm sideways, splattering the blood on the floor. She then kneels down and as Blossom watches with anger and fear, the woman grabs Blossom by the hair and pulls her up. Blossom wanted to do something to the woman, but her body is paralyzed by a primal fear.

"It's possible to stop this kind of fear through willpower and experience. As long as you have a reason and you cut that reason off, that fear-like reason can be wiped away. But true fear has no reason, it stems from not emotion, but instinct. True fear is without reason, without limit. Like terrifying bugs that slowly creep up your body to gnaw at your soul. _We cannot escape our instincts_." The woman said and throws Blossom on the ground. As the Asian gets up, she steps on Blossom's head and in her arm is a cellphone. Blossom looks up and saw that the woman is now recording every moment of this humiliating defeat.

"There is nothing left you can do is there? There is no way you could beat your own fear if you knew you can't beat it." Suddenly the woman looks at the hostages and suddenly they all disappeared, etching an expression of horror on Blossom's face. As she glanced with the corner of her eye, Blossom saw the aquamarine eyes of the woman is ruthless and monstrous, like those of a tiger.

"A blade wielded by fear, can never be used to save someone, let alone everyone." As the woman brings down her hand to deliver the killing blow, Blossom closes her eyes.

[Outside the Utonium Residence, Townsville Suburbs: 10.45am]

Brick is not liking the situation one bit. Whatever these people are doing, they are splitting up the Powerpuff Girls too well. The news footages of the Powerpuff Girls entering into each battle zone by themselves is not good at all as they are always stronger together. The orphanage as Boomer predicted is the first to ignite, and the battlefield is utterly ruthless as he saw that the assailant has no intention of holding back. Blossom storming the police department is the second hotspot, but the view of the Powerpuff Girl's progress is blocked by the nature of the building itself. Fort Marks is still relatively quiet when it comes to superhuman fighting, however Brick assumed that Bubbles will be drawn to the battle at Fort Marks. How all of this would fall into Him's plans is something he needs to find out.

It is an open secret in the Morningstar household that Him is behind everything, but they do not know Him's ultimate goals in doing so. Thus Brick needs the Powerpuff Girls to be intact in order for then to frustrate the demom enough for the Rowdyruff Boys to know how they fit into Him's plan. There's no playing poker with the devil, for he plays with chance. And they do not want to let the house win. Thus, Brick is not helping the Powerpuff Girls because he wants to, it is because he _needs_ to.

Boomer had fecided to go to the orphanage despite Brick's misgivings about his brother's healing injuries. After some heated argument with his brother, he decided to let his sand-blonde brother to take that battlefield after the blue-eyed Rowdyruf Boy's insistence. As for the military installation, Brick was forced to send in his other brother due to the nature of the battlefield. Brick hoped to join the battle at the military base, but he needs to stay back to see the big picture. So the next best thing is to send in the most martial of the brothers to wage total war in the compound, just the way the green-eyed teenage male likes it.

As for Brick, he is essentially playing the support game. Firstly he needs to know where the other two Powerpuff Girls went. Secondly, he needs to see where else the Archons would strike. The Archons, or the Lunatics as they want to be called now, have the distinct initiative and advantage over all of them and unfortunately Brick is slowly running out of options. Unless one of his brothers are able to alleviate the pressure from the other stress points and free up the Powerpuff Girls, he is tactically restricted. For that, Brick had decided that he would take on one of these stressors alone.

As he lands in front of the pavement leading towards the Powerpuff Girl's home, he noticed that something is amiss. For some reason, it felt a little too quiet. There's not even the sound of any insects around the home. He sees that a small white light is now blinking in front of the household's doorbell. Brick do not recall that the doorbell of the home blinks that way. This raised a red flag in his mind, and he realized that the home is already armed and dangerous. Looks like he would have to try his luck calling out for Professor Utonium, provided that he is not in a bunker within his own home.

[Utonium Residence, Townsville Suburbs, Townsville: 10.47pm]

Tonight is a really hectic night for Professor Utonium.

The professor's heart is now heavy with concerns for his little news repeatedly showed the battle between Buttercup and an insect-like mutant at the orphanage time and time again. Even after fifteen years, he had not grown used to the sight of his girls fighting for their lives. However he will do what is necessary to help his girls.

He wipes his head with a hankerchief before taking a good look at his living room and dining room. Professor Utonium had just taken out the last of the orphanage's hostage from his Time Portal, and the saved hostages are now cuddling and wrapped in whatever towels and blankets he could scrounge up from his home. Even though he is pleased that his Time Portal had such an interesting application, but his mind is more focused to providing these shocked and scared former hostages with a semblance of safety and security. To further do so, he had activated the H.O.U.S.E array, otherwise known to the rest of the world as the most heavily-armed home security system in the world that rivals even the defense systems of A.W.S.M's base defense systems.

They are ready to fire upon any suspected stranger or enemy if they dare to even take a tiptoe on his lawn. That is also why most of the animals have learned that if the light on his doorbell is on, any living thing that dared to come in will be shot with extreme prejudice. Of course he did not tell Bubbles about it, for Bubbles is a friend to all living things, and if she knew about this she would hate him for life. Alas, what Bubbles does not know will not hurt her. Also the home is now protected by several layers of force fields and also made out of the toughest alloy ever made by men, half of whom were made by Professor Utonium alone. He know that the defenses are not perfect, but given that villains of all kinds had stopped attacking the home ever since eight years ago, he would reckon that they have not figured out how to attack the home not know when the home defense system are active.

"PROFESSOR UTONIUM!" A sound of a young man is heard shouting for his name, surprising the Professor and the other guests in his home. He clearly did not expect visitors so late in the night, but he knew that his fifteen years living in Townsville with the girls had taught him that anything could happen at any given moment. He takes out the pen on his breast pocket and presses the top, and he takes out his usual labcoat. As he walks towards the door, several pieces of the floor and ceiling started dissembling itself and floats towards the professor. As he walks towards the door, the pieces of floor and ceiling reveal what several pieces of what appears to be plates of armor. As Professor Utonium walks towards the door, the vambrace, pauldrons, gauntlets, cuisses, and sabatons are fastened and bolted on the square-faced man. As the last pieces of the helmet attaches itself to the professor's head, the center of the cuirass glowed with a whitish-electric blue light and like blood circulating in the arteries of the body, several strips of light are seen glowing throughout the armor before fading away.

"Powerprof is now online sir." A British accented male voice confirmed that the armored system that the Professor is wearing is now online.

"Give me life videolink to the lawn, J.E.E.V.E.S."

"Yes sir. Providing videolink now." The display before the professor's eyes immediately shows the footage of a young tall teenager with a red baseball cap wearing a bred maroon jacket over a onyx turtleneck with black slacks. Although the imagery is harmless enough, but Professor Utonium is taking no chances.

"Who's there?" The professor asked despute knowing who the person, and his voice is projected outside the house.

"Brick." Judging from the boy's tone , Professor Utonium realizes that the teenager is no threat. The square-jawed man of science turn the knob of the door and opens the door.

[Utonium Residence, Townsville Suburbs, Townsville: 10.50pm]

Brick waits for a while before the door to the Utonium residence opens up. To Brick's surprise and amazement, a fully armored being clad in white exits the home and walks up to the teenage boy. The teenage boy noticed that the armor is fully angled and plated to provide the most effective form of protection upon a man's body, and the central part of the man's chest and the T-visor of the helmet is glowing with a whitish-blue light. As the armored being stops before him, Brick wondered if this machine before him would kick his ass.

"Brick what are you doing here?" The familiar baritone voice coming out from the machine surprises Brick, and suddenly the armored face of the machine disassemble iand folds back to reveal Professor Utonium's face.

"Professor?" Brick said, and his eyes sparkled with awe.

"Come in. You are not the only guest in my home tonight. H.O.U.S.E, these two people are friendlies. Let them in." Brick raised and eyebrow before he followed the professor to the front entrance of his home. As the professor entered in, Brick noticed that several dozen children, several men and womenwere in the living room wrapped in towels and blankets with hot cocoa in their hands. Brick breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least another front is doing well. It was then that Brick stopped short of entering into the home. The professor turned around, wondering why the teenager did not enter into his home.

"Buttercup is on the news but I do not see here with her sisters. Professor, I need to know where the other two Powerpuff Girls are." Brick asked. The Professor looked at him with a certain amount of suspicion, and he wondered if he should tell him. But Brick decided to speak first.

"I believe the girls are in danger and they are being trapped. Please...let us help." Professor Utoium realized that the Rowdyruff Boy's tone is sincere.

"Blossom is heading towards Townsville P.D while Bubbles is heading towards Fort Marks."

"Professor, guard this place with your life. Get the defenses up. My brothers and I are on it." Brick said as he turns around and speeds away to the sky in a bolt of red lightning. As the professor watches the streak of red lightning heads towards Townsville, he lets out a small voice as the door in front of him closes slowly.

"Please bring back my girls."


	23. Chapter 23: Onslaught

Chapter 23: Onslaught

[Fort Marks, Townsville: 11.00pm]

It takes her about an hour to fly towards the base, as the military base is quite out of Townsville's way. As she slowly approaches the base,she saw several columns of fire and smoke rising up from the military base. Several explosions are seen erupting from the base as she slowly descents on the road outside the base. Clad in her power armored system, Bubbles activates her omni-camouflage that was in-build within the O.U.T.F.I.T system, allowing her to disguise her heat signature and also provide optical camouflage.

She takes in a deep breath before she decides to enter into the demolished entrance of the base,not sure what she would find in the base. Her eyes immediately takes in the sight, smell and sounds of the base and immediately her first action is to throw up. To her horror, she saw an utterly violent aftermath of the breach into the base. Several dozen dead bodies were lying everywhere, and many of them were in a state that can best be described as 'not in one piece'. This had caused a very bad reaction in her stomach and she threw up. As Bubbles wipes her mouth, she can only think of one thing.

 _This is going to be bad_ , she thought to herself. Very bad. Seeing the footage of the military assault on the base is already a big red flag that the situation would be ugly. The second red flag that she noticed is that there were some of the dead 'Candymen' lying around and quite a number of them are in pieces. The third flag that is being raised is that she noticed some of the destroyed tanks look as if they are sliced open rather than exploding. The last and perhaps most disturbing flag is how unnaturally quiet the military base is. Bubbles decided that she would need to scour the base much more quickly and she hovered just a few inches above the ground before she moved on.

"Bubbles, is everything alright? Your breathing is erratic and you just threw up." Professor Utonium's concerned voice comes to live in her O.U.T.F.I.T's communication set. Among all the girls, Bubbles is perhaps the most weak mentally, and this sparked the professor's concern. The professor often act as a mission controller as these abilities that comes from the suit are something that are technologically advanced, and someone needs to monitor them. If the girls require some scientific exposition, he is always there to help them. As he watches the monitor of all his girls fighting the crooks from their point of view, it tears his heart to just sit there and watch them fight. But he created them to bring good in the world, and they had chosen their path to bring good to the world in the way they are best in.

"Professor, it is not good at all." Bubbles' voice cracked before she reluctantly turned on the live vid-feed for the professor to see. A gasping sound can be heard as Bubbles turned her head to survey her surroundings. Bubbles started sobbing, and the sound is not lost on the professor. Professor Utonium can sympathize with Bubbles's state of mind right now, as this senseless slaughter is just that; senselessly unnecessary. Professor Utonium had always wanted to protect his girls the best he can from the cruelties of the world, but this time he is unable to explain away nor censor the view that Bubbles is seeing.

"Bubbles dear, take deep breaths in and breathe out. I need you to do this for me alright?" The professor asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"Ok-kay professor." Bubbles said, and she started to breathe in and out.

"Good, keep that going, and just keep on looking straight alright?" Professor calmly say in an assuring voice.

Bubbles hovers forward and as as she ventured even deeper into the base, she can see further devastation and death around her. Several more dozen bodies lie in the open while countless bullet casings catching the glimmer of the flames of the battlefield littered the floor around her along with spent ammo drums,spent magazines and spent missile tubes The ground also bears the mark of craters and deep lines on the ground. Some of the vehicles are still ablaze with flames while other appeared to be cut cleanly into multiple pieces, corresponding to the deep lines carved on the concrete floor of the military base. Bubbles find it hard to recognize the vehicles as they are utterly unrecognizable from the state of destruction they had received. A body sudddenly dropped right in front of her, causing her to cover her mouth as she squealed in terror. She looked up to see that bodies are also dangling from some of the windows and also flagpoles, the tattered star-spangled banner riddled with holes wave in the win. This further beckons Bubbles to enter deeper into the base.

Suddenly a thundering salvo is heard, and immediately Bubbles ducked to dodge the salvo. However to her surprise, she did not hear any explosion within her immediate surrounding. Instead the explosion that she was expecting was heard a distance away, and the explosion is followed by a furious chorus of cracking sound that Bubbles recognized as the sound of small arms fire. Suddenly the battlefield comes alive with the sound of cannon fire, small-arms fire and the sound of men shouting and screaming. Several more explosions erupted around Bubbles as the battlefield intensity increased in intensity.

"Bubbles, get out of there!" Professor Utonium's voice sparked the Powerpuff Girl to speed in a flash of light blue light, and suddenly Bubbles realized that a trail of fire is now following her. As she looked behind her, she noticed that several tracked armed vehicles with a turret filled with what appeared to be four small cannons are now aiming at her. Her head-up display identified those vehicles as "ZSU-23-4" and she would need to get out of their sights. She fired several of her eye beams in front of the pavement where the vehicles are located, and the pavement erupted, causing the vehicles to stop firing for a moment. She took the opportunity to hide behind one of the buildings.

"Professor is that one of ours?!" Bubbles hissed in her communication link with the professor.

"Nope, that's one of the enemies. That's Russian." Professor Utonium answered the light-yellow blonde teenager.

"Any idea how I know who's who?" Bubbles asked, knowing she would need to know who are the friendlies and who are the not-friendlies in order to not have some unwanted friendly fire. Her head-up display shows several pictures of vehicles, uniforms and weapons, each with the marking 'Friendly Forces' before the images of several vehicles, uniforms and weapons are showed with the marking ' Hostile Forces."

"This is the best I can do Bubbles based on cross-referencing the newsfeed and also the database on all military-related images."

"Thanks professor." Bubbles thanked the professor. Confident that she would be able to help the beleaguered American forces in the base, she uncloaks her camouflage system and flies up in the sky. She now has a commanding view of the battlefield, and fortunately for her her head-up display is showing that all the hostile forces in this particular battle zone are aligned on her left. She then flies towards her left, and as she inhale in the air into her lungs, she hope that everyone else on the friendly side are fine. She immediately lets out a focused sonic attack stream on the enemy forces, causing several of the vehicles and the armed men to be flung across the battlefield, causing an untold amount of damage on the enemy forces. The glass windows on the battlefield as well as the armored vehicles start to cracked, while those glass surfaces in her scream's direct path shattered from the potency of her sonic scream. Seeing that the enemy forces are silenced, she stopped her hypersonic screaming, and a loud cheer can be heard from the opposite side of the battlefield. Bubbles flies over to the opposite side of the battlefield to see that several men and women along with some combat vehicles are all formed in a defensive position.

"Hi guys!" Bubbles greeted them, and the men and women erupted in a cheer once more. A tall,square-chinned middle-aged man with silver, cropped hair walks up towards Bubbles and immediately grabs her hands and shakes them. Bubbles winced a little as she did not expect the grip of the man to be that strong. The man looks at the teenager with warm icy-blue eyes.

"Are we glad to see you! Nice work with that sonic scream, though that cracked quite a number of our digital interphases." The military officer smiled.

"Sorry my bad." Bubbles said uncomfortably towards the military officer. The others are now laughing as they watched the two individuals interacted with each other. The tall man lets go of Bubbles' hands and saluted her. This caused the rest of the men and women of the military unit to salute Bubbles in return.

"Major Enzo Ghiradelli of the 649th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Army National Guard of the United States of America. Glad that you came Bubbles."

"Bubbles Utonium of the Powerpuff Girls at your service sir!" Bubbles instinctively saluted the man in response to his clipped salute and reporting of his designation, but she kept her legs far too close and she loses a little but of balance and falls on the major's chest. Feeling more awkward than before, Bubbles looks up to the man and salutes once with a rather crooked smile. The men and women laughed once more, this time with more vigor.

"At ease trooper. I can see why you are the joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls." Major Ghiradelli said to the Powerpuff Girls as he helped her up. As she deactivates the protective head gear of her O.U.T.F.I.T, she breathe in and some of the men whistled as they take a look at Bubbles' face. It is easy to see why they are gawking at her ,as her youthful doll-like appearance along with her clear zircon-blue eyes and yellow blonde hair stop men in their tracks.

"Man, if I were twelve years younger I would go on a date with her and not consider her as jailbait." A lanky man with black hair, stubbles and a tanned skin said as he looked at Bubbles with gray eyes before he was hit in the head by a rifle but by a lean and muscled Hispanic woman with brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Stop thinking with your dick will you, Shunsui?" The lean woman said to the lanky man. Bubbles was taken aback by both his comment and also the rifle butt strike on his head.

"Geez, Roberta,it is just a comment! Calm your tits down!" The tanned man said.

"Sorry about that Bubbles." Major Ghiradelli said, scratching his head.

"None taken." Bubbles politely answered the woman.

"Anyway, these two right here are my subordinates, Captain Shunsui Miyagi and Lieutenant Roberta Valencia. As for the rest of my unit, well to be honest we are a mix and match of all the remaining units in the base so even I am not sure of who's who yet. We've just lost the whole base command a few minutes ago, so right now I'm in charge. All by the simple fact that I am the most senior officer in the base. Tough luck." Major Ghiradelli informed the Powerpuff Girl of their current situation. Bubbles is unable to comment about the situation as she is not very familiar with the military structure. But what she can do is to politely ask about what happened.

"Um...Major Ghiradelli? Sorry if I have to ask this but...why is the base so quiet until just now?" Bubbles asked politely, not sure if she would even get any answers from the military personnel.

"They are doing those about three big pushes with five probes in the past hour. They are testing our defenses, and there was a fifteen minute lull before they started once more. So far we have held off two of those large pushes, and you held off the latest one Bubbles. We thought we were goners until you came." The silver-haired major said as he takes up a cigarette to smoke. The tanned captain lights up his superior's cigarette before continuing on.

"When they stormed the base, we were pushed back and firefights broke all over the base. However we fought back with our weapons that were used to take out monsters from Monster Island and we held then back. In fact we were winning in some areas. That is before those two arrived. "

"Two who?" Bubbles asked the tanned man. Now it it the Major's turn to answer, puffing the smoke from his cigarette upwards.

"Twp people Bubbles. Reports came in and reported a Caucasdian mountain of muscle with scars on one side of his body and an unnaturally tall, lanky man of African descent with several pair of arms leading the assault. Those two alone took out half our forces."

 _Medved and Ananse_ , Bubbles said to herself. This is the worst possible situation. Two of those special ones are in the base, and there is only one of her. No offense to the servicemen that had served the great nation of America,but in this case they are utterly useless. Bubbles felt guilty thinking about their uselessness in this situation.

"We are a base of around two national guard company, a tank battalion, a calvary battalion, and a combat aviation aviation brigade ... and those assholes took half of us out." Captain Miyagi's tone is colored with dark disbelief as he mutters the words.

"And those hardware...that force can take on even Fort Bragg if they wanted to." Leiutenant Valencia adds to the conversation.

The morale among the other forces dropped and Bubbles can sense that they had never faced such unnatural foes before. However before she could even comfort them,she heard the sound of a firing pin being cocked and immediately she turned around and fired a bolt of her eyebeam towards a barrack about fifty feet away from them. Her bolt went through one of the windows and a small explosion and a loud scream can be heard. Bubbles immediately speeds towards the bunker and crashes through the walls of the barrack and sees a man holding his arm next to a badly molten and warped rifle. She immediately grabs the man before dragging the injured man back towards the American forces.

She flings the man over the barricades and immediately she looks at him with very angry blue eyes. The man is clad in a fully black outfit, with black balaclava, body armor and boots. His hands however were burned badly, and Bubbles assumed that her eyebeam had blown the weapon in his arm. She bends down towards the injured man and lifts him up by his body armor with one arm.

"And who might you be? Can you nicely tell us where your friends are?" Bubbles asked politely.

" _Eat shit bitch_!" The man curses in Russian and spits at her face. Bubbles wipes the spit off her face and frown before she decided that she needs to be hardcore. She further lifts him up until his feet is about three inches off the floor puts one fist up in the air and the rest of the American forces watched, wondering if the Powerpuff Girl is about to punch the enemy.

" _I'm trying to be nice here and I hope I don't have to hurt you. But now I am forced to do this._ " Bubbles answered back in Russian, to the surprise of the other base personnel. Suddenly Bubbles brought back the arm that she is holding the enemy towards her outreached fist and the blow broke the bridge of his nose. Bubbles pulls back the arm that she is holding the Russian with while maintaining her fist in her other arm. Bubbles then bring her arm back and forth rapidly, causing the Russian to be literally slammed to her fist several times, each with a bone crunching crack until several of his teeth fell out. The base personel winced at the violent scene unfolding before them.

" _Now would you kindly tell me where your friends are before you lose something else_?" Bubbles asked once more in Russian, as she aims her fist lower towards his groin. Every man around gasped, as their minds are imagining the pain that would come if the Russian mercenary failed to comply with her demands.

"Damn...she's hardcore." Captain Miyagi said as he takes a slight step back from Bubbles.

The Russian is now panicking and he started to mutter things in Russian and as the man reveals to the defenders of the total number of forces that were amassed against them and their composition, the major's face scowled as Bubbles translate the speech for all of them to hear. The color left the faces of the defending American forces as they realized the gravity of their already dire situation.

"That's not right... a motor rifle division? Isn't that like a Russian term for a mechanized infantry division?" Lieutenant Valencia words escaped from her mouth despite the shocked expression she is showing everyone. Everyone but Bubbles are now murmuring to each other and the atmosphere is now tense and critical. Bubbles is not sure what is going on before the Major helped her understand the situation better or for worse.

"Bubbles, we are outnumbered and outgunned by an army. And that army is now now flooding into the base that is comprised only of a few small under-strength units. Not to mention that they have those 'Candymen'." Major Ghiradelli takes another puff of his cigarette before he takes a binoculars from one of his subordinates and looks at the enemy side of the battlefield. Bubbles is now looking at the direction where the major is looking at,and she saw the upturned vehicles are now finally turned over by the sappers and several new personnel entered into the vehicles. The sides of the upturned vehicles are soon flanked by the arrival of armed men sitting on newly arrived armored vehicles.

"If only the combat aviation brigade weren't taken out by those missiles early on we've got a fighting chance..." The tanned major said as he looked at the increasing number of armored vehicles over the horizon before asking his superior on their next course of action.

"Sir, what's the orders?"

"We give them hell of course. Arm the Paladins and all our vehicles and get the boys and girls ready for a fight. We are going to greet them first before they come over. " The major smirked as he spied through his binoculars.

Immediately the defender garrison is alive with orders being relayed through the defensive network and Bubbles is amazed by how quickly they recomposed themselves after hearing that they are outnumbered by a big number. As Bubbles watched, several of the armored vehicles with the weird square-barrels are aiming at the opposite side with the other vehicles while the infantry are setting up their weaponry to aim at the same direction as the other big guns . Suddenly the major shouted his orders.

"Fire at will!" Suddenly the opening salvo of the defenders opened up with particle beams coming out from the vehicles with the square barrels while cannon fire and machinegun fire accompanied the beam. Several of the soldiers and the vehicles also fired their missiles and the the horizon is soon lit up with several explosions and screams from the other side,before the other side returned fire with their own brand of firepower. Bubbles ducked as one of the stray missile flew past her head and detonated a few yeards behind her. The exchange of fire between the two side soon escalated as the defenders suffered their first casualties."MEN DOWN, MEN DOWN!"

"MEDIC, MEDIC!"

"Hold on there Rob, help's on the way!"

Seeing these casualties mounting, Bubbles knew what she had to do. She had to be hardcore. Her head armor immediately forms back, and she flies out from the defensive position. Several dark blue electric orbs quickly forms around her before the orbs was enveloped into a larger orb of plasma energy. As the orbs floats in orbit around her, a large bright electric ring of electrical current forms behind her back and the orbs form an electrical connection with it by shooting out electrical filaments to latch onto the electrical ring, forming a chakra-like projection. The orbs immediately gathered right in front of her, shielding her from the incoming projectiles that are heading towards her. Bubbles decided that she would do what Buttercup would do in this situation. She aims for what looks like a tank and speeds in with all her might.

Like a battering ram, Bubbles slammed into the enemy line, her lightning orbs making contact with the tank, causing the tank to tumble violently into the ranks of the hostile forces. As she lands on her feet and hands, her head-up display is showing a multitude of hostile signatures. In the split second the armed men took to look at her, she extends her orbs in all directions, knocking away all opposition. Those that managed to not get themselves knocked away or knockedout by Bubbles' electric orbs immediately opened fire upon her. Bubbles' power armor deflected the shots from her body and some ricocheted back at the assailants,causing them to be hit by their own projectiles. The orbs returned back to her and managed to hit a few more of the armed men before returning to an orbit behind her back.

Some of the men charged at her with their rifles mounted with bayonets,but they were soon pummeled by the countless blows of the orbs from her back in a blurry, rapid barrage of strong punching blows that creates the illusion of her having multiple sets of the orbs. Bubbles then rushes towards the concentration of troops and vehicles as she pummeled them. As some of the vehicles attempted to aim at her, she allocated some of the orbs to pummel the vehicles. The vehicles are launched by the blows of the orbs and they soon rained down on the army. A number of the armed men managed to get inside the fusillade of orb attacks and tried to attack her with rifle butts and bayonets, but Bubbles managed to dodge the attacks in time before she did a sweeping low kick to take them all down. She shot some of her eyebeams as a continuous beam at some of the cannon barrels of the tanks, melting the barrels in the process. Her palms are also forming several energy orbs before she throws them at the concentration of soldiers, hitting them down like bowling pins.

"Damn...she's a one-man army." The tanned captain said as he watched the onslaughts of attacks being unleashed behind enemy lines. The defenders are forced to stop their fire as Bubbles had essentially blended in with the enemy ranks and causing confusion in the ranks.

"And the most impressive part? She is not killing anyone." Major Ghiradelli adds on as he watches the battle unfold from his binoculars.

The silver-haired major marvels at the precision of Bubbles' strikes at the enemy forces and he observes that Bubbles is controlling the power of her energy orbs depending on the targets, stunning the humans until they are unable to move and frying the circuits or flipping the vehicles in such a way that the vehicle crew are able to escape from the vehicle intact. Her compassion for human life even extends to her enemies,and the major had a newfound respect for the Powerpuff Girl. However what the major had failed to notice is that the entire base invasion force is now concentrated on the Powerpuff Girl, seeking to take out their greatest threat with everything they got.

 _There's no end to this_ , Bubbles thought as she dodges, punches,kicks and any imaginable offensive move she could do to all the opposition coming her way. Suddenly she heard several loud roars from a distance away and as she turn around, she saw several heavily muscled and large brutish red-hued men rushing towards her in a bellowing rage. She tried to divert a number of the orbs to hit them but she realized that as she does so, several of the other men are now reorganizing themselves with heavier weaponry to take her down. Several of the red brutes were struck by her orbs and went down, but the others are rushing through the gaps in her defenses and edged closer towards her. Her head-up display is blaring with an overwhelming amount of signals of hostile forces coming her way, and she recognize them all as 'Candymen'. She know that she would have to take them all on somehow, but how to do so is now the main concern in her mind. As the red brutes overwhelmed her defenses, three of them managed to get within striking distance and as the three of them lunged at her, her mind is prepared for the brutal beatings that will come her way.

Suddenly something came between the three brutes and Bubbles, and the three figures were immediately struck by a single large blow that send them up to the heavens above, never to be seen again. As Bubbles' eyes finally registered the thing that came between them, she saw a person with a strong and wide back facing her, wearing an olive green tanktop and green camouflaged pants and a dark green hairband holding the raven-black hair of the mysterious figure. The man's arm is smoking from the blow that was inflicted on the unfortunate souls, and the Bubbles to recognize the husky tenor tone from the person's chuckle.

"Butch?"

[Fort Marks, Townsville: 11.37pm]

The sickly sweet stench of death and destruction pierced through the nose of the jade-eyed teenage male with the olive green tanktop and green camouflaged pants as he stands inside the confines of the burning military base of Fort Marks. His eyes registered the burning wrecks of combat vehicles, the ruined military buildings and the littered mangled corpses of the fallen while his nose smelled burning diesel and the acrid and sour smell of spent gunpowder. These nostalgic sights and smell of a battlefield fills the heart of the Rowdyruff Boy with a dark thrill down his soul, the only thing missing from this imagery of a battlefield being the crescendo of booming explosions, the cracks of small arms fire and the cacophony of men screaming and shouting amidst the chaotic battlefield.

 _Hello battlefield my old friend_ , Butch thought to himself, and a wide grin etched itself on his face as his body twitches with the stimuli he is experiencing.

Brick had commanded him to move towards the military base to observe the unfolding situation before joining in, but Butch's instinct, honed by years of fighting on the most unforgiving of battlefields, is telling him that he needs to join it now rather than later. As his jadeite eyes surveyed the battlefield, he noticed that there is a no man's land between two particular area and he noticed the belligerents of the battle; on one side,he noticed that they are struggling to flip several of their upturned T-90s, BMTP-72s and ZSU-23-4 Shilkas vehicles up once more and taking out their injured while more armored and infantry reinforcements are coming in to focus their combined might. As he turned his attention to the other side and noticed several Abrams main battle tanks, Bradley armored fighting vehicles and some Strykers alongside several unique armored vehicles with a gun that Butch had never seen before. He looks closer and he realized that the ground where the flipped vehicles were located were upturned by something that caused the fan-shaped destruction of the concrete ground spanning from a point at their flanks. Butch recognized it as the mark of Bubbles' hypersonic scream, and he chuckled as he looked at his smoking fist.

"Butch?" He heard the youthful voice of the yellow blonde Powerpuff Girl and turns his head back to see her in an advanced combat attire, consisting of a full-body suit and a sleeveless jacket with tall collars protecting her neck glowing with light blue gauntlets, poleyns, greaves and sabatons. As he looked at her in the eye through a visorless helmet, he gives her a grin filled with bloodlust. Butch turns his head forward once more and charges into the horde of 'Candymen' with a smile on his face. Immediately he ducks from the first brute's clumsy uppercut before slamming his palm into the liver of the brute. To Bubbles' surprise, he managed to bring down the brute with one strike, causing the brute to spit out blood.

The Rowdyruff Boy then grabs the brute's arm and proceed to use the unfortunate brute as a club, clubbing and bludgeoning the other brutes with an unrivaled savagery. The other soldiers fired upon the new arrival with their weapons, but Butch used the brute he is using as a club to shield himself from the small arms fire. He throws the brute towards the armed men firing at him with such force that the brute and several men to be launched a few yards away, crashing into even more enemy soldiers. Butch's wrists and his ankles are immediately enveloped with whirling glowing green vortices and the incoming brutes were met with several more palm strikes that all struck the brutes with resounding sonic cracks. Several screams of pain and rage can be heard from those brutes.

Bubbles immediately moved towards the direction of where Butch is rampaging through and she saw that several of the brutes are already on the ground twitching and paralyzed with pain. Bubbles saw that Butch had targeted all the bones and organs that will cause unbearable pain and immobilization. The elbows and knees of the brutes are shattered while the teenage Rowdyruff Boy had laid blows to the kidneys, liver and spleen of the men before him. These life-threatening blows disturbed Bubbles, but Bubbles is glad that she had some reinforcements despite its unsavory manner. Suddenly an armed enemy runs towards Bubbles and attempts to use his rifle butt to attack her, and Bubbles realized that she has a job to do. She takes out a pepper spray from her suit and sprays the man's face with it, causing untold amount of agony for the unfortunate soldier. If Butch is going to take on the Candymen,she would take on the rest. At least, the normal human elements of the hostile forces do not have to suffer the risk of dying by Butch's hands.

Meanwhile, Butch is now deep within his own bloodlust as he wipes the blood away from his face. The more of the brutes tried to bring him down, the more excited Butch became. Unlike normal humans, they are able to withstand several of his blows before collapsing and that is good enough for the green-eyed boy. Butch always faced the issue that nothing is durable enough to withstand his unbridled strength and at the same time nothing is strong enough to deal a mighty blow on him. That often made him a little more reckless as he seeks more powerful opponents. Save for the Powerpuff Girls and these red brutes to a lesser degree, nothing else came close to giving him the fight he deserve.

Suddenly Butch's eyes noticed several projectiles flying towards him and his eyes fired beams to shoot them down. The beams made contact with the projectiles causing several violent explosions that engulfed the battlefield in smoke. As Butch's vision is obscured by the smoke, Butch suddenly felt a sharp pain in solar plexus before he was launched up in the air. As he flew out from the smoke, he is suddenly tied up by several thin, nearly transparent strings before being slammed down to the ground. Bubbles heard the sound of the explosions and as she turned around, she saw Butch being slammed down to the ground violently before he was swung directly towards Bubbles. Bubbles braced herself and the raven-haired teenage boy slammed into her and dragged her a few feet back.

"What the hell was that?" Butch shouted. As the smoke dissipated, Bubbles and Butch saw two individuals walking towards the two teenagers. One of them is a large bear-porcupine muscled abomination with red skin and silver-white fur covering his chest, shoulders and canine-like face while the other abomination is a freakishly tall man with several pairs of arms protruding from his back with three pairs of pale lavender pupil-less eyes, each finger having a strand of a piano wire-like string flowing with the wind.

"Ah...the _devushka_ from the other day!" The loud booming voice of the bear-like monster said out as his vision focused on Bubbles.

"Looks like there is enough for both of we." The tall arachnid-like adversary said. Bubbles and Butch looked at the two newly arrived adversaries, knowing that the fight for the night had only just begun.

"So Blondie,which one do you want to take on?"

Butch does not have a tinge of fear or concern in his voice, instead his voice is filled with excitement as he sees the two new arrivals in the battlefield. Butch's opinion is telling him that these two are a cut above the rest, and that in itself is worth fighting against. Bubbles' opinion of the situation on the other hand is at the opposite spectrum than those of Butch's current state of mind. She had seen the bear-porcupine abomination before in combat and had traded some blows with him before, thus knowing how powerful the man can be. As for the other one, she remembered the time in the pier where he appeared out of nowhere and could have gotten all the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys in one single swoop. She knows nothing of his capabilities but she honestly does not want to find out.

"Butch, I think we should-"

"Fine, I'll take the hedgehog!"

"Wait!" Bubbles warned but Butch immediately speeds away from Bubbles and lunges towards the bear-like being. The bear-like being blocks the incoming teenager's punch by grabbing on it with one of his hands just inches from his temple.

"Aim for my temple, not bad. I'm Medved. You Butch?"

The bear-man asked in his hoarse accent, his jaws opened in a wolf-like snarl that resembles a smile. Butch smiled in return before swinging his knee at the solar plexus of his opponent. As the other arm blocks the knee, Butch snaps his leg straight to become a forward kick, the blow hitting the being with a loud sonic Butch's surprise,the blow did nothing to the man. Suddenly the man swings his arm and tries to slams Butch in the chest with his forearm, but Butch manages to use his other arm to grab on the forearm and lifts himself off the ground. Arching his back, Butch attempts to strike at the behemoth's head with a scorpion kick. The man lets go of Butch's fist, causing the teenager to lose a little bit of balance before the man uses the arm that Buth is grabbing on to swing him away. Butch lets go of the arm and as his body pivots sideways, Butch tries to do a kick to the bear-man's head. Butch's opens wide as the bear-man intentionally slips and falls down to the ground, and as Butch watches in that split second, the bear-man aims the spikes on his forearm at the still airborne Butch. Several of the spikes from the arm fires and Butch decided to spin his body even more to avoid the missiles being fired at him. Both fighters crashed down on the ground as the missiles flew upward before exploding.

Bubbles however did not have time to see the beautiful choreography of the two fighters as she is now staring at the other 'Candyman'. Bubbles could see several strands of the fine monomolecular strings flowing in the wind from each fingertip and as Bubbles tried to figure out how many of them are there,the man answered her.

"Me have fifteen silk strands on each finga an me have fourteen arms. Wid five fingas each arms, dat a total of two thousand and one hundred silk strands."

Before Bubbles could even let the point absorb into her head, the tall and lanky Candyman straightens all his arms and immediately Bubbles' orbs floated around her and she enveloped herself in a protective force barrier from the energy field between her orbs. The ground before her break apart and several hundred strands rises from the cracks and attempt to slice the protective barrier. The barrier was strong enough that the strands ricochet off the barrier and slice the ground around her and everything in its path. The abandoned armored vehicles were sliced apart while those unable to dodge or escape the threads were immediately eviscerated or maimed by the attack. As Bubbles' defensive barrier is bombarded by the strands of razor-sharp monomolecular silk, Bubbles' wondered if her barrier could hold out any longer.

Suddenly a beam blast passes by her and heads straight for the arachnid-like abomination. The lanky man was forced to dodge the attack, and in turn relieving the pressure on Bubbles' barrier. Several more beams,gunfire and missiles head towards the spider-like man and as he dodges the attack, Bubbles attention turns towards the point of origin for the attacks and her lips shapes itself to a smile. The defenders are providing cover fire for Bubbles against Ananse and they are doing a good job at it. Bubbles knows that she would need to get closer to Ananse, and she speeds forward towards the distracted lanky Candyman and targets his waist. Bubbles tackled the man down on the floor and soon both the Powerpuff Girl and the many-limbed man are now struggling on the floor.

"Seems our friends having fun, yes?" Medved asked the jadeite-eyed teenage superhuman with a wide grin as he points with his head at the wrestling match betwee the Powerpuff Girl and the other Lunatic, his Russian accent and his intimidating stature exerting a particular tense situation between Butch and Medved.

"They are." Butch smiled once more, but never keeping his eye off the large bear-like brute.

Any small mistake by Butch would be catastrophic as the bony protrusions on his body are essentially missile racks on the go and the strength of his opponent is such that he can essentially break Butch's own bones with every blow. This is definitely the type of fight he had been looking for all this time, and he is not going to finish it so soon. Butch brings his palms together in a loud clap, causing the ground to fissure and speeds towards the Russian. The Russian bear-thing in return fires all his bony protrusions at the Rowdyruff Boy with breakneck immediately jumps into the fissure and started running towards his opponent. As the explosions erupted throughout the closing fissure and enveloping the area with dust and smoke, Medved prepares himself for the next attack by the young teenager.

Suddenly, he felt a swiping motion hitting his legs and as Medved falls down, he saw another swiping motion coming at his leg. Using one arm as a launcher, he uses his arm to jump off the ground before firing more of his missiles at the source of the swiping. Several more explosions happen, and the bear-like man is now in mid-air due to the recoil from his own missiles. A scything ray of light cuts through the smoke like a blade and slice the missiles in mid-air, causing further explosions. However Medved immediately hit something which caused him to bounce back at the smoke. Medved's face soon met an elbow uppercut and he bounced back into the mysterious barrier behind him before he was hit by an energy ball while he is afloat, causing another explosion. As he descends down to the ground smoking, the young teenager boy emerges from the smoke and dust and rams the bear-like Candyman with his shoulders. The Candyman flew towards a few tanks and hits them aside before crashing into a barrack, causing it to collapse on the man.

"How'd you like them Reflectors?" Butch pats the dust off his shoulders as he smugly smiled at the direction of the barrack where he launched his opponent. The bear-like brute emerges from the ruins, dusty and burned slightly by the attacks. The snarl-like smile of the being is now met with angry blue eyes and the muscle mass and the bony protrusions further increased in size and quantity. The being launches a large salvo of flying projectiles once more towards Butch, and as Butch tries to dodge the projectiles, the projectiles are now homing on the onyx-haired Rowdyruff Boy. The Rowdyruff Boy was forced to erect several barriers up to try and deflect the missiles, and as the projectiles met with the surface of the energy barrier, it exploded violently. The being snarled as the bony projectiles continued on growing and launching from the arms and back of the bear-porcupine like being, raining down on the place where the Rowdyruff Boy was pinned down. Suddenly several beams flew towards the being and he was hit by the beams, stopping the onslaught and blowing the area around the Candymen in a large tower of smoke and dust.

As the cloud of smoke and dust dissipated away from view, the Rowdyruff Boy's tanktop is torn and burned beyond hope, revealing his well-sculpted body. His body had several black marks and burn marks from the explosion, while his green hairband is all but destroyed. The camouflaged pants are torn at several places as they revealed his well-toned leg musculature. The dark green energy panels are erected around him like a tent, but the energy panels are cracked. Suddenly, something flew towards the barrier with breakneck speeds and the shield shattered causing Butch to be hit by the incoming projectile. Butch tumbles on the ground for a few feet before finally stopping. As he gets up, he realized that the projectile was Bubbles and the orbs around her are no longer hovering around her. He ran towards her and checked on her.

"Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie..."Bubbles said as she rubs her head.

"You alright Blondie?" Butch said, as he looked at the direction where she flew from.

"Yeah..." Bubbles' voice trailed off as her eyes focused on the upwards sight of a half-naked hunk with well-defined pectorals and abdomen, something she does not mind looking at. However her female gaze was cut shot when Butch and herself are surrounded by dark green glowing plates, which were then hit by several hundred strands of hair-like filaments whipping across its surface repeatedly. The ground around them started to be slashed by the nearly translucent strands while the fragments of the concrete that were launched to the air by the blows of the wire-like strands were sliced apart. Bubbles realized that the energy panels are slowly cracking under the pressure.

"Shit, any bright ideas Blondie?"

"I will erect my _Blumenkranz_ in your energy panels, that should buy us some time!" Butch have no idea what Bubbles just said, but he nods his head as he is not sure about what else they could do given the situation. Immediately several electrical plasma balls with a dark electric blue core formed around her and they floats towards the edges of Butch's barrier and large blue pillars of lightnings were interlaced between the orbs. Just as the orbs did so, Butch's energy panels shattered and the strands are now hitting on Bubbles' barriers without any effect whatsoever.

"Damn... your barriers are strong as heck." Butch breathed.

"Your barriers just sucked hard that's all." Bubbles playfully joke at the young man.

"Bite me, they are panels, not barriers. They are meant to _reflect_ energy or projectiles back at people." Butch snaps back at Bubbles, but he had to admit that his defenses is the worst among his brothers. Bubbles decided to not argue with the teenage boy, as she knew that he is a simpleton.

"I don't think we can stay like this forever." Bubbles commented, and Butch nods. The best defense is an offense, Butch noted and he looked around to see what he can do given the situation. It was then that his eyes catches something very interesting in the skies, and he smiled.


	24. Chapter 24: Void

Chapter 24: Void

[Downtown Townsville, Townsville: 11.15pm]

 _I'm not here to save the cops, I'm here to get Blossom out from the Townsville Police Department._

That thought is the most prevalent thought in Brick's mind as he hovers downwards towards Townsville Police Department. He observed that there were several dead corpses lying in dented cars, and Brick is not surprised that the reporters are not stepping near the vehicles or the building. The long-haired teenager touches down and his eyes are now looking at the frozen pieces of the road surface are already inside the building. He decides to land in front of the steps of the police station, but as his legs starts to touch the floor, he almost slipped before he floats once more. Brick looked into the station and noticed that the reception area is now filled with crooks and criminals, either trapped in a cube of ice or are struggling to stand up on the slippery icy surface. Brick's face breaks out into a smirk, and he honestly like what Blossom did with the place and the armed men.

"Look, another one! Get him!" Some of the crooks attempted to get up and fire their guns, but instead they slip and fired their guns towards the ceiling or the frozen floor, causing several of the bullets to ricochet and hit their other accomplices. Brick do not want to waste his sympathies for these idiots, and as he hover across them, their pathetic attempts to organize a defense is utterly pathetic in the eyes of the teenager. Brick takes off his cap before his eyes glowed until they are just pure red crimson flames. With a simple gesture, the crooks immediately collapsed with their eyes rolling white and foam forming from their mouths.

Brick decided that this would be the easiest way to flush out the rats that are hiding in Townsville Police Department and floats on. Several more men collapse with mouth foaming and some of the fallen men are even having seizures as he slowly make his way inwards. Brick sighed once more as he looked at the frozen trail and also the multitude of people not being hurt.

 _Such power should be used in a more effective manner_ , Brick thought to himself as he deduces that Blossom could take these men out without any problems if she choose to do so. He thought of Blossom and the mercy she gave her opponents and scoff at it. That saying, what he is doing now is also considered a form of mercy to his opponents, and perhaps that is what Blossom truly felt; these vermin are below him to even use his powers seriously. Several more men fell down from the top floors down the stairs or they dropped down on the ground in fits of uncontrollable fear as he floats upwards to the next floor.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FIEND!" One of the crooks cried out before he fell unconscious with foam in his mouth.

Brick smiled knowing that he still got his touch as even more men fell with mouth foaming and screaming for their lives. The weak-willed had always fallen under his enormous 'intent' as he would call it, and his ability is best used in large chaotic situations where the distinction between friend and foe is secondary to the completion of an objective. His 'intent' forces all those exposed to it to enter a state of paralysis and confusion.

 _That's interesting_ , Brock said to himself as he noticed a very particular oppressive atmonsphere in reach and as he walks closer towards the source of this radiating malice, he realize that this malice is blending in with his own 'intent'. Brick decided that it is best to sneak in on the owner of the one emitting such a disturbing atmosphere. As he trailed the killing intent,he finds himself in front of a room labeled 'Training Hall' with the doors wide open. Brick entered into the room and saw a blonde Asian woman wearing tall collared jacket covering half her face with long fingerless gloves that blends seamlessly to her jacket stepping on the head of the pink-eyed Powerpuff Girl. The woman is now bringing her hand down for the strike on Blossom and Brick springs into action.

[Townsville Police Department, Downtown Townsville: 11.20pm]

Blossom notice that the blow that she was expecting to hit her did not come. Blossom opens her eyes and she sees a young man with red eyes and fiery orange hair is looking at the aquamarine-eyed woman with an expressionless look while grabbing her striking arm. Suddenly the teenage boy kicks her in the stomach violently and she flies towards the wall causing it to collapse. The young man in the red jacket and black turtleneck takes Blossom's hand and lifts her up, allowing her to recompose herself.

"Pinkie, I don't recall you being this weak." Brick smirked at the Powerpuff Girl, but the Powerpuff Girl gives him a relieved smile rather than a nagging.

"Thanks, but what are you doing here?"

"I's just in the neighborhood." Brick of course did not tell her the whole truth, but a reason like that should be enough for Blossom to put her trust in him. There is no need for her to know that he is planning to use her for his own plans.

"Be careful she has-"

"Don't spoil the surprise, Blossom." Brick and Blossom heard a woman's deep voice behind them and they turned around only to have their heads being in the clutches of the woman. The woman then throws them towards the wall and the wall collapses upon the impact of both teenagers and the woman immediately appeared before them as both teenagers got out from the debris of the fallen wall. She appeared to not be injured in any way whatsoever, and Brick judged that by the damage around the entire hall, it appeared that Blossom did give her a good beating at least. However she suddenly disappeared once more, and Brick was struck in the face by an upside down flying knee and landing on his back.

"Brick!" Blossom cried, but she in turn received a kick to her injured stomach and she spits out more blood before crashing into another wall several feet away. As she tried to get out from the rubble, Blossom's head was grabbed by the woman and she was thrown to the other side of the hall. As Blossom lies down on the ground, she was kicked at her wound by the tip of the woman's foot, causing her to cough out more blood. However the woman disappeared before Blossom's eyes, and she saw the Rowdyruff Boy sidekick into thin air. Brick sees that the Powerpuff Girl is bleeding profusely and he kneels down and scans her with his X-ray vision. The wound did not puncture any organs, but the Tigress' blows did cause some scarring inside Blossom's organs. Brick is glad that there is no true fatal injuries in Blossom, as that would ruin his plans.

"Alright Blossom, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?" Brick asked, and the Powerpuff Girl nods. Suddenly she felt a searing pain and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air for a moment. Blossom screamed, and she looks at Brick with teary and angry eyes. Brick's eyes stopped glowing as smoke comes out from his eyes.

"Please fucking warn me before you cauterize my fucking wound with your eye beams you pencil dick!" Blossom cursed as the blood from her mouth sprayed at Brick's face as the pain in her stomach still burns in her mind. Brick smirk knowing that this is the first time he saw her curse like a sailor. But before he could even say something witty, he received a palm strike to the side of his head and he tumbles towards another wall and causing another large gaping hole in the large training hall. Blossom instinctively shot her eyebeam at her opponent, but her opponent immediately disappeared once more. Blossom gets herself up and saw that the orange-haired male is also getting up on his own two feet. As they walk cautiously to the center of the hall, they placed both their backs against each other and watch each other's back.

"Y'know, I never though I would fight back to back with a stinkin' Rowdyruff Boy."

"Likewise Pinkie."

"Don't you find fighting this woman weird?" Blossom asked.

"Glad I'm not the only one thinking about that." Brick chuckled despite the severity of the situation.

"Since you're the bright one, any ideas?" Blossom snarked at the red-eyed young man.

"Well, we're in trouble if you are relying on me for plans, Pinkie." Brick joked that his smarter counterpart is out of ideas is never a good thing, since she always have the more concrete plans.

"You're always the one that see through my plans most of the time, so I would assume that you know what to look for!" Blossom sounds pissed as she said so.

"Since you fought her earlier Pinkie,any clues?"

"Fighting her feels like fighting a wet blanket. I can't even hit her." Blossom commented, and Brick can sense the aggravation of not being able interact with a person in a fight.

"Anything else?" Brick asked the copper-haired girl.

"You saw her teleporting amd kicking our asses."

"Saw that. Anything else?"

"She can levitate...I think."

"You think?" Brick asked her,not believing that Blossom is unsure of something for once.

"I saw her sitting in mid-air alright?" Blossom answered back defensively.

"Still doesn't narrow it down. Amything truly bizarre in particular?" Blossom was quiet for a moment before she answered the long-haired teenage boy.

" There was a time where I was standing in front of her when she's sitting and suddenly I found myself sitting on a chair next to her. The sensation is bizarre,like I was being wrapped by a blanket or something wrapping around me."

"Sounds like something from science fiction Pinkie. Maybe we should think about it from that angle." Brick suggested. Suddenly they find themselves falling down from several feet above where they are standing,and both superhumans immediately hovered once they realized that they are no longer on the ground.

"She's taunting us." Blossom is admittedly frustrated,but at the same time her uneasiness is hard to dispel away. Brick's silence is only adding to her discomfort.

"Brick?" As she turned to look at Brick,the carnelian-haired teenager is no longer beside her.

* * *

"Blossom?" Brick realized that the Powerpuff Girl is no longer next to him. This is disturbing for the Rowdyrufd Boy, for the hall appeared to be the same. But at the same time he noticed that there are several handcuffed individuals with him,which were not there moments before.

"Who are you?" One of the individuals asked,a balding man with graying moustache in a police uniform. Brick takes a few steps towards the moustached man and realized that his body felt like it was wrapped with a wet blanket with multiple wet folds. As Brick walks,he noticed that he is now further away from the man and that half of the man's body and the room is now essentially a feet above his other half. This scares Brick and he screamed in terror. The man also screamed in terror.

"Shit, what happened your body?! It is like a feet above your body!" Brick exclaimed out loud.

"Your body is utterly a prism!" The man screamed back.

"Wait...a prism?" Brick said,his shock of fear becomes a fascination.

"Yeah,a prism!" The officer answered back, not knowing what to expect from the indescribable individual before him.

Brick clearly did not expect this turn of events. He looks around and notices that the world is reflecting upon itself in bizarre geometric shapes. As Brick observed his suroundings more carefully,he realized there are some things that for some reason looked out of place even for this already impossible landscape. One of the most obvious one is that the place looks a little 'folded'. As he reaches for the spot he realized that his is slowly contorting and also his arm felt like it was wrapped by a wet blanket. Brick lets the rest of his body go through the aggravatingly uncomfortable sensation to find himself standing in one of the holes that was made by his crashing body a few minutes ago. But he noticed a crack in mid-air and wondered what it is exactly.

Brick noticed that the crack is highly unusual and he decided that this is worth investigating. As he touches the crack , he noticed that the crack is slowly spreading like a fracturing glass. He then slams his fist into it and suddenly the crack breaks and collapses like a broken mirror, revealing the Powerpuff Girl rising up from the rubble. He decided that it is wise to throw the cap that he had hidden inside his jacket to test out what this impossible hole through space supposed to be.

* * *

Blossom is now clearly confused and afraid as Brick disappeared from her sight. The slender, blonde woman appeared out of nowhere and pats Blossom on her head. Blossom clealry freaked out as she is hovering several feet above the air, and this person is just walking up to her as if the sky has a floor under the woman's feet.

"Now that's out of the way,I can play with you all by myself." The woman said calmly,but her eyes are very excited at the prospect. Blossom immediately blows her ice breath at the woman, but she dissapeared once more before appearing next to her. Blossom swings her arm at the woman, but again she hits thin air. Blossom suddenly felt a kick from her sides and she was propelled towards one of the holes in the wall made by the woman, crashing into the broken masonry.

"Urgh...my head." Blossom said as she rubs her head. She looks up to see the woman now walking down from the sky like she is walking down from a staircase and realize that she needs to get out of this room and strategize once more. But to her surprise, a red baseball cap suddenly falls on her lap.

"What the-" Blossom said,surprised at the sudden appearance of the cap.

* * *

Brick smiled as he look at his phone's click when he heard Blossom's voice ten minutes after he had thrown his cap into the 'rip'. He finally understands how the tiger hunts her prey, and he got a plan now. He reaches deeply into the gap and for another ten minutes he wondered if he is mistaken about his theory until he found something. With a pull, it took him another ten minutes before a very familiar screaming long,copper-haired girl was pulled through the gap.

"Hey Pinkie, relax I got-" Before he could even say anything, he felt a very painful sensation at his family jewels. He realized that Blossom had just rammed her head square in his nuts. He could not even mutter a word,let alone scream at his misfortunes.

* * *

As Blossom wondered where the cap came from, suddenly a mysterious hand came out from nowhere and grabbed her by the she coukd even scream, the hand pulled her and she suddenly finds herself feeling that same aggravatingly uncomfortable sensation once more, the sensation of a wet blanket utterly wrapping around her body. She suddenly knocked her head into a rather bizarre surface and she felt a sharp pain on her head. As she rubs her head to soothe the pain, she suddenly noticed that she is now in a rather geometrically impossible area .She turned back to see where she came from, there is nothing to indicate where she came out from. Seeing that there is no way back she looks around and suddenly she saw Brick on the ground putting both his hands on his crotch.

"Brick! What have she done to you?" Blossom rushes towards the red-eyed bly and as she looks at him, the red-eyed teenager is now looking at her with accusatory eyes.

"Your...head...did...this..."

Recalling the weird sensation that she felt on her head moments ago, she screamed once more and she kick him at the shit. The prone boy shouted in pain, and Blossom realized that she had just made the situation worse. She kneels down beside him and helps him up and lets him lean on the wall before she talks to him.

"Sorry Brick, lady's reflex. Where where you? You were gone for like a minute or so." She waits for him to recompose himself after all the injuries she had inflicted on him. His expressions however changed from pain to confusion.

"A minute? That's impossible. It took me ten minutes to throw my cap in and hear your voice, another ten to put my hand into the gap and another ten minutes to pull you here. That's thirty minutes right there." Brick showed his phone to her and to Blossom's shock the time on Brick's phone registered as 12.10am. Blossom them showed her phone to Brick and his face contorts into an expression of disbelief.

"You mean to say that I travelled forty minutes to the future?" Blossom asked the Rowdyruff Boy in disbelief.

"Looks like it from your view. But it seems that I was gone for only a minute if you clock is right. I don't know which is worse." Brick sighed, knowing that this is nonsensical.

"Where are we?" Blossom asked as she looked around.

"Based on what I had experienced for the past forty minutes,I think I am in a pocket dimension of some sort or at least I thought I was until I pulled you out from a 'hole' I saw in you showed me your clock, it aure does not feel like a pocket dimension any more." Brick said while scratching his head.

"Oh my god...An _Einstein-Rosen Bridge_." Blossom said, realizing immediately the significance of everything is.

"A what now?"

"An _Einstein-Rosen_ Bridge. Basically this is a postulated method, within the general theory of relativity of moving from one point in space to another without crossing the space between." Blossom spoke,but then she realized that Brick is looking at her like she is a woman possessed.

"Sorry, you have to run that to me a little." Brick iterates with his trademark condescending word to Blossom. but Blossom is now on a roll as she starts to explain what is going on.

"Brick, she can control and travel through space at any two spots. She makes wormholes. Time connects differently through the wormhole than outside it so the time will always be the same from our ends but never when we travelled through it."

"So my hand is now younger than my body because I reached to you?" Brick said, utterly confused.

"For wanting of better words, is more of a path through time rather than it is a device that itself moves through time." Blossom reasoned, finally understanding how everything fits together.

"Nerd." Brick called her, but she is in her own world of scientific exploration as she goes about speaking the revelation she had just received from the heavens itself.

"This explains everything. From her teleporting at will, making people appear and disappear, her levitation, her intangibility, and how she forced me on that chair. Teleporting? She is just travelling through the shortest path between two spaces! Making people appear and disappear? Moving them through the two points in space or storing them in the dimension in between two tangible spaces! Levitation? She shorted the space between the floor and the sky, allowing her to walk on a surface on one dimensional plane while appear to be floating in another! Sudden explosions? She just stacked a ridiculous amount of explosives and blow them up in those spaces! Intangibility? She just folds space to absorb the blows! And that freaky sitting on the chair? She didn't make me sit on the chair, she shortened the distance between the chair and my butt! Aha I knew there was a rational reason for all of that creepiness! But wait..." Blossom's manic euphoria immediately dampens and Brick noticed the change of tone in her voice.

"What's wrong Pinkie? You were on a roll just now. Why stop now?"

"Then...what is that feeling of being stabbed in my chest before I entered the room and face her?" Blossom asked herself out loud. Brick noticed her expressions, and understood immediately. He had seen that expression countless times on the battlefields of the world, and this time Blossom's expression is no different.

"It's your instinct of fear Blossom." Brick answered and he finally gets up dusting his pants and jacket.

"Fear? How is that possible? I had never faced her before." Blossom said, not believing that Brick is implying that she is lesser than who she think she is.

"No Blossom, fear comes in many forms. I can sense those fears right now from you." Brick stretches his arms and Blossom is looking at him .

"What do you know about fear?" Blossom asked the Rowdyruff Boy. The Rowdyruff Boy's expression is now a much more somber expression, and he looks at her with world-weary eyes.

"Nothing says fear more than the world's battlefields, where people fear that their lives will be snuffed out at any moment. Nothing hurts more than not knowing what you are facing, knowing that any wrong idea will spell the doom of everyone. Nothing hurts more than not believing in yourself, knowing that if you don't, you lose sight of why you truly are. Nothing hurts more than losing a family, friend, or person you could help knowing that there is no one else to blame but yourself. It is reasonable for us to feel fear on the battlefield, especially ones we do not understand and can't rationalize." Brick said as he turned away from her.

 _That hurt more than it should_ , Blossom said to herself, biting her lips. The Powerpuff Girl looks up in silence, but she knows that Brick is telling her exactly what she dare not say out loud. Brick saw the young woman's emotional distress and knew that this is not the time to wallow in self-depreciation. Brick grabs Blossom's arm and leads her towards the prismatic surfaces. Blossom loses her balance for a moment, but managed to regain her footing as she was led by the long-haired teenage boy.

"I saw some officers just now. I think it is in our best interest to work with them." Brick said curtly. Despite Blossom's displeasure at the rude way the Rowdyruff Boy is speaking to her, she finds his rationale sound.

"Lead the way."

* * *

So far Brick and Blossom had found around twelve officers after what felt like hours of searching and miles of walking a. To both Brick and Blossom's surprise, some of them had been in the prismatic prison for just thirty minutes after the station is stomped, while others said they are trapped here for days. The testimony from all the twelve officers is a great cause of concern for both Brick and Blossom, as this alternate dimension that they are trapped in is subject to an unreasonable time dilation. In addition it appears that there are several iterations of the same training hall, each with its own timestamp. As the group of people are now exploring further into the space folds to find more police officers, Brick decides that he needs to say something about the matter.

"Pinkie, this is bad."

"What's wrong Brick?"

"We don't know how many timestamps there are. Right now my clock is saying that it is 3.00am two days from our entry into the police department, while yours appeared to be just a few minutes after you entered into this dimension prison." Brick mentioned as he showed the time on his phone to Blossom. The other police officers are now looking at the two superhumans with great unease.

"Yeah, it is bad. It appears that this is not an _Einstein-Rosen_ Bridge, but more like a _Morris-Thorne_ wormhole with a _Lorentzian_ manifold tesseract prison for each individual." The officers are staring at Blossom blankly and Brick is also scratching his head as he is not really as nerdy as Blossom. Blossom sighed.

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff." Blossom realized that as she is explaining, she does not know how to explain the rest of the concept without making things even more complicated.

"Well, that explanation went down the drain immediately." Brick said derisively. Blossom slapped his arm hard, and Brick knew that he deserved that.

"Anyway, we need to get the other officers out as soon as possible. We do not know how time affects each one of us in here. For all you know some of us are old people within the _next_ thirty minutes. But I do not think we have the time left to explore every time zone." Blossom emphasized on the time that they have left.

"Shit...can't we just shatter all the space and force everyone to gather in one spot?" Brick asked, and immediately Blossom's eyes lit up.

"That's it! We need to find a supporting structure of all the space possible. and basically make it collapse. But..." Blossom's enthusiasm immediately dropped to a quiet unease, causing Brick to prod the answer out from the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"But what?"

"We may be able to get everyone out, or we all break into pieces and kinda be trapped forever."

"Ah fuck." One of the police officers said once he heard the reasoning of the Powerpuff Girl. The officer is a tanned man with thick eyebrows and face marred with a birthmark. The officers are now more demoralized than before and Brick and Blossom knew that they need to keep morale high if they want to get out of this situation alive, in one piece, and in their relative ages.

"But I found a crack in the space and break it to save your butt from the crazy Asian lady. Can't we just crack one of this plane or something and get out of here?" Brick's suggestion was immediately shot by the long-haired teenage girl.

"We can't just crack space-time just like that! You need a point in which the fabric of space-time is weak at its seams, as odd as that sounds! They can't just appear out of nowhere that easily y'know Brick!" Blossom flips her hands in the air in disbelief, not expecting that this fiery-orange boy is the one that always foiled her plans whenever they faced each other.

"Um...Pinkie?" Brick asked as his eyes noticed something. The rest of the officers are also looking at where Brick is looking at and their eyes are now as wide open as those of the cinnabar-eyed teenager.

"For all we know that is just a freak accident made by the damn woman to make you pull me in here to be trapped here for all eternity! The cops, a Powerpuff Girl, a Rwodyruff Boy gone! That would clearly benefit the forces that are now besieging Townsville!" Blossom did not take heed of the Rowdyruff Boy calling her and continued on with her angry ramble of scientific techno-rabble.

"Pinkie..." Brick's voice is now sterner than before, and he is now tapping her on the shoulder. Some of the officers are still rubbing their eyes, as they could not believe what their eyes are seeing.

"And don't get me started on trying to explain the theoretical impracticality of a transversable wormhole! How the _Gauss-Bonnet_ gravitational pull is a stupidly impractical laboratory experience and-" Suddenly she felt a hard smack on her head and that caused her to cut out from her own ramblings. Annoyed and angry that she was smacked on her head, she turned to the only person in range to do so.

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA BRICK?!" Blossom yelled at Brick, but she noticed that the carnelian-haired teenager's expression is that of disbelief and his jaw is now wide open in surprise. The red-eyed teenager grabs the Powerpuff Girl's head with both of his hands and forcefully turns her to where he is looking at. Blossom's angered expressions soon turned to an expression of bewilderment and disbelief. Right before them, they saw a large scroll attached to the ceiling of the training hall plane that they are in with large letters emblazoned on it right next to a large rope. Blossom immediately reads on the words and she realized what says. But she can not believe what was written on the scroll as it is just too stupid for it to even make sense. Her time as a superheroine have not prepared her for this situation at all, and she honestly believe that it was a trick to fool those stupid enough to fall for it. But Blossom could not help but to voice out the meaning of the words for everyone else to hear.

"Dear Blossom, If you are in here seeking for a way out, pull the rope for everyone to escape the Void. Know that I've given you a chance if you ever found this." Blossom read the words on the scroll out loud.

"So Pinkie, do you think it is a trap?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl. The other officers are now looking at Blossom, waiting for her to say something regarding this particular situation. After all, the scroll with the big letters written on it is meant for the red-haired young woman. Blossom shakes her head in disbelief as she looks at the scroll and the rope. How did the Tigress know that she would find this place? How is it even possible that woman knew that she is inside this prismatic prison? Those are the questions running wild inside Blossom's head.

"It has to be Brick. No one is that stupid to allow people to just escape their prison just like that. Unless..."

"For some reason, that woman know that you'll be in here to make the choice." Brick said, as he wondered if the woman even planned for him to grab Blossom into this place. Brick felt a cold sweat running down his temple. Impossible. No one can predict the future, Brick thought. And he can see that Blossom is also thinking the same thing as him.

"No. She doesn't know that I will be in here with you. She wanted to trap me here alone to begin with." Blossom deduced.

If she had predicted the future, that woman would have included Brick's name in here as well. Brick's involvement is something that she did not anticipate, and that is why she imprisoned him here in the first place. That woman intends to play around with her in her sick twisted game. Suddenly Blossom's train of though was interrupted by a man groaning. She turned around to see one of the officers kneeling down, holding his chest. She rushed to his side and scanned his body with her X-ray vision. She saw that the man is suffering a heart attack. As she turns off her X-ray vision, she noticed that the officer is rapidly aging, and she grabs his arm and looks at his digital watch.

"Oh no..." Blossom said as her worst fears are realized. The man had indeed aged, and the digits in the watch is slowly moving rapidly as both the date and time are rapidly moving forward. Suddenly the men around her are slowly succumbing to the passage of rapidly moving time as they rapidly age. Blossom looked around and she noticed that Brick is also slowly aging.

"Pinkie, we're aging!" Brick said as his voice slowly deepens and his face becoming older and older. Blossom realized that the time-space within this room is being accelerated and her mind is now racing to solve the problem that is now befalling them. She does not want to believe the scroll and the rope, but she noticed that her arms are now aging much more rapidly than she could even imagine.

"I can see that! But I can't just pull the rope! It could be a trap!" Blossom yelled back at Brick. To her horror, Brick is now turning into a hunched old man.

"We can't hold out any longer, hurry!" The wizened voice of an aging Brick said as he points towards one of the officers who is now slowly taking on a nearly desiccated appearance. Blossom's mind is now a mess, as she realized that people are slowly dying as she ponder on a solution. There has to be another way to this than pulling the rope and risking it all.

"But-" Blossom said, and she realized that her voice is also aging.

"JUST PULL THE ROPE!" Brick growled at her.

"NO!" Blossom yelled back.

"YOU GOT NO CHOICE BLOSSOM! JUST DO IT!" Brick is clearly succumbing to his rapid age as his legs buckled and he is now on all four. Blossom looks at Brick and the officers and the rope. Her mind is now racing, knowing as time is not on their side. As she looks at her rapidly shriveling arm, she wonder what would be the right action now.

* * *

As Tigress is taking her sweet time to get down to give the Powerpuff Girl a beating of her lifetime, she noticed that a blood-red baseball cap lands on the lap of the Powerpuff Girl before a hand suddenly grabs the Powerpuff Girl from out of nowhere and they disappeared instantly. Tigress is now smiling, knowing that the arm belongs to the Rowdyruff Boy. She is definitely enjoying this as, the Rowdyruff Boy managed to find the cracks within space-time that she had put for her to use. As she finally steps down on the ground, she wondered if she should hunt them inside her-

"Looks like you are having a lot of fun playing cops and robbers, _Tigresse._ " A nasally eloquent flowing female voice echoed in the training hall. Tigress turned around to see that there is a reddish-pink fog appearing in the middle of the training hall, and a eloquently slender woman with a doll-like appearance comes out from the fog, with waist-length braided brunette hair and a cross-shaped scar on her cheek.

"Fennec, what brings you here?" The aquamarine eyes of the bleached blonde Asian is now looking at the bright sky-blue eyes clad in a sleeveless dark blue sweater top and bagging desert camoflaged cargo pants that sags slightly. The newcomer arranges her khaki beret with both her arms before she stands before the tall and slender Asian woman with the high-collared jacket.

"You are needed elsewhere. We need to get some things prepared for the next phase of the plan. Him's orders." The braided brunette with the scarred cheek informed the bleached blonde Asian woman. The Asian is now looking at her with playfully disapproving eyes.

"But I was just starting." Tigress said with a monotone voice, but her eyes are expressing a mock dissapointment. However the other woman is not amused at all, and Tigress decides to flick her wrist to materialize a chair right beside the newcomer. The bright blue-eyed woman is now looking at the eyes of the aquamarine-eyed woman, and the Asian is beckoning her to take a seat. The milk complexion woman takes a seat, but her eyes never stop watching the feline-like woman. Tigress decides to fold her arms and takes a seat in mind-air, with her legs being parallel to the ground.

"You've played enough. You've trapped Blossom in your 'void'. "

"Brick's here you know. Your _Petit Rouge_ is an unexpected guest, but I accommodated him as a good host should. Blossom and Brick are such a cute couple." Tigress said in a monotone manner, but her eyes are looking at the woman of European descent condescendingly . Suddenly the European woman sprang into action and grabbed the other woman by her jacket.

"You know that Him wants them alive, _especially_ the Rowdyruff Boy." Fennec states, with a thinly veiled threat in her voice.

"I know, I know. For the sake of the demon I had already made my own arrangements within my 'void' so that they can find their way out if they looked hard enough. It is hard to miss. Also if they do not take it, I had prepared a surprise in that room for them. It is up to them to take my charity or not." The woman said, her eyes rolling upwards to mock the fox-like woman. The French woman is glaring at the Asian, but she could not do anything to Tigress for she is an essential key to Him's plans.

"Time to move." The braided brunette threatened, and the Asian woman sighed.

"Hold on." Tigress snaps her finger, before slapping the European's hands off her jacket. As Tigress stands up, she pats her hand as if to clear some dust on her palms.

"Alright, I have just taken all our casualties. We can go now." Tigress informed Fennec, and both of them were engulfed by a reddish pink fog, and dissipated.

* * *

The training hall is utterly silent, without any trace of life.

Suddenly, the training hall is filled with the presence of around seventy-five officers and two red-headed teenagers. Most of them that came out are now screaming in horror, but at the same time they are glad that they are back to the true 'space' that they belong to. Some of the men appeared to be trembling, shocked by their ordeal. Some of the officers are just laughing, their minds broken by the assault on their minds within the confines of the impossible. Others are just lying there, stiff and glass-eyed. Brick is gasping for air as coming out from that prismatic prison is like being wrapped by a flaming hot wet blanket in a hot sauna, and it is very uncomfortable. As he looks on his arms, he realize that it is no longer old and shriveled. Instead his arms are now back to normal and he could not help but to take a deep breath while touching his youthful face.

Despite his relief, Brick's experience blared at him to scan his surroundings for any threats. Brick looked around with his X-ray vision, noticing that the one called Tigress and the armed men that stormed the police station are all gone. The only living people in this building are the officers that he sees in this hall.

"I've just scanned the building, the building is clear!" Brick shouted out to inform the officers that the area is now clear of any threats.

Hearing Brick's response, some of the officers spring in to action. Some are already trying to organize themselves in order to tend to the unconscious officers, while others are trying to communicate with the outside world for help. As Brick saw one officer puts his chest on another fallen officer's chest before getting up and shaking his head before crying. As Brick looked around, he noticed that there were enough casualties within the thing called the 'Void' as some of the men that are lying down are desiccated and have clear, white hair like those of fishing rods. A few seconds earlier or so may have saved them, or perhaps they are already dead before the situation with the rope happened. Brick will never know the truth, but Brick knew that this battle had ended as a moral victory for the Lunatics despite them escaping from battlefield.

"Pinkie, you alright?" The hoarse voice of the Rowdyruff Boy is now asking her of her condition as focuses his mind onto the present. He noticed that Blossom is now on all fours, coughing and taking her breath of fresh cool air like he did just now.

 _Looks like she is alright_ , Brick said to himself, as Blossom appeared to be fine to his eyes.

However, unbeknownst to Brick, Blossom is having a mental shock unlike any other. For the first time in Blossom's life, Blossom had been utterly defeated in every sense of the word. Not only did the Asian tigress made a mockery of her abilities, but she had also made a mockery of her will. Throughout the whole battle, she had outgunned her, outmaneuvered her and in some cases outwitted her. The scroll that informed them to pull the rope to escape is the last draw. The Asian woman had intended to trap her there and let her find that scroll, and she had set a trap within the room to temper with her thinking. If she does not take the offer, they would die. The Asian woman had given her an offer she could not refuse, and she realized that perhaps this is why her 'time' is moving much slower than the rest. It is to come to this particular moment of making her choice; Accept her mercy or die. And Blossom had taken her mercy. Blossom hates to admit it but they are only out of there by Tigress' good graces.

"Pinkie?" Brick walks up and kneels beside her. As his arm reaches for her shoulder, Blossom turns her head to see him face to face. To Brick's surprise, the Powerpuff Girl's rose-colored eyes are now shell-shocked and watery, and tears are flowing down her cheeks. Her lips quivered and suddenly Blossom dived into his chest and pressed her whole weight on his chest. Brick lost his sense of balance, but he managed to land on his butt. He felt the sudden wet sensation on his chest as the Powerpuff Girl howled as she buried her face into his chest and cried. He could feel her warmth around his body, and as she cried he hugged her back, patting one of his arms on her back.


	25. Chapter 25: Entity

Chapter 25: Entity

[Outside Townsville Police Department, Downtown Townsville: 12.30am]

Brick is outside the Townsville Police Station when he received the latest updates in regards to the situation with the orphanage and also the military base. As he watched the footage from a tablet that belonged to one of the news reporter covering the Townsville Police Department, the footage of Boomer and Buttercup being badly injured by a single assailant is something he could not fathom. The assailant's strength and abilities definitely puts him up on a higher level than a normal Candyman, and Brick wonder if their opponent is one of the higher echelons of Him's organization. The second news coverage is even more grim, for it showed the incompetencies of the US Military in defending one of its own bases. This is essentially a PR disaster, for the entire base invasion force and their reinforcements had disappeared without a trace, and the only thing they left behind are the wrecks of their vehicles and also the destruction that they had brought on the base. How such an incident happened is something the media is trying to find out. However, seeing what just happened in the Townsville Police Department with the one they called Tigress, Brick pieced the puzzle together.

 _The Tigress left us not because she wanted to, but because she needs to_ , Brick postulated as he realized that only the Asian woman would have the power to bring in more reinforcements into the base as well as making their retreat possible. Brick could not help but to question the motive of sending in more reinforcements to the base only to pull them off all at once. However, he believed that there is another accomplice within the base that allowed this tactical retreat to happen, as the footage of a red sky and what appeared to be an inverted world also played a pivotal role to make this _maskirovka_ to happen. Lastly, the image of Bubbles being hung in a mock crucifixion on a flag pole with a screen around her neck is the last draw. The image of the injured Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys are played constantly with these images, further cementing the despair within the heart of the fearful Townsville Population.

With the Blues and the Greens gone from both the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys, the only available force to keep Townsville under manageable levels is him. Blossom in more ways than one is out of action, both due to her temporary cauterization and also psychological breakdown. His cauterization is only temporary, and any strenuous movements would had opened the wound and cause further infection. As of this moment, the hospital personnel being dispatched to the scene are now treating the survivors of the Townsville Police Department siege. As he watched them wash away Blossom's wounds and also tried their best to close her wound, he can see that Blossom's mind is now in utter psychological shock for it, for the copper-haired young woman considers her rational thinking and intelligence as her greatest asset. With those being obliterated by the Tigress, it would take some time for her psychological trauma to heal. This puts Brick into a very messed up situation; if there are any more attacks by the Lunatics, as these kingpins of crime would call themselves, he is the last man standing. Brick honestly thinks that this is the worst kind of responsibility to give to him, as he is perhaps one of the most self-centered person he knows. And now the city would have to rely on him to save whatever that is left.

Brick could not help but to wonder what else these 'Lunatics" would do to Townsville. So far they had shown that they are audacious and brazen enough to attack even a military base without even batting an eye. They had also shown that they have no compulsion to strike at the weak, as shown with their assault on the orphanage. But so far, he is surprised that they have not struck at Townsville Prison and let the inmates out, nor did they target other public places. Brick wondered why have they not attacked other locations that would surely cause resources to be directed to them. Somehow, it feels like there is something missing, and this threat is further exacerbated by the 'declaration'. There must be something in the speech that would make sense to Brick if he delve deeper into it. But all Brick could think off are subjects that would make sense.

As he looked around to see what else he is missing, he noticed that one of the news crew is whispering to the news reporter. Suddenly he noticed that the scene is slowly being acted out again and again with the other news team. Suddenly all of them are now scrambling from whatever it is that they are doing and they are all frantically packing up their equipment and gear while the news reporters are the news crew are now rushing into their vehicles. Brick immediately recognized that the news crew had just received their latest assignment. As they frantically moved around and trying to mobilize, Brick stopped one of the man running in front of him.

"What's going on?" Brick asked the half-bald man.

"District Attorney Morningstar is about to make a speech in thirty minutes in regards to the events along with the Mayor!" Brick's eyes immediately opens wide and he off from the ground within seconds and speeds towards the District Attorney Office. As he maneuvered between the tall skyscrapers, he immediately realized how stupid he was. How could he had forgotten that Lilith Morningstar has a target painted on her head? She, the face of law and order in the city? Her death would make tonight's turn of events a debilitating death blow to all hope. Of course, The Mayor is kind of pointless and honestly he would just let the Mayor had it if it so happen that he is the target.

He speeds towards the District Attorney's office in a stream of crimson lightning, making a path in the black moonless night.

* * *

The district attorney's gray eyes are focused on the screen of her laptop as she types away and refer to very thick law books. As Brick watches his raven-haired guardian from the window, he could only try to imagine how stressful her life is right now. The countless piles of paperwork in her room is just ridiculous, and he is just going to add another level of stress into her life. Brick knocks on the glass of the window to get the district attorney's attention, knowing that a knock on the thirteenth floor of a building is bout to catch her attention. The bespectacled woman looks at her with her gray eyes and she walks towards the window. Brick waits as the raven-haired woman with the pixie-cut hairstyle opens her window to let him in.

"That's a nice surprise, what brings you here Brick?" The confident but tired voice of Lilith Morningstar asked the long-haired teenage boy as he floats through the window and into her office. The woman closes the window and now faces the ruby-eyed teenager with eyes looking for an answer. Brick is impressed by the woman's ability to calmly assess the situation. As he touches down on the ground, he grabs her arm causing a sense of alarm in the woman's eyes.

"What's wrong Brick?" The bespectacled woman asked her adopted son.

"We need to get out of here now. You're next." Brick's tone is stoically calm, and the woman looks at his red eyes with reluctance.

"I can't just leave-." The woman's protest is suddenly interrupted as the color from their surroundings faded away in shades of black,white and gray. The utter loss of color of their surroundings as well as the overbearing gloominess of the present atmosphere only confirmed his worst suspicions, and he turned back to look at his guardian. Brick frown as his expression shows that he is clearly displeased by this growing developments. He suddenly pulled the woman towards him and carried her in a bridal carry. Brick blasts the wall and the window where he just came in with his eye beams causing a sudden gust of wind entering into the office room. The gust of wind blew out some of the paperwork down on the streets below, and as the woman watched her work flew away Brick flew out towards the gap in a blaze of crimson lightning.

Or so he thought.

Somehow, Brick slams into an invisible force that is preventing from leaving the room. As he bounces back, he feels the headache coming from his forehead. The paperwork had stopped flying out from the room and Brick knew that something is very, very wrong with this situation. As he puts Lilith down, he touches the hole that he made with his eyes and realized that there is something tangible before him. Brick punches the invisible wall but all it did is to make the room shake from his blow and causing the ceiling to rain down some dust.

"We're getting out another way." Brick said, but then realized that his voice is not coming out from his mouth right. As he looks at Lilith, he noticed that she is also speaking to him but it seems that he is not able to hear her voice very well either, as her voice is accomoanied by a particular ringing noise. It was then that he realized that his hearing right now is being affected from the effects of the Los Noches leader.

 _Boomer's right, this suck_ , Brick said in his mind. He walks towards the door and pulls down part of the binds covering the entrance to her room. He sees that the staff of Lilith's office are now panicking and appears to be screaming. However Brick does not have the time to worry about these people and he grabs the pixie-haired woman by her arm and he opens the door.

As they rushed out together, Brick needs to figure out how he would be getting out of this mess,especially when one of his senses is essentially robbed from is now even more impressed with his sand-blonde brother, for he is able to fight with this enemy despite losing his sense of hearing entirely. But now his priority is to compensate his hearing with something of comparable usage. As Brick brings Lilith out from her department, he realized by accident the sense that he could use to compensate for his hearing.

He deliberately slips Lilith off his arm and a large gray arm breaks out from the wall and attempts to get Brick and Lilith in an inwards clothesline. As the wall crumbles, Brick comes face to face with a hulking brute with bulging arteries and veins. Brick folds his hand underneath him and immediately lands with his hands, before propelling himself forward with his arms and kicks the brute with both his legs through the gap caused by the brute. The brute slams to the wall and and Brick can sense the brute's 'intent'. It is a mix of many things, but he can definitely sense it with his 'mind's eye'.

 _This is going to be interesting_ , Brick said to himself. Brick's monochrome eyes glowed with flames as the brute looks at him with anger. The brute rushes towards him, catching Brick a little unaware. With a single palm strike to the brute's liver, the brute collapses on his knees. But before the brute could even do anything else, Brick slams booth of his palms at each side of the brute's ears before grabbing the brute's head and bringing his knee up the brute's chin. With that the fight is over as the hulking man falls backwards to the ground. As Brick turns back to see how things are doing, he is particularly surprised by the very pale but still standing Ms. Morningstar.

Suddenly Brick feels a significantly more powerful killing intent emanating from the other end of the corridor. He turns around to see a bat-masked man dressed in a long trench coat and loose fitting creased jeans and a tartan buttoned-up shirt, with just the top button buttoned is now looking at him with burning crimson eyes in an otherwise monochrome world.

"Ah shitbiscuits." Brick said his curse out loud. Murciélago is before him.

The masked men is now ablaze in a gray flame and several beam bolts fly out from his fingertips. Brick dodges them all with ease, but he knew that the tight confines of the building is not advantageous for him. He would need to do something about this annoying simpleton before he could send her to the only place he know that Lilith would be safe in. Brick proceed to move backwards to where the district attorney is, grabbing her by the waist and make a run for it.

"You alright?" Brick asked the district attorney, but he noticed that the district attorney is already unconscious. As the bat-masked man give chase, Brick would need to find an emergency stair exit to make sure that he gets the best chance to get out of the building. If the building is wrapped with an invisible force field, then the best way to get out from the building is to go down. Several more beams flew past Brick, and one of them burned a little bit of his ponytail. His eyes noticed the 'exit' sign and seeing that he needs to get out from the building fast, Brick immediately carries the woman in a bridal carry and kicks down the door with all his might,. The door was kicked so hard that it slammed and cracked the wall. Brick immediately jumps down the flight of stairs in the fastest way possible, and he could hear the gangster roared in a thick Hispanic accent.

"YOU ARE NOT ESCAPING WITH MY PREY _MIERDA ROJA_! GET THE _PUTA_!" The roar echoed throughout the staircase, and Brick could see the movement of several dozen individuals moving up in the staircase. Brick sighed, wondering why these people are still going up against him if all they are going to do against him is to fall unconscious against his 'intent'. Brick unleashes his 'intent' throughout the whole staircase, but Brick realized that something is wrong. Something is very wrong. These men are now rushing up the staircase and as they ran up the staircase, their clothes started to rip apart and revealing a red-hued mass of muscle with hyper-bulging veins and arteries. Brick sighed, knowing that this feels like a scene from those action movies he watched before. His 'intent' is not really working this time around, and he understood why; their mind had went down the deep end to the point where they do not feel anything else other than their rage. He looks up to see that the bat-masked man is now running down the stairs. Brick looks down again once more and sighs. It is better to take on the brutes than to take the bat-masked lunatic with laser fingers. Now his problem is a simple one; how the hell is he going to fight if he going to carry someone to escape.

"I'm just gonna wing it." Brick groans before he descends down the stairs.

As soon as Brick reaches the first level, the first Candyman lunges at Brick, but Brick slides Lilith on the flat area of the staircase under the brute, barely missing the flying behemoth. Brick rotates his body and slams into the temple of the lunging Candyman with his elbow, causing the brute to spin violently off the railings of the stairs and fall down on several of the Candymen. Within a split second, the second behemoth throws a punch at Brick, but Brick strikes both of the brute's kneecaps with a downward palm strike and a loud bone-shattering sound echoes throughout the staircase chamber. As he barely finishes his downward strike, he saw with the corner of his eye that there is an exit on the right side of the descending stair on his left. Brick grabs the slowing Lilith and throws her upwards in the air to the left before he turns to the left and lunges downwards towards his third opponent. Concentrating his power to his legs, Brick launchers himself and bringing his knees to the third Candyman's chest, launching the brute backwards. As the third opponent falls, Brick steps on his chest and launches himself further to grab the woman in mid-air.

With a kick to the wall, Brick grabs Lilith and bounces off the wall, fluidly extending one of his legs to strike another Candyman with a flying kick to the brute's chest. The brute falls down the stairs, further hindering the other Candyman while Brick is propelling himself towards the exit. Brick spins around and with his back facing towards the exit, he breaks through the door with the raven-haired woman in his protective embrace and rolled into the office corridor. As Brick rolled down on the ground, the other brutes are now entering through the broken-down door and rushed towards him.

As he rolled and regain his upright posture in a smooth transition, Brick fired an eyebeam at the brutes. One of the brutes was brought down by the beam and Brick carried the woman in his arm in a bridal carry. Brick is now running down the office corridor as fast as he could and as he sees an office door, Brick spins around and use his back as a battering ram once more. The impact broke the door and once again Brick is in a maze of office workstations and seeing that the stairs are infested with Candymen, he decided that he would be taking the shortcut.

With a concentrated blast from his eyes, he blasts through the floor and he jumps down into the hole he had made. As the teenager descends down the hole that he is making with his concentrated eye beams, his head is ablaze with thoughts on what to do next. He would need to do something about these annoying simpletons before he could send Lilith to the only place he know that is safe for the district attorney. If the bat-masked figure catches up, he would not be able to guarantee his guardian's safety. If this buildings start to collapse on him while he is blasting through the building, Lilith's life would be in danger. There is just too much to think about before Brick's senses noticed something coming at him as he is descending down the hole.

"RAAGGHHHHHH!" One of the Candymen was lunging at him just as he was passing through the hole and Brick knew that he did not have the time to dodge the behemoth.

Brick looked around to see what he could do given his situation and he saw what he could do in that fraction of a second. Brick's reflexes allowed him to slide the unconscious woman on one of the office chair and kicks her away before the red mountain of muscle tackled him. Brick and his hyper-muscled opponent crashed through the workstations, struggling to get the upper hand. As they are struggling on the floor, Brick saw the opportunity for a counterattack and decided to grab his opponent's head with both his hands. With chilling ruthlessness, Brick unflinchingly dig both of his thumbs into his opponent's eyes, blinding his opponent. The superpowered man is now screaming and rolled away from Brick, but Brick decided that he needs to neutralize him further. Brick focused all his power his foot and kicked the Candyman in the chest, and a loud booming sound accompanied by cracking sounds echoed throughout the office space. The behemoth was propelled through the window but instead of flying out the window the brute was bounced back towards Brick. With a spinning butterfly kick, Brick deflected the behemoth towards another wall and the Candyman was launched out of the office room. Taking a few moments to catch his breath, Brick looks at his bloodied arms and sigh once more.

"Great, my hands are dirty." Brick flicks the blood away from his arm before he realizes that his arms are still bloody. A hand passes him some tissues and Brick takes it nonchalantly and wipes his hands.

"Thank you." Brick said, not realizing the gravity of the situation as he finally throws the tissues to a trash bin.

" _De nada, mierda roja."_ The voice answered back. Brick's monochrome eyes opened wide and as he turned towards the direction of the voice, a hand soon grabbed his head and slams him down on the floor. Before Brick could even get up, he was pummeled to the floor by the blows of the bat-masked man. Brick fires an eyebeam at the eyes of his opponent, but the bat-masked gangster dodges the attack before slamming Brick's body on the ground. As the two fighters struggled on the ground, Brick realized that he is slowly being overwhelmed as Murciélago climbs on his chest and started pummeling Brick with his fists and his elbows. Brick tried to throw a blow at the bat-faced man, but Brick saw a flash of red and felt a sudden searing pain in his hand and forearm. He tried another blow to his opponent's kidney with his other arm but he saw the same flash and felt the same overbearing pain coursing through his arm. The office room is soon filled with the smell of charred flesh, and Brick realized that both his hands are burned. Burned by the beams of the man above him.

"Oh no _gringo_. You will not touch me with those hands of yours." The bat points his fingers at the shoulder of the Rowdyruff Boy before firing his beam at point-blank range. The beam pierced through the boy's body and the cried out in pain, knowing that his left hand is now essentially useless.

"You b-bastard..." Brick mustered his will to lift his damaged arms to try and hit the man but Brick's hands are shot by the beams from Murciélago's fingers before the pummeling continue on. Brick fires a few of his eyebeams, but they too were swatted away by the being before the gangster punches Brick straight in the eye. As he continued his frenzied onslaught on the Rowdyruff Boy, Brick's retaliation becomes weaker due to his damaged arms as the fiend fired upon every part of the Rowdyruff Boy's arm, and also the opponent's dominant position above him allowed the fiend to slam his whole weight onto Brick's head. Brick's vision is now becoming a big blur as the pain and shock of his wounds are now finally taking its toll on him. His arms moved involuntarily and with a final surge of strength, Brick immediately grabs on both of Murciélago's arms with his charred arms. Suddenly his vision turned black

* * *

 _Is this how it feels like to die? This utterly sucks_ ,Brick said in his mind.

For some reason, instead of worrying about his own survival, his mind is drifting into the image of him having a nice picnic under the tree in Townsville High with Bubbles. His mind is utterly calm and tranquil at this last imagery in his head, despite it being an odd thing to think about now. He can feel the nice cool breeze touching his skin like the caresses of silk, and the smell of a Quiche Lorraine is piercing through his nose. As the image of the pig-tailed blonde teenage girl with the white frilly dress looks at him with a calm and gentle light blue eyes, Brick thought that his only regret is that he did not even tried to thank her for making some things bearable for him.

 _Well, time for me to take over_ , Brick's mental image was interrupted by a voice that sounds similar to his own, and Brick is now looking around to find the source of the voice. Suddenly a dark silhouette appeared before Brick, and Brick recognized it as his own silhouette. However something is definitely wrong with this figure, for its sinister presence is overwhelming. The only thing that is visible from this silhouette are two glowing red eyes. Before Brick could even asked the silhoutte, Bricks's vision immediately blacks out.

* * *

Suddenly, the monochrome room had turned into shades of bloody crimson, taking the bat-masked man by surprise. The atmosphere around the whole office room becomes more burdensome and heavy, and the Lunatic is feeling goosebumps all over his body. Immediately the man points his fingers at Brick's face, causing the long-haired teenager to let go of his arms. The Hispanic gangster used the opportunity and jumped away from the teenager's body.

The Lunatic watched as the carnelian-haired teenager rose up, knowing that the tide of battle had turned. As the young teenager takes away his red coat the cloth wrappings of his ponytail unravels and his fiery-orange hair is now levitating freely. With the exception of the burning crimson irises, the rest of the orange-haired teenager's eyes are as dark as the darkest night. His body is now engulfed in a dark red swirling flaming vortex, giving Brick the visage of a raging demon. As the teenager smiled at Murciélago with crazed eyes, the gangster can only see a gaping hole where teeth and gums should be as Brick grin from ear to ear. The sinister smile radiate with a darkness that cast a shadow on darkness itself. As Brick's pupils turn into reptilian slits, the teenager is now walking towards the bat like a man possessed. With every step, the oppressive atmosphere of the room just becomes heavier and heavier. Suddenly the room's temperature drops, causing Murciélago's breath to become vapor. Brick on the other hand is not breathing any vapor, and his stare is now as cold as ice.

" _Time for me to take over_." Brick's voice is not like his normal self, for it is a distorted voice being repeated by an reverberating echo that is slightly out of sync. The third person perspective of the speech is utterly spine-chilling for the bat-masked Hispanic gangster. As Brick shows his arm, his hands are slowly healing. The flesh of his charred arm started to reform strand by strand, covering his revealed tendons and muscle with fresh new flesh once more. The arm slowly glowed with a near-black glowing crimson,from beneath the skin. Several more beam bolts streams out from the bat-masked gangster's fingertips, and Brick slaps them all away with his blackened hands. The bat-masked man's eyes are wide open, shocked that his weapons are suddenly ineffective against the teenager.

Several of the brutes finally entered into the floor where the bat-masked villain and the teenage Rowdyruff Boy. Seeing their target, they immediately charged towards the dark figure in the center of the office cubicles, with some of them even breaking through the walls in their bloodlust. Brick steps on the foot of the first Candyman that reaches him and with a fluid motion, Brick kneels down and slams his palm at the side of the Candyman's knee. To the shock of the bat-masked gangster, the leg of the Candyman was torn apart by the blow, causing the Candyman to lose balance and skid and rams into the cubicles in a trail of blood.  
Another brute charges towards him but Brick fluidly counters the behemoth by slamming his shoulders towards the charging Candyman's chest. With a resounding crack and explosion, the Candyman launches into the air and brought down several more Candymen.

Another Candyman tries to pound the teenager with both his clenched fists, but the the long-haired teenager grabs the fists and breaks the man's elbows by launching his knees towards the joints. The force of the blow is such that the flesh and skin around the elbow joint are shredded and the bones of the Candyman are now jutting out from the broken section of the arm. As the arm becomes flaccid, Brick uses the opportunity of the lost of support of the broken arms to slam the ball of his feet into the the thighs of the broken-arm Candyman. The leg of the brute broke and the strands of muscle and the bones of the monstrous Candyman are now visible. Brick swings the disabled fighter towards the other Candyman with such force that the other Candymen trying to stop the projectile suffered broken limbs before being launched along with the paraplegic Candymen.

Brick dodges an attacks from a Candyman throwing a straight punch and Brick's arm coils around the straight arm like a slithering serpent. With a strong snap,Brick straighten his arm and breaks the enemy's arms in several places, causing the bones to jut out from the flesh of the behemoth. Brick rotates clockwise with all his might and further dislocating the ball joint of the arm and cracking the shoulder blade of the Candyman. With a fluid motion, he throws the Candyman at the other brutes, causing further chaos and pandemonium among the ranks of the Candymen. Due to his small mass, Brick is able to slip through the gaps between the large Candymen and Brick clothesline a shin of one of the Candyman coming at him. Breaking the shin like a twig, the behemoth fell down with a thundering fall before Brick grabs the Candyman and make a sweeping attack with the brute against the Candyman's allies. As the bat-masked man watched, the candymen's limbs are being broken and dislocated as Brick spins around in a fluid motion of destruction.

It was then that the Hispanic gangster realized something is very, very wrong.

The Candymen's mass are growing smaller and smaller the more oppressive and depressing the atmosphere of the room is, and the glow of the room grows brighter and brighter the more carnage is brought about to his men. Murciélago also realized that his powers are also seeping away from his body. Seeing that he is running out of time, Murciélago decides to find the woman and do what he is here to do. Suddenly the bat-masked crook is face to face with two fiery demonic eyes, and the Lunatic is forced to step back. The gangster soon realize that all his men are down on the floor, bleeding and their limbs broken.

" _So you're the one that let me loose._ " Brick, or to be exact, the entity within Brick asked. The veins around Brick's face are now turning black and the hair of the teenager is now glowing red. The Lunatic looks at the Rowdyruff Boy, and his hands could not help but to tremble before the infernal majesty of the entity before him.

"What the hell are you, _bruja_?" Murciélago asked, his voice being the only thing in his body that is not semblance of warmth in the room had all disappeared, and the glowing red light in the whole room now gives off eerie similarities to the fiery pits of hell. Murciélago realized that the 'Red Candy' power within him is all gone from his body, and it was then that the unbearable atmosphere of the room crashes on the crook. Murciélago realized that the superpowered teenager can and will be able to take his life if he so wishes. The 'Bat' will not beg for his life, for it is the Los Noches way, but he is not willing to go down pathetically either.

" _Tsk...?_ " 'Brick' said, annoyed about something. Suddenly 'Brick' walks away from the bat-masked crook. Taking offense that 'Brick' spared him, the man shouts at the red-haired teenager.

"What the hell! Come back and finish the job!" The man cursed, before a sudden glare from the teenage boy made the man lose all strength in his legs and drenching him in cold sweat. Suddenly the throat of the Hispanic gangster are now within the grasp of the teenager's hand as he was lifted up.

 _"You asked for it._ " 'Brick' threatened the gangster, and immediately the red ambiance of the room suddenly disappears, leaving the room shrouded in total darkness, the only source of illumination within the room are the glowing red eyes of the carnelian-eyed teenager. As the grip grows even tighter, suddenly several pink glowing fire hits the arm of the Rowdyruff Boy and he was forced to let go. The distraction was long enough for the masked man to retreat by running towards the glass panel windows and breaking through it, leaping down to safety. 'Brick' walks towards the edge of the window and saw a reddish-pink fog dissipating in mid-air.

Seeing that the threat is now gone, the flesh of the cinnabar-eyed teenager slowly peels away showing the charred flesh and exposed tendons of the teenager once more. The wounds of the Rowdyruff Boy is now returning, with the flow of blood now returning to the open wounds. As "brick' walks back towards the center of the room, his appearance slowly returned to normal. 'Brick' looks around and it smiled devilishly, relishing the carnage he had unleashed on these opponents. The glowing red eyes of the teenager spots the unconscious district attorney and he pats himself on the shoulder.

" _Well, time's up._ " Suddenly the glow in the long-haired teenager fades away, and the teenager immediately collapsed, falling into the pool of blood caused by the carnage of battle.


	26. Chapter 26: Foxfire

**_Reuploaded: Apparently I clicked the wrong file and it uploaded the previous chapter instead. I have rectified the mistake and have uploaded the appropriate chapter once more. Sorry for the inconvenience caused._**

Chapter 26: Foxfire

[Fort Marks, Townsville: 12.00am]

 _BRRRRBBRBBBRRRRRRRRRR!_

Several distinctive loud fart-like noises echoed in the air and several explosions were heard immediately before the sound of the passing jets flew past Butch and Bubbles. As Butch watched the skies, the sight of four twin-engine straight wing jet aircraft flew past them with the shark-like mouth painted on the nose of the aircraft housing a large rotary cannon firing upon the enemy. The aircraft fires several missiles at the enemy before banking hard to the left and the roaring engines protested as the ground exploding from the cluster bombs. As the ground explodes, another four more of the same aircraft fired upon the enemy with their large rotary cannons as they strafed the battlefield. The shock waves of the bombs and the cannons pounding the ground reverberates in Butch's and Bubbles' body. The aircrafts descended down from the night skies to wreak righteous fury upon the enemies like holy crosses from a wrathful divine god, .

"What are those?!" Bubbles screamed out loud.

Butch recognized those aircraft making those beautiful explosions and strafing the enemy. First flown in 10th May 1972, and introduced into the United States Air Force in March 1977 with seven hundred and sixteen of the aircraft build, the vehicle was designed to house what is perhaps the most devastating gun ever inserted into an aircraft; the 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon with the ability to rain depleted uranium shells against targets with a firing rate of 3,900 rounds per minute giving its weapon a distinctive fart-like noise when it fired, and this ridiculous firepower is further augmented by a plethora of guided weapons and unguided weapons for close air support. During its first operational deployment, it was credited with destroying approximately 900 tanks, 2,000 non-armored military vehicles and 1,200 artillery pieces. It is known by many names; 'Warthog', 'Devil's Cross', but Butch calles it the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.

"So...awesome..." Butch shed a tear at the sheer awe-inspiring sight of his favorite planes in action.

"Butch, are you alright?" Bubbles realized that the black-haired teenager is making a squealing sound as he watches the aircraft blasting the enemy positions. The air is soon alight with firing towards the sky by various projectiles, and the battlefield is now truly alive.

"I can die happy now if I can now grab on both your tits and be enveloped in Blossom's legs and arms, and my groin being sat on by Buttercup's fine ass as I watch this happening." Butch smiled and wiped his eyes. Suddenly Butch's face was met with a loud slap that caused his face to slam into Bubbles' protective barrier, shocking him further. Bubbles is visibly angry at the verbal violation of her sisters and herself and she covers her chest away from the man. But then Bubbles realized that the whipping filaments had stopped assaulting the shield. She looked at Butch, who had also realized the same thing and she detached the defensive barrier away to hover around her back in the orbit of an electric ring. She saw the many-limbed Candyman is now protecting himself in a ball made out of his own strands of silk as several cannon fire are bombarding him, while the Russian is now firing his spikes up in the air against the flying aircraft.

"We need to get to the defenders fast!" Bubbles noticed the opportunity and immediately flew towards the base defenders, and Butch trailed shortly after. As they both landed in the defender's parameter, the men and women of the military base are now cheering as several more A-10 Thunderbolts are entering into the fray, dropping their bombs and firing their cannons. Suddenly, everyone hears several distinctive 'whop whop' noises and as they looked up in the air, several twin-engined transport helicopters with a single four-bladed rotor and a single four-bladed tail rotor amd several much larger tandem-rotored helicopters soon lands in front of the defenders. As the sliding door opens, several soldiers are jumping out from the helicopters and take defensive positions around the defenders while several more helicopters are now heading out towards the enemy lines.

"I never thought I would love to see the sight of Black Hawks and Chinooks landing right before me." Major Ghiradelli said as one of the newly-arrived troopers walks towards the major. The soldier is a man in full military garb, with his face covered with a baraclava. The man salutes, and the white-haired major salutes back. However, the major's face turned from a face of relief to disbelief when the man opens his mouth.

"Sergeant Lewinski of the 1st Calvary Division reporting sir! Sir, we need you to evacuate your remaining troopers on these choppers! We've got approximately thirty minutes before we send in several Tomahawks to destroy the other enemy units!" The man's clipped response is tinted with a sense of desperation that is obvious for all. The silver-haired major swings his arm out in a gesture of protest as he answered the sergeant back.

"What do you mean we have to evacuate! Your men just bombarded them to kingdom come!" As he said that, several of the helicopters were sliced into pieces out of the sky while several of the planes are blown out of the skies. From the horizon, several Candymen are now storming at the reinforcements in the front lines while the two special Candymen are bringing down whatever it is that is being thrown at them.

"Correction sir; _we're buying time_. We've not got much time, Major! We can only hold out so much! Hurry!" As the man cries out, one of the helicopters in front of them is stabbed by a bony spike before exploding in a spectacular fashion bringing down several men around the helicopter. The major understood the significance of the situation and immediately gave the command to pull out.

"Alright people, load the injured on the Chinooks and those that can still fight, provide covering fire for those loading the injured! move it!" The major's command is loyd and clear and the men moved into action. As the soldiers loaded the injured onboard the Chinook helicopters first, Bubbles knew that they needed more time.

"Butch, we need to get back in there to buy these people more time! I'll-"

"Blondie, you don't have to ask; I want payback against that hedgehog!" Butch immediately speeds off towards the raging battlefield once more, and Bubbles sighed at the blood knight. Several gunfire soon flies past the defenders.

"We need the zone to be cleared before we can take them out!" Captain Miyagi screamed out loud, and immediately Bubbles started firing her eyebeams at the general location where the incoming fire is coming from. With a continuous eyebeam, she sweeps the area and silenced several of the firing enemies by slicing their weapons in half.

"Hurry get on the chopper!" Bubbles shouted as she continuously suppresses the hostile forces with her eye beam. The other defenders took the chance and started to load the injured on the helicopter while Sergeant Lewinski's men provided covering fire. As each Chinook helicopter slowly lifts off from the base, the forces in the base knew that the situation is as dire as the sergeant have said. Reports are coming in from every front that the enemy forces is slowly being reinforced and their numbers increasing despite the fact that the base is essentially out in the middle of nowhere.

"Alright that is the last of the injured out! Move the non-essentials personnel on the other Chinooks now! Tank crews, fire all your rounds until you run out! Once that is done, get out and fry the vehicles the best you can! Anyone that ran out of ammo please get on the Chinooks as well! Move! Move! Move!" As the orders are being relayed, Bubbles is slowly tiring out from the continuous use of her powers. But Bubbles know that if she stop now these men and women will not be able to escape the base alive. It was then that she saw the clouds above them started to gather, and Bubbles knew that trouble is on its way.

* * *

Butch is trying to seek the special Candymen that are leading the enemy forces, but all he could find are the normal Candymen. As they pounced on him, Butch neutralizes them the fastest way he could. With precise strikes on all their vital organs, Butch easily defeats them as he wades past them. As they writhed in pain over the blows to their vitals,Butch knew that the tide of battle is turning against the defenders. Butch is now seeing new tanks and infantry are now flooding in and causing mayhem among the new helicopter-borne forces. Butch wondered how did they even reinforce themselves despite not seeing any airborne drops nor any external forces storming the base. It just seem that these forces are appearing out of nowhere and just flooding into the rapidly weakening defenses. Even with the A-10 support and the air cavalry,they are just buying time for them. If the enemies are flooding the base as just distractions, as Brick and Boomer theorized, it is not expedient as there is too much resources being allocated to this base.

 _What's going on in their minds_ , Butch asked as he watched the skies above him started to light up from the lightning above him. But the color of the lightning caught Butch's eye; they are crimson red in color. The crimson lightning courses through the clouds like a pulsing blood-filled artery, lighting the clouds red like a malign portent. The dark moonless sky immediately turned a dark crimson, causing the whole battlefield to be illuminated in red. Butch knew that the situation had gone from bad to worse.

Countless atmospheric ghost light descended upon the base like snow droplets from the red clouds above, each ghost light glowing in a yellowish-white light with a red fiery core, and hovered a few feet above the ground. A pillar of pure white light descends down from the heavens, the contrast of the white light splitting through the red-hued environment and landing right in front of the black-haired teenager. As Butch was watching the skies above him, he was suddenly hit by several of the flaming ghost fires. A pink mist envelops the boy's body and as it entered into his nose and his ears, his jade green eyes have a tint of reddish-pink glow.

"BUTCH!" Butch immediately turned towards the source of the voice and she saw Butch a few feet away from her, with her plasma orbs surrounding her. The pigtailed girl watches as Butch's eyes are now glowing with a combination of dark green and pink flames. It was then that a figure descended down from the heavens above within the column of light. The descending figure is a female with waist-length braided brunette hair with a khaki beret on her head. Her sleeveless dark blue sweater top reveals her slender but toned hands and her stomach, and a long baggy desert-schemed fatigued cargo pants that sag slightly with combat boots completes her image. As Butch watched the figure descent, his mind blanked out at the shock of seeing the descending figure. Realizing that the enemy is before her, she rather do what Buttercup always do when faced with a new mysterious threat. Bubbles launches one of her orbs towards the woman. Instinctively, the teenage boy came between the speeding orb and the woman and he was hit by the plasma at the shoulder causing a great amount of shock. However, Butch is not affected significantly by Bubble's attack, and Butch's eyes immediately frown before his eyes glowed with rage.

"Butch! What are you doing!? That's the enemy!" Bubbles's voice fell on deaf ears and Butch immediately roared before speeding towards Bubbles and throwing out several punches. Bubbles was taken aback by Butch's attacks as she dodges each and every hit, and Bubbles knew that something is wrong with Butch. His punches are all aiming for her vitals or joints of her limbs, but at the same time they are more reckless than what she saw just now. She noticed that the woman is now walking away from the scene, with a sad smile on her face. She wanted to stop the braided woman, but every time she tried to disengage, Butch will close in on her. Bubbles realized that she does not have the time to entertain the enthralled Rowdyruff Boy.

 _Sorry Butch, looks like I have to stop you first before I get to her_ , Bubbles said to herself and charged her orbs to the maximum. She immediately hits him with all her orbs and the orbs started coursing the overwhelming current into the young man, causing his body to glow for a few seconds. The raven-haired teenager immediately collapsed on the ground and as Bubbles saw his smoking body, she hoped that she did not cause any permanent damage to him. After all, she had never used this ability before on a person of Butch's durability and resilience. As she chased after the woman, she realized that the woman is very light on her feet and she is navigating through the battlefield like it is an open area.

"Wait!" Bubbles shouted and shot her eye beams at the woman. The woman now looks back at the Powerpuff Girl and the braided woman's bright sky-blue eyes turned into frosty icy-cold blue ones and her milk-like complexion turned show-white. Her eyes slowly flowed with red tears forming claw-like marks from her eyes down her cheek and her hair glowed with a dim red light and as the intensity of the glow grew, turning the scorched umber color of her brunette hair to a blood-like crimson. From the base of her coccyx nine white brush-like tail grew and spread out around her like tendrils of the sun, each as long as her arm. As her colored attire slowly turned to snow-white, a floating white lantern with a bright red flame within glowing with a malicious light materializes above her head. Several of the floating flames immediately rains down on the eye beam and blew up, negating the beams entirely.

Suddenly, Bubbles realized that she is now moving at the opposite direction, with her right view and left view being inverted and she is running in the skies upside down while the surface is now above her. The sudden confusion caused the Powerpuff Girl to stop and as she looked left, she noticed that her head is now turning right instead. Bubbles is visibly shaken by this sudden change in her perceptions and as she turn backwards in a clockwise movement to see where she is in relative to the situation, she noticed that she is turning forward in a counter-clockwise position. The impossible motions of her body is utterly disorienting and her senses are being overloaded by the 'unnatural' state. Suddenly Bubbles noticed that her right arm was being cut by something, but it is her left arm that is bleeding instead.

"Up and down, left and right, front and back...everything is inverted. The same goes for where you are looking at and where you are cut, _mon petit fille_." Bubbles heard the voice of the woman, but somehow it appears that her voice is coming from everywhere. Bubbles could not help but to form her barriers around her to protect herself.

"Well, well, well. Very good instinct, _mon petit fille_." The voice complimented her, and Bubbles turn around in a convulted way to finally face the vixen-like woman. The woman is now upside-down and Bubbles is unsure how she is doing this. She wondered if this is an illusion or if this is something far more sinister. As the woman takes her steps forward, she noticed that the woman is now walking upwards towards Bubbles' location. Bubbles tried to move back, but she moved forward instead and Bubbles' vision, actions and thought are so mismatched that it affected her equilibrium, causing her to experience a complex mix of vertigo, confusion, disorientation and nausea.

"But there is no use against _Maleperduis_ , as your body is accustomed to fighting. Your body, mind and your reflexes will riot at the pandemonium, and you will succumb to the power. Ananse, would you be so kind as to entertain her for me?" Bubbles immediately noticed that the tall-lanky multiple-armed man is now standing behind her and suddenly her barrier was engulfed by web. Immediately she was flung around and as her barriers hits multiple surfaces, she rocked violently within the web.

Bubbles knew that she is in trouble.

* * *

Butch wakes up to find himself lying down on the ground. He wondered how did he come down to the ground, and his body ache with uncontrollable spasms as he tried to get up. It appeared that he was electrocuted, but by whom? The last thing he could remember is that he saw an impossible sight and his mind blanked out. He is clueless as to what this impossible sight is, but he knew that it is enough to bring him down. His eyes adjusted itself from the blurriness of his vision and he soon found out that something is wrong. Something is _very_ wrong.

He finds himself staring at an inverted world, with the images of things being inverted to such an extent that when he raised his right arm to touch his face, his left arm is raised instead. He wipes the blood from his mouth with his left arm, but it is his right arm that had the bloodstained marks instead. As he looked at the new sky which by right would be the ground below him, he wondered if this is happening because he had suffered a concussion. Suddenly several of the Candymen are now charging at him, and Butch attempts to punch the brutes, but suddenly found himself being hit by invisible blows to his own abdomen. Realizing that his sense of sight is confusing him in this messed up world, he decided to retreat. Instead he find himself moving forward towards his attackers and they gave him no mercy. The blows from the monsters are heavy and concentrated and Butch felt his body was trying to puke out the food he had ate prior to the fight. His instincts screamed to move in a certain direction, but his body is moving against his instincts, causing him to be hit by the blows of the Candymen.

 _Freaking hell,_ Butch said to himself as he realized that his primary means of fighting is essentially neutralized. His instincts had served him over the years, but it has never betrayed him before. Butch flies upwards to try and get way but he realized that something is very off. No, he thought, everything is off. Suddenly his body was gashed all over by several hundred cuts and he falls down towards the sky where he just came from. Suddenly his face is now slammed down before he was flung around like a rag doll. However despite this beating, Butch felt a sensation on his leg; a grab.

"Gotcha." Butch said confidently as he spins his body in a violent spin, forcing the brute to spin along with him. Butch slams his opponent down on the ground with a crater-inducing blow. The brutish Candymen lets go of his leg and Butch falls up to the sky. Butch realized that he may have to take some drastic action for him to be able to strike back at these opponents. Suddenly he felt a blow to his neck and his chin was blown up pointing towards the sky. The left body blows that he experienced soon became right side-liver blows and any straight right jabs become left straights.

"Found you little boy. We need to fight good." Butch catches the voice of the Russian bear-like mountain of muscle, and he saw the heavily muscled bear-like monster standing below him with a snarling smile.

He punches the green-eyed teenager in the stomach with his bony protrusions from his arm and the teenage boy's back is blown by the explosion. As the blows of the spiked bear-like monstrosity connected with Butch's body, the explosion resulting from the warhead exploding is felt and seen from the opposite part of his body. Butch tried to catch the punches but the wrong arm came out and instead the blows are directed at Butch's joints and vulnerable parts. With a chopping right, Butch was paradoxically launched into the air and he drags on in the air for a while before stopping. As the boy looks down, he realized that disoriented senses and his severe injuries from the explosions and the mysterious electric shock sensation had essentially shut down his body. The only thing keeping him up is his sheer willpower, and right now even that feels like it is failing in light of this particular disorienting world and his paralyzed body. Butch felt the blood coming out from his mouth, and as he coughed, he realized that several of his internal organs are now damaged. For once in his life he felt like he could die from a battle.

"Medved, we are moving." From behind the bear-porcupine like abberation, a slender Asian woman with bright crimson skin clad in a high collared jacket covering half her face appeared with an annoyed expression. The newly arrived figure combed her fair short and messy golden blonde hair with five braided locks running down her back with her hands . As he saw the figure walks towards his opponent, his opponent hissed with disappointment. As the bear-like monstrosity turned around, the slender Asian woman looks at Butch with disinterested eyes. She walks up to him and suddenly Butch's view returned to normal. With her long slender legs, the new arrival kicks Butch down, and steps on his jaw breaking it. Butch howled in pain and as his eyes glared up her long, slender and shapely leg and he realized that if his situation is not so pathetic for him he would be enjoying looking up a woman's legs.

"Fennec, did you get what you are looking for?" Butch could not see who the person is talking to, but he was taken aback when he heard the voice that replied the Asian woman.

"Yes. Time to pull back everything. We do not want to lose everything here." The voice is a voice that Butch remembered from long ago, from the times when he was in the Syrian deserts. The voice that told him of humanity and kindness. The voice that sternly warned him to not be an idiot in the battlefield. The voice that soothe his anguished heart. The voice that he had grown to love. The voice that was lost all those years ago. The voice of Renee Delacroix. However the Frenchwoman is entirely white with only crimson eyes and hair and a lantern with a sinister red glow within floating above her head.

"I am already ahead of you, Fennec." The Asian woman that is stepping on Butch's jaw commented with a sigh, and the skies above them slowly fades from a crimson red to being black once more. As the darkness covers the surroundings once more like a blanket to accompany the sudden silence that descents upon the battlefield in this moonless night.

"Good. Distraction as it may, this place does have its special merits. We got all the information we need, and we showed the world our might." The voice of the woman speaking to the one stepping on his head is as cold as ice, and Butch clearly do not remember her voice to be so cold and calculative. He clearly remembered her voice to be kind and filled with life, not this heartless and soulless tone.

"So what do I do with the one under my foot?" There is a long pause from the other participant in the conversation, before an expression of disappointment flashed in the blonde woman's voice. The foot lifts off from Butch's jaw and as the woman above him gently pushes his face with her foot to face the owner of the voice, his mind went into shock once more. Butch wanted to call her name but his broken jaw is preventing him from saying a response. The braided Frenchwoman squats down beside the fallen Rowydyruff Boys and gives the teenager a warm but sad smile. As she touches Butch's jaw with her hands and then her palms, her eyes are shedding streams of blood-like liquid down her eyes, giving her the expression of crying in scarlet. Butch saw the woman looking at him with her crimson eyes and his emotions are now swirling within him like a turbulent storm. The woman and the Rowdyruff Boy are now staring at each other, eye to eye. The figure touches Butch's cheek, sensing the coldness of her fingers from his cheeks.

" _Petit Verde,_ you've grown so big _._ " The woman's voice ringed into Butch's ears, and immediately his eyes started to water. His mind remembered that her touch used to be warm and nurturing. As he looks at her arms, he noticed that there were grooves and vents on parts of the arm that once was flesh, and he knew that they are prosthetic arms. His mind registered where the prosthetic stop and her arms begin. His mind immediately flashes back into the memory of the last time he saw her, and he is soon paralyzed by the memory of her dying in front of him, bleeding out as red tears runs downs from her glass-like eyes down her face. Suddenly the woman gently brought his head up to her chest in a nurturing embrace, and Butch can now feel the warmth of her body. His eyes are now flowing with tears and his emotions are now overpowering him, as she whispered into his ear.

"I hope you understand Butch, as this is for the sake of a pure and azure world." The braided brunette lifts his face off her chest and looks at him with bright burning crimson eyes with a sad smile. Butch's jade eyes are now watching her with bewilderment, before she kissed him on the forehead. The warmth of her lips touching his forehead is all it takes for Butch to finally start screaming, wanting answers from the resurrected woman. The woman looks at him with blood-soaked sclerae and red irises as she puts him down on the ground once more, and shakes her head before she walks away. Suddenly he felt his limbs were penetrated by something large and sharp, and the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy screamed in pain despite his broken jaw as all his limbs are pierced by bony protrusions.

"That would keep boy in place. Now we need to get to girl." The tall bear-like monster like being said in his thick hoarse accent as he rips away his face to reveal a square jawed man with half of his face burned. Butch can only scream in anger and pain as the group of people walk away from him.

"Are you sure that you want to leave him alive? " The blonde Asian said monotonously, but her eyes are showing great concern.

"Consider this my last time of showing mercy towards the Rowdyruff Boy. The next time I see him, he will be dead." The woman with the scarred cheek said to the aquamarine-eyed Asian woman. The Asian shrugged, knowing that it is best to not challenge the fox less she wants to be outfoxed. After a few moments of walking they soon come face to face with their spider-like comrade, perching on one of the destroyed tanks. As Fennec's eyes trailed to finally spot the Powerpuff Girl, the many-limbed man speaks out.

"She tough... manage to withstand being swung round like a club before passing out. Yuh guys come just as me finish me 'work'." The man commended his opponent, and his voice beaming with pride at having defeated a strong opponent.

"Time to go. Him wants the boys and girls alive." Fennec said, and the six-eyed man nods his head.

"I no more web. Need to go anyway." The man rises from his perch and each one of the individuals are engulfed in a reddish-pink fog and vanished mysteriously as the winds in which they came from.

* * *

[Fort Marks, Townsville: 12.45am]

"They're all gone...no traces of the enemy's fallen at all. Only the vehicle wrecks" Lieutenant Valencia said in disbelief as she leads her team across the broken battlefield of Fort Marks. The sudden phenomenon that could only be described as supernatural in nature had delayed the Tomahawk missile strike from being launched into the base, but as soon as the phenomenon is gone the enemy forces have vanished into thin air. The call was made back to stop the missile strike, and the survivors of the battle are now scouring the battlefield for their fallen and any sign of the Powerpuff Girl and the mysterious superhuman teenage boy that accompanied her. If it is not for their efforts, they would not be able able to see the light on another day.

"I've found the boy!" Someone shouted, and Lieutenant Valencia rushed over towards the scene and to her utter horror the poor boy was impaled by four bony protrusions at all his limbs. He appeared to be fading in and out of consciousness and immediately a medical crew with stretchers rushed to the teenager's side and try to get him out from his cruel predicament.

"Those animals..." The Hispanic woman looks at the severely injured teenager with her hazel eyes.

Her attention was taken away from the teenage boy when several more of her men called her out. As she heard what her men have to say, her eyes opened wide and she rushed up the mountain of rubble. Several of the rocks and debris almost made her lost her balance, but her desire to move towards the top propelled her onward. She climbed up the rubble and as she reaches the top, she was greeted by a cruel sight.

A bloodied individual was dangling from a pole with arms outstretched, forming a macabre image of a cross as the figure was hung over the wrist. The torn attire and of the figure revealed several bruises and deep cuts flowing with darkened blood. As Lieutenant Valencia climbs down from the rubble to reach the figure, she realized that a tablet was dangling from the neck of the figure like a signboard. The lieutenant slowly walks towards the figure, and as the blood drops down on the ground, she covered her mouth in shock.

"No..." Lieutenant Valencia gasped in horror, as she confirmed the identity of the body hanging above her. As the rest of her men came down, their faces are also in a state of shock as they slowly recognized it. The only thing that would allow people to ascertain the identity of the bloodied individual are the figure's ragged twin blonde pigtails.


	27. Chapter 27: Conversation

Chapter 27: Conversation

The 'Declaration Attacks', as the media tabloids called the attacks, shattered the people's confidence with the institutions that protected Townsville. Due to the destruction of Fort Marks by hostile forces, the federal government has deemed Townsville as a national security threat and has deployed the US military within its own cities to combat a superhuman organized crime threat for the first time in its history. However, the US military is not prepared to fight in such a volatile and unusual environment on US soil. The escalating tensions and violence between the Lunatic gangs and the US military was such that armored vehicles,main battle tanks and attack helicopters were forced to enter into the urban 'strongholds' to hold the peace and fierce firefights and urban combat are a common occurrence in Townsville. The images of the combat in areas such as Little Moscow and Little Italy were reminiscent of urban combat in Sadr City or Syria. Worst of all, the crooks are winning. In addition,the Townsville Police Department as it is right now is non-existent as the attacks had caused enough casualties to warrant a special executive order to replace the police with the US military.

However the most debilitating and significant consequence of the 'Declaration Attacks' is the symbols of Townsville's peace and justice had been brought down to their knees. The news footage of a bloodied Bubbles hung upon a flagpole in a mock crucifixion in the military base is fresh on everyone's mind, and had become one of the defining image of the 'Declaration Attacks'.

* * *

It has been a week since their battle and they are all still healing from their wounds. Due to their injuries, they are unable to leave the Utonium residence and are forced to stay put. Thus, the strange ward mate known as the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys are now watching "Stranger Things" on Netflix in the Utonium Residence's intensive care unit. Blossom, Buttercup, Brick and Boomer are well enough that they are now able to move around without being too encumbered by their injuries, though they would still require another week of healing before they are able to be back in top condition once more.

"Watch out!" Bubbles cried out at the scene where a monster chased after a group of children into a classroom. Butch is just rolling his eyes as he watch the show. Butch and Bubbles had regained consciousness but they are now essentially entombed in a large capsule mean to to rehabilitate their bodies. Butch's jaw is wrapped with a special support brace while most of Bubbles' forehead and skull is wrapped in bandages. This basically made them an easy target for pranks and also name calling by their siblings. Butch swore that Boomer would get it first once he had regained function of his limbs. On the other hand, the two redheads eyes are staring at the screen, but their minds were elsewhere.

"Oh children! Time for your medication!" The baritone voice of Professor Utonium is heard over the speakers and the girls and the boys groaned.

The reason for their groan is more to do with the way the immediate effect of the drug rather than they are forced to take the medication, as it essentially knocks them out cold more or less. As they all take their place on their beds, several mechanical arms soon descend from the ceiling and immediately started administering the cocktails of medication to enhance the regenerative healing of their muscle, limbs and organs. Professor Utonium watched the three girls and three boys lying in on the medical beds within the Utonium laboratory special intensive care unit. Professor Utonium had never seen his girls being hurt so badly in their lives before, and the brutality of the attacks broke his heart very deeply. As for the injuries on the Rowdyruff Boys who helped the girls, he clearly did not wish for such harm to be inflicted upon them just for helping out his girls. Among them, the most badly hurt were Butch and Bubbles as their injuries were so severe that they were unconscious for a few days. Butch and Bubbles were essentially beaten all the way to their core, as their fractured bones, injured organs and damaged flesh forced Professor Utonium to encase them into his healing tanks.

Brick, Boomer and Buttercup did not suffer such horrendous injuries as the two encased siblings, but their injuries are grisly to say the least. Due to the amount of flesh and skin damage that they had received, Professor Utonium had encased their injuries into more isolated forms of the healing tanks. The 'Healing Armor' as he calls it, envelopes all their injured part and provide the same healing agent as those being administered to Butch and Bubbles. However this healing armor does not replace the slings and crutches that the individuals had to use. Boomer's right arm is now in a sling in order to alleviate the burden on his shoulder, while Buttercup's crutches are lying right beside her bed just in case she needs to move around. As for Brick, due to the damages to both his shoulders he was forced to wear what appears to be a support exo-skeleton in order to allow him to alleviate the stresses of having damaged shoulders. For Professor Utonium, their condition is stable enough for them to be able to move around, but just barely enough.

Blossom appeared to be the least hurt among those within the intensive care unit, for her injuries are by far the easiest to heal. Blossom was fortunate that Brick's cauterization had somehow prevented more blood lost from happening, but at the same time the cauterization had also caused some slight infection. With Professor Utonium's medical technology he was able to treat the infection and facilitate muscle recovery in a quick manner and for the time being, Blossom's torso is wrapped with the 'healing armor'. But among all of them, Professor Utonium knew that she was the most affected psychologically, and that damage is something Professor Utonium could not heal.

As the drowsiness of the drug took over the Powerpuff Girls and also the Rowdyruff Boys, he knew that his work is not done yet. Slowly but surely, each one of them slowly fall asleep. After everyone had fallen asleep, Professor Utonoum turned off the lights in the special intensive care unit ward and walks away towards his laboratory. Professor Utonium turn his attention away and soon enough several screens of the footage of their fights are now visible for the square-jawed man to watch with his dark brown eyes. The footages are obtained from the headgear surveillance equipment from the Powrtpuff Girls' armor, footage from the news media and surveillance footage from the military and also police cameras. The only one that he was not able to obtain are the footages within the District attorney's Office for some inexplicable reason.

As he observed the battles, he noticed with great alarm that the Outer Fighting Interface Template system, or the O.U.T.F.I.T for short, is receiving punishment the likes which he did not account for. Some of the attacks such as space-time manipulation when Blossom was fighting against the one they called the Tigress, and what he calls the distorted three-dimensional mirror-image cross-sensory disorientation phenomenon that had plagued the U.S Military at Fort Marks are things he could only imagine in his wildest and unlikeliest Utonium entered his laboratory and took a seat down on his chair. His face contorts into a frown while he process all these information. He clearly did not expect the 'Red Candy' to have such properties,and he wondered how these people are able to get such gifts that put pause even to a Powerpuff Girls assault.

"J.E.E.V.E.S, give me the holographic projection of the Powerpuff Girls' O.U.T.F.I.T and also to highlght the parts of the armor that were damaged the most. In addition, I want to see how are these damages done and how did they actually caused the physical traumas that the girls got." Professor Utonium asked his home computing system.

The three-dimensional holographic layout of the Powerpuff Girls' armored protection system materializes before the man in a labcoat, and soon enough the damages were highlighted on the suit. As the readings and the informational data came in , Professor Utonium now wonders what he needs to do to get the girls to be ready for the next battle. Even though it pains Professor Utonium to prepare his girls for another figt, but villainy will not let his girls rest.

" _Sir, shall I sort them by types of damage or by encounter fighting data?_ "

"Encounter fighting data please and please start with Bubbles."

" _Noted,sir. In regards to the damages shown by the data, it seems that excessive blunt trauma inflicted upon PPG-02 was measured as being in excess of seventy gigajoules of force. with every impact. The suit was not designed to survive multiple simultaneous impacts with that frequency with such force repeatedly. This in turn cause the force of the impact to travel through the protection of the PPG-02's O.U.T.F.I.T , causing severe fractures, micro-tearing of all tissues such as muscles, blood vessels, and organs. The cuts received by the skin layer of PPG-02 is due to the monomolecular slice by the strand-like weapon as it cuts through the skin by the weight of PPG-02._ "

"What about Buttercup's? How did her suit suffered such catastrophic damage by those hornets?"

" _As for the damages done towards PPG-03's armor, it appeared that the hornet venom from the stings of the hyper-enhanced hornets are the main catalyst for the armor's disintegration. The hornet's corrosive qualities are further enhanced that it can even dissolve unique alloys, and this is also the main cause of PPG-03's injuries. PPG-03's enhanced durable epidermis were compromised as a result of this unique cocktail of chemicals, thus exposing PPG-03' dermis to weapons that woukd otherwise not cause any damage other than slightly burned skin. This penetration of PPG-03's dermis is why the beam bolt from the AZ-137 Beam autobeam pistol was able to sizzle to the wounds in PPG-03's legs. The venom has also a strong neurotoxin element and by all means, PPG-03's durability and psychological resistance to the venom is beyond empirical scientific data despite the data showing that PPG-03's body suffer borderline organ failure and muscle and tissue damage that would have brought down a Powerpuff Girl in her normal state._ "

"I see. Please provide me the chemical composition and the momecular structure of those hornet venom." Professor Utonium informed the home computing system.

" _Noted sir._ "

"What about Blossom's O.U.T.F.I.T damage? It appears that she was hit by a lot of explosives." Professor Utonium asked. The three-dimensional holographic projection of Blossom's armor unit and the spread of the damage are highlighted before his eyes by the home computing system.

" _In regards to the footage obtained by PPG-01's live video feed footage,it appeared that PPG-01's was hit by a tandem-charge weapon of undetermined origin that compromised the initial defensive resistance of the O.U.T.F.I.T system before detonating when the nano-crystalline bond is still in its absorbent phase causing a structural integrity compromise that damaged the armor. As a result of it being detonated at several points simultaneously, the armor was significantly weakened allowing other attacks to be formulated against PPG-01. Each one of the explosions are around 5 gigajoules, with a secondary blow of 8 gigajoules. The data reported two hundred and forty four explosions are detonated in the instance of fifteen seconds to achieve the effect._ "

"So the force is sufficient enough to break though the nano-crystalline structure of the O.U.T.F.I.T. What is the force of the penetration recorded for Blossom's abdomen damage?"

" _The penetrative force of the PPG-01's abdomen is equivalent to two hundred and fourty gigajoules in a single point."_ The holographic simulation of an arm spearing towards a mock-up of Blossom in her armored suit is shown with mathematical formulas shown to calculate the force and the exact angle to penetrate the armor. Professor Utonium is now pondering on what the girls had just experienced. If the date is correct they had essentially taken blows that are equivalent to a M-29 Davy Crockett low-yield tactical nuke weapon system. Somehow despite all the odds, Professor Utonium was surprised that the transfer of energy in such a range did not cause Townsville to be annihilated by the blows, explosions and other blunt trauma of their enemies. But science is as science does, strange that way. He would have to make an entirely new protection system for the girls based on these new combat data.

"Speaking about data...J.E.E.V.E.S, show me the data for the Rowdyruff's physical damages and analysis." Professor Utonium's eyes are soon looking at the three-dimensional image of their physique as well as the locations of their bodily traumas. As he look at the holographic representation of their wounds, he noticed that the boys have all suffered significant amount of damage to their limbs, particularly their upper body limb. In addition, their combat data would be invaluable for the creation of the new combat suit for the girls.

" _Based upon surveillance footages and also previous records of their combat data, the Rowdyruff Boys' are focused on close-quarter combat which increased the probability of suffering physical damage by about nineteen per cent. In addition, most of their currently observed abilities require them to use their arms which in turn caused the probability of targeting their arms increased by fifteen per cent. Combined this with their generally slower speed, the likelihood of receiving physical damage is increased to twentyone per cent and eighteen per cent respectively. However, due to the tougher epidermis of the Rowdyruff Boys and also the general male muscle mass physique, they are much more durable and are able to inflict more damage in their combat._ "

"So they are slower but they are more powerful. In that case J.E.E.V.E.S, please show me the footage of all the the battles that the boys are sighted in. Please proceed with Operation Cromwell to get the information that you need."

Professor Utonium is soon greeted by a large amount of combat data, documents and other relevant data about the Rowdyruff Boys. The labcoat wearing man noticed that many of these documents have the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and the Pentagon. As he reads through all the information, he realized that the boys are essentially sent all over the world to engage in operations where the United States of America can claim plausible deniability over their involvement in those operations. Nonetheless, Professor Utonium realized that fortunately none of them involve acts of terrorism or assassinations and that made their actions more forgivable in the eyes of the dark-haired professor. As he looks through their files, he noticed that their actions are often considered as 'cruise missile strikes' or 'airstrikes' in the records.

 _That made sense_ , Professor Utonium thought to himself. That can explain all the damage that the boys would cause from their powers. Reading through the data, they are often used to supplement armed groups for a breakthrough or as an equivalent of sending in an army in a hotly contested zone.

As he watched their combat videos,he noticed that each brother have their own unique style of combat. Boomer it seems tend to be the fastest of the brothers, and his preferences for using stealth and energy weapons are quite notable, especially his electric manipulation powers. That also made him more or less the electronic countermeasures expert due to his abilities. As for Butch, it appears that he is much more brutal in his approach, as he is often used to breach into enclosures, fortresses and fortifications. His usage of his powers appeared to be some form of barrier enhancement or something as he used the energy barrier to increase his offensive powers by envelop his fists in some kind of force field or use them to deflect or to be exact , _reflect_ attacks back to his opponents. For Brick, Professor Utonium is not sure about Brick's abilities. It seems that whenever Brick's eyes glowed, men and women around him just falls doen on the ground unconscious. As Professor Utonium clicked on another Brick footage, a young male voice can be heard.

"Professor Utonium, it is not nice to peek at someone's past." Professor Utonium turned around to see the carnelian-haired teenage man glaring at him. The entire upper torso and arms of the Rowdyruff Boys are clad in the form-fitting healing armor. However, Brick's face is still pale as a ghost and bags under his eyes Professor Utonium notices that the boy is still having involuntary shaking of his legs.

"You are awake." Professor Utonium is surprises that the healing cocktail did not knock the long-haired teenager. Indeed the bag under Brick's eyes showed that he did not sleep well at all.

"It's taking me longer to fall asleep from the drugs." Brick said, knowing well that the reason why he is awake is something he would never admit nor tell anyone about.

"Well in that case, would you care to share with me Brick?" Professor Utonium offers the teenager a seat. As the teenager takes a seat, a disk-like drones are hovering around the two men. The offering of hot pot of tea and some scones can be seen on top of the flat top of the drone as it descend down to the arm level of both men. Professor Utonium pours both of them a cup of tea.

"What would you like to know?" Brick asked uncertainly.

"Well, for one, tell me a little of how you fight." Professor Utonium takes the pipe out of his mouth and takes a sip of tea before putting it down once more.

"The way I fight?" As the red-haired teenager answered the professor,Professor Utonium touches one of the files he received and opens it up as a holographic projection. One of the footage is him storming into a bunker and causing all of the people within the bunker to slump down with foam coming out from their mouth and also with their eye whites showing. The second footage shows Brick in military combat gear taking down several men in a fluid and violent manner by striking his palms on their joints and breaking or dislocating their limbs. The men were screaming in pain when they went down.

"Hm...that really hurts." Professor Utonium face winced at how the people's limbs are broken in unnatural angles. However, the professor also notices that the teenager is using each part of his body as a weapon in a natural way, fluidly using his palms, elbows, shoulder, knees, and kicks to maim his opponents. If there are too many opponents, Brick would make his eyes glow and the opponents collapsed unconscious or running away in fear.

"Ah... These videos are taken in Donetsk. My brothers and I were fighting for the Ukranian government." Brick said nonchalantly as if it was just another day for him.

"This combat style..." Professor Utonium wanted to say something about it, but was unable to describe what he is seeing.

"I'm not a battle-loving idiot like my brother. He would go about punching and brawling everything in sight once he gets into his combat-high. He's a street fighter at heart, and he will punch them like a boxer does." Brick explained. Professor Utonium nods his head, knowing that based on the footage he had seen of how Butch fought, he does appear to be a boxing-oriented fighter.

"I see...So what am I seeing here?" The dark-haired man asked as he outs the pipe back to his mouth once more to smoke.

"I went for the most direct and fastest way to neutralize my opponent.I just use my 'intent' whenever possible to knock then out." Brick points at the first footage before he takes a sip of tea.

"Intent?"

"That's what I called it. I found it out when I'm fighting in Iraq. Took down an entire militant group easily. Don't know how to explain it but if I have it, I get it out and done. People always freak out or faint when I do that." Professor Utonium is very intrigued by this particular ability, as it explains the generally predatory and intimidating presence around Brick, and he would like to study this ability in a more controlled laboratory setting.

"Interesting. But if it is so convenient why don't you just use it at the first opportunity?" Professor Utonium asked.

"Because my intent does not know friend from foe. Quite often, I am forced to fight when there are a large amount of friendlies in the area. If I need to fight, I do not have the time nor the luxury of going in deep to land a liver blow or something like that. I target the closest thing that comes my way using whatever part of my body that is the closest to my opponent."

"Interesting logic." Professor Utonium nodded his head, somewhat understanding the idea of immediate priority to neutralize the threat that the Rowdyruff Boy experienced. This combat system is unlike any type of combat style he had ever seen as Brick's posture appear to be more relaxed in movement but at the same time very violent and aggressive in its execution. He uses every part of his body that can deliver his strikes and even some body that Professor Utonium find interesting, such as his back and his hips.

"Usually that translates to people's limbs as they always are the closest body part to me. I aim for the joints so that I do not have to worry about them hitting me back with that limb anymore." The emphasis on disabling and breaking the limbs and joints of the opponents with palm strikes is also something very foreign to Professor Utonium and he wished that Buttercup is around to help explain all these fighting, martial arts and hand-to-hand combat logic and methodology.

"So this is why you imploded the limbs of those Candymen with your super strength?" Professor Utonium asked the teenager.

"Imploded?" Brick is now clearly confused, as he had no idea about what is going on with Professor Utonium's line of questioning.

Professor Utonium pulled over a file and presses on it. The footage showed a military force storming into the District Attorney's Office and a videocam shows the point of view of the soldier storming the building. As the soldiers scoured the building and clearing each room, Brick could only wonder what he is going to see. Finally the footage showed a room pooling with blood and many unconscious or groaning men, some of whom are large and red with their veins and arteries buldging from their flesh. Each of the man's arm appeared to be imploded from within, and many more have maimed or broken limbs with bones jutting out of their they looked around the room, they found a young carnelian-haired teenager with charred arms lying in the puddle of blood. Professor Utonium immediately pauses the clip and looks at the teenager with dark brown eyes.

"They found several more Candymen worh broken arms and legs ,but the ones in this room are the only one with bones exploding outward to pierce the muscles from inside their limbs." Professor Utonium noticed that his tobacco within the pipe had burned out and he went about filling the pipe back.

"I-I honestly don't know. I was being murdered by the bat-masked person and that is all I could remember. You have to believe me." Of course Brick was telling a half-truth,for the image of Bubbles having a picnic with him as he fades into unconsciousness and a dark malicious figure taking over is something he would have to guard with his very life. The Professor lights up his pipe once more with a freshly-lit match.

The carnelian-haired teenager is silent for a long while as Professor Utonium smokes his pipe and watches the other footage before his view. It is something that puzzles the professor, for only in this specific instance that Brick decided to mutilate the limbs of his opponents. The force of the blows that caused this carnage is destructive enough that it somehow managed to break the reinforced muscles of the Candymen, of which Butch is also unable to do. Professor Utonium posits in his mind that this could be a form of berserker rage, where they fought in a trance-like fury or perhaps, just perhaps...it is a sign of something much darker forming within the teenager. Seeing this combat data and their dark origins, it is a surprise that Brick and his brothers are even functional teenagers to begin with. It is times like this that Professor Utonium understands that he needs to take on a much more gentler approach.

"I believe you. Your wounds are the same as Boomer's wounds when he was hit by those 'beams'. But the bat-man is not among the injured." Professor Utonium puffs on his pipe, as he clicks on another holographic screen. He is now observing the schematics and simulations of the beam that damaged both Boomer's chest and also Brick's arm.

"Well, I felt that I've failed. I mean...I got my ass kicked by an idiot in a bat suit." Brick said as his armored arms shake in anger. His fingers are trembling but are unable to form a fist due to his injuries.

"I don't blame you. All of you had always came up on top and this is the first time everyone met someone that is much stronger than you in all aspects. I mean the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls are both equally strong and equally smart, and both of you felt the same with each other a few times before. But in this case, these people broke all the rules and turned everything upside down ." Professor Utonium takes the pipe out of his mouth and points the mouthpiece of the pipe at Brick.

Brick is utterly silent, as he knew what the professor is saying. This is also his first expression that he got from the Powerpuff Girls when they first met and the second time they met. Brick takes the cup of tea and takes a sip from it,but realized that the tea is a little cold. Professor Utonium looks at the teenager and noticed that he is very similar to his own Blossom. Both pride themselves over their ability to have things under their control and also their mastery of their destiny, and when thing goes down they blame themselves over it.

"But this is what makes you better. You learn more from a single mistake than a thousand successes. Right now you need to know what went wrong and what allowed you to be here today and improve yourself. The same would also go for your brothers and also my girls." Professor Utonium showed the images of Butch and Boomer fighting against the Candy-infused opponents.

"That sounds like some Asian sensei nonsense." Brick could not help but to ridicule the professor,but the grown man paid no heed. The man in the lab coat puffs once more before he speaks again.

"It's like crossing an uncharted bridge that is the only path to cross over to the other side. It is something unknown, something scary, something uncomfortable. But in the end all of you are the ones that would need to cross the bridge, not me." He showed the image of Brick ,lying down in a puddle of blood with charred arms, surrounded by defeated Candymen being carried by the soldiers.

The teenager is silent once more, and Professor Utonium puts his hand on the boy's shoulders. The cinnabar-eyed teenager looks up to see the square-jawed man smiling at him as the man pats his shoulder before getting up.

"You did what you had to do and for that, you and your brothers managed to save many lives. I may doubt you before, but now at least I can trust you to help my girls when they need help and bring them home."

"But..." Brick noticed that his eyes are now blurring away, and his eyelids are now drooping down. Realizing that the drug is now taking its effect on the superpowered teenager, Professor Utonium claps his hands and all the screens immediately disappear. Professor Utonium looks at the clock and realized that it is already very late in the night and it is time for him to go to bed as well.

"If anything, I would need to thank you Rowdyruff Boys for doing what you did for the city and help bring my girls back home. Blossom,Bubbles and Buttercup may be injured critically but they came back home alive. If it weren't for you boys, things could have gone much worse." The man takes out his labcoat to reveal a white sleeping pajamas with vertical black stripes beneath it. Professor Utonium extends his hand with the coat and a drone immediately takes the coat from the professor's hand and floats away.

" _Will that be all for today sir?_ " A synthetic voice asked the man in the pajamas.

"I'll leave the compilation and the summary of the reports to you for my review tomorrow. Please help Brick here to his bed. He still needs to take his rest." Professor Utonium answered as he takes the walk up the stairs towards the living room.

"Professor, thanks." The teenager said as Professor Utonium opens the door to the living room.

"My pleasure, and rest well Brick." The dark-haired man said as he closes the door, leaving Brick alone as the other drones hover around and clean the laboratory.


	28. Chapter 28: Boot Camp

Chapter 28: Boot Camp

[Utonium Residence, Townsville Suburbs: 1.30pm]

It has been three days since they were discharged from the Utonium residence after their three week special intensive care unit stay. Brick, Butch and Boomer rang the doorbell to the Utonium Residence. Their visit is a simple one for they wanted to inform the girls that they would be out of town for a few days, and if there are any matters they would be on their own. Since the girls are not answering the call to their home, the boys figured that they might as well drop by and tell the Powerpuff Girls themselves. The door opens up and to their surprise they are face to face with a very sweaty and half-naked Professor Utonium with ruffled hair and holding a wrench. Butch immediately turned away and vomited on the yard, while Boomer is stunned beyond all means. Brick raised his eyebrow and gives the professor a very awkward smile.

"Ah boys! How can I help you today?" Professor Utonium asked. Brick noticed that several large tubes of something is being suspended by some complicated machinery and several measurement machines are occupying the living room.

"Um...where's the Powerpuff Girls?" Brick asked.

"Well, the girls said that they would be out of town for a few days since I am kinda making a particle collider in the home and I need all the space I can use." Professor Utonium answered with a smile on his face. Brick covered his nose, for the odor of the sweating professor is a little overwhelming. However, he turned towards his brothers and they all looked at him after they had gotten back their bearings. They are all surprised that the Powerpuff Girls are also out.

Brick, Butch and Boomer all though of the same question; where did the Powerpuff Girls go?

* * *

[Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio: 1.30pm]

"So tell me why are we here again Buttercup?" Blossom asked the raven-haired girl wearing her black aviator sunglasses as she leans back on the front seat of the Humvee. Somehow, Buttercup managed to get them into the airbase and the military base personnel are nice enough to assign someone to give them a ride.

"You wanted to improve, and I brought you to a place that will help us improve." Buttercup answered her sister. The raven-haired girl with the green highlights in her hait is wearing halterback sleeveless black shirt and beige and bone-colored camouflaged military pants with black sneakers. Blossom thought that if it were not for the fact that Buttercup have breasts and is much smaller,she would almost believed that it was Butch sitting at the front seat.

The three girls are now inside the confines of an US air force base, in the Midwest state of Ohio as a result of a discussion about what they need to do to improve themselves for their future engagement with the Lunatics. Ever since the attacks of Townsville over one month ago, the city is slowly turning into a true battlefield, with the entire Downtown area essentially a battle zone. Seeing that Professor Utonium had informed the girls that their home is essentially 'going back to basics' in order for Professor Utonium to craft the new gear needed to face off against the Lunatics and it would be good for the girls to go somewhere else for a few days as he needs to turn the entire house into a particle collider to synthesize their new equipment. With that, Buttercup had asked permission for them to pack for a ten-day trip, and here they are in Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio. As several angular fighter aircraft with clipped delta wings with a reverse sweep on the rear and four empennage surfaces flew over them and climbed up in the air with their roaring twin turbofan engines, Blossom and Bubbles knew that they are out of their league. Bubbles in particular is still having some bad memories from the last time she is in a military base and she is visibly uncomfortable.

"Miss Utonium, we've arrived." The driver of the vehicle informed Buttercup.

"Thanks." Buttercup answerred as she watched the tarmac.

She noticed a taxiing aircraft heading towards the row of other similar aircraft with the design of an ace of hearts with the heart cleaved by a dagger at the tail fins of the angular fighter jet. The Humvee stopped, and soon the military personnel exits from the vehicle. Buttercup opened the vehicle door and soon trailed behind the officer. Not wanting to stay in the vehicle,both Blossom and Bubbles exit the vehicle and walks quickly to catch up with Buttercup. After a while, the military personnel and Buttercup stopped in their tracks, and soon the other Powerpuff Girls finally catches up. As the aircraft is being directed towards its designated parking area, Buttercup smiles as she saw the aircraft with the markings of the ace of hearts stops a few feet away from her. As the cockpit of the aircraft opens, a man fully clad in a flight suit gets up from his flight seat and takes out his helmet. The pilot is a man with a very chiseled jaw and a permanent expression of a bad mood on his face,which is further aggravated by the lack of an eyebrow. His most recognizable feature however is his particularly tall blonde flattop haircut.

"Guile! Some girls from Townsville are here to see you!" The military personnel called the pilot. The pilot turns his head towards the military personnel calling him.

"For me, here?" The baritone voice of the pilot is heard as he looked down with his light blue eyes, his eyes soon spotted the three teenage girls. The man suddenly turned his frown upside down as Buttercup waved at him.

"Heya Guile!" Buttercup said cheerfully in her raspy voice as she rest her hands on her hips.

"Blaze, you little rascal!" The man exclaimed and soon jumps down from his fighter aircraft and lands feet first on the ground, surprising Blossom,Bubbles and the military personnel. As he walks up toward Buttercup, Blossom realized that he is a very well-build pilot and easily towers over them. Blossom wanted to guess that he is around six feet and five inches, but his hair makes him much more taller than he is.

"Yeap, nice to see you too, Guile." Buttercup extends her hand, and soon enough the tall brush-haired man shakes her hand before it slowly turned into an arm wrestling match. To Blossom and Bubbles' surprise, the man appears to be holding out quite well.

"Are these your sisters, Blaze?" The man said as his arm shakes.

"Yeap, the redhead is Blossom and the blonde one's Bubbles. Bloss, Bubbs, this is Major Charlie Nash Bradshaw, my combat instructor. He taught me fighting stuff." Buttercup said without any strain in her voice, but her hands are also shaking as she continued on with the arm wrestle.

"Nice to meet you Major Bradshaw." Blossom said politely.

"Hello Mr-oops I mean Major Bradshaw!" Bubbles blushed as she realized she forgot to call him by his name.

"Nice to meet you girls, heard a lot about you from Blaze here." The man's flightsuit appears to be bulging a little from the arm-wrestle exchange.

"Guile, you know these girls?" One of the other air force pilot asked the brush-haired man.

"Yeah Lapdog, I know them." Blossom and Bubbles are now even more confused, as they do not understand why are they calling each other by a different name. Noticing the confusion on the redhead's face, the air force major explained himself.

"Guile's my callsign as a pilot. Got it because I tricked my flight instructor a long time ago. Buttercup got her nickname because she always blaze through everything without thinking and causing collateral damage on the way in." Blossom and Buttercup immediately burst out in laughter, as they knew how brash their sister is when it comes to any conflict. Buttercup blushes before she decided to use a little more of her her strength into her arm wrestle.

"Anyway, is there anywhere we could have a nice chat or something?" Buttercup said and her sister noticed that she is now having the edge in this handshake turned arm wrestle as Buttercup decided to bulge her biceps and triceps. This contest of strength continued until the air force major's passive face turned into a smile.

"Yes, let's go to the Humvee. I'll guide." The air force captain finally let go of Buttercups arm and smiled . The other pilots and base personnel around the tarmac and also the fighter aircrafts are now watching the three girls and the brush-headed man. Suddenly the man opened up and his booming voice is loud enough that it even cuts through the purring engine noises of the jet engines.

"What are you looking at?" The other spectators soon returned back to their activities. The brush-headed blonde man, the military personnel that drove them and the Powerpuff Girls soon walked towards the Humvee once more, and as they do so Buttercup and the pilot started talking.

"So do you know why your cute little ass got kicked, Blaze?" The man asked cheekily as he puts on his aviator sunglasses.

"Bite me Guile." Buttercup said, knowing well that the pilot knew what happened. The man laughed before he continued on talking.

"Fine, looks like I need to hammer into your head on why your ass got kicked hard. Your Jetstream is not complete." Buttercup looked down on the ground as she walked with the air force major as if she was being reprimanded for doing something bad. Seeing Buttercup in such a way surprised both Blossom and Bubbles.

"Jetstream?" Blossom and Bubbles asked in unison. The man looked at them with a surprised expression.

"That's the name of the martial art I've taught your sister. Blaze never told you the name of the art?" Both girls shook their heads, causing the man to look back at Buttercup. Buttercup shrugged while rolling her eyes.

"Well, they never asked." Buttercup said as they finally reached the Humvee.

The brush-haired air force major opens the back passenger ddoor to the Humvee, and he gestured for the girls to enter in. The Powerpuff Girls entered into the back seat before Major Guile closed the door with a thud. The pilot and the military driver soon entered into the vehicle and closed the door. As the driver turns the key to ignite the Humvee, Major Bradshaw turned his head to speak to the girls.

"Would you believe me that your sister ran away because she couldn't take my discipline?"

"We believe you." Both Blossom and Bubbles said at the same time. Buttercup of course rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, welcome back to Patterson Air Force Base Blaze."

"Good to be back, Guile." Buttercup said as the Humvee begin to move.

As the vehicle drives on, everyone in the vehicle are quiet. The major is now taking a rest, while Buttercup is just looking outside the window to see the sights of the military base. Blossom is unsure what she could talk about in this situation given her unfamiliarity with this situation, while Bubbles is just playing with her phone. But Blossom understands that sometimes people need to step out of their comfort zone to improve and she grudgingly understand why her sister brought her here. Along among the sisters, Buttercup is the only one that managed to defeat someone and whatever she is doing must be effective enough. Of course everyone received some assistance from the Rowdyruff Boys but that still does not change the fact that she is the most effective fighter among all of the Powerpuff Girls.

After a while, the copper-haired girl noticed that they are now entering into a hangar, where a fighter aircraft being repaired by a maintenance crew. As the vehicle stops, the passengers of the Humvee disembarked. The pilot begins to take out his harness and all his flight equipment and drops it on the ground. Slowly but surely, as the man finally pulls takes off his pilot suit, revealing a rather ripped and buffed body in a dark olive green tanktop. Most prominently are the images of the American flag on each shoulder, with the stars are on the left hand side to give the illusion that the flag is flying towards battle. He ties the sleeves of the Nomex flight suit around his waist and leaving the rest of the upper body section of the suit draped down behind him like a tail coat.

The other maintenance crew are now looking at the commotion and also at the very attractive young women. Buttercup walks towards the side of the man while never taking her eyes off him, away from the Humvee. As both the brush-haired man and Buttercup walked away from the vehicle, and their eyes are locked.

"Let's see what you got." The man said to Buttercup.

Suddenly the major throws his arm in an inward clothesline and a blueish white energy crescent launches from the man's arm motion and flies towards Buttercup. The sound of the energy projectile cutting through the air boomed throughout the hangar and Buttercup immediately threw both her arms in an inwards clothesline and launches her own energy crescent towards the incoming projectile. The energy projectiles met and the two projectiles exploded in mid-air.

"Blossom...he just threw an energy ball!" Bubbles said out loud to her sister,not believing that she did not even noticed that unimaginable feat from the air force major. But Blossom understood the significance of what he did, and she chose to instead observe his martial prowess instead to better understand this man's martial arts.

Major Bradshaw dashes in towards Buttercup as she is pulling her hands back, and with a lunging uppercut the man tries to punch her solar plexus. Instead she brings down her crossed arm down towards the fist and intercepting it. Another fist speeds towards Buttercup's temple but with a backhand, she deflects the fist explosively. However to Bubbles' surprise, the major is not even hurt by the defensive backhand and he breaks away from Buttercup in a back dash.

"Why isn't he hurt by her backhand?" Bubbles asked her redheaded sister.

"It seems that he managed to reduce the impact of the blow by dashing backwards." Blossom said, understanding the great control of the major's body. As the major regained his footing and brought his fist up close to his head while keeping his legs narrowed, Blossom realized that his stance is very familiar to those of Buttercup's present fighting stance. As she watched the major and his body movements, Blossom finally realized why Buttercup's fighting style improved suddenly a few years ago. The man pulses with every move, and his movements are agile and light-footed despite his size. Buttercup also adopts a similar stance, and both of them are now looking at each other, ready to spring into action at any moment.

The major jockeyed for his footing moments before he dashed forward once more with two fists hooking upwards towards Buttercup's jaw. With a backward flip, Buttercup swung her leg towards the man's jaw. However the Major Guile turns his fist downwards and opens his fingers in a cupping shape and push down towards her knee. The sudden movement caused the blow and aim of Buttercup's kick to be veered off from its target, and allow the man to take a step back before the kick grazes the man's eyebrow.

"Fool!" The man shouted and used both of his hands to grab her leg. The major lifts his right leg up and with a forward fluid motion, the man kicks Buttercup square in her back, causing her to fall down on the ground face first. Before the rest of her body followed down on the ground, the air force major jumped forward and moved downwards to the ground with her leg. As Guile and Buttercup falls down on the ground, the air force major proceed to wedge his elbow into her Achilles tendon and leverage her foot and leg over his forearm while lying down. Buttercup is now screaming while the man presses his elbow in her tendon, before she taps on his legs. Major Guile lets go of her legs and rolls away before standing up, all in one fluid motion. Buttercup is now breathing quite heavily, and she is now rubbing her leg to soothe the uncomfortable feeling.

"Wow...Buttercup losing to a normie. Never though I would see that." Blossom marveled at the Major Bradshaw's ability to bring her down and based on how Buttercup fought, she did not hold back on anything. If anything, she was being outfought by this very interesting individual. A human with the ability to throw out energy fireball and also bringing down the toughest fighter of the Powerpuff Girls down within a minute warrants more research on the matter.

"Damn...you're still a badass." Buttercup said to the air force major as she lies down on the ground sprawling. The maintenance crew could not help but to gawk at the young woman on the ground, as she arch her back and stretches. However the blonde brush-haired man is indifferent to the young woman's action, and he finally walks up to the young short-haired woman with the green highlights in her raven hair and offers a hand.

"Always has been and always will be. Anyway, if you want to learn the four final Jetstream moves, I'm expecting you here by five o'clock tomorrow morning." Buttercup groaned before she grabs on his arm and gets up. Her sisters are now walking up towards Major Bradshaw and they looked at him with newfound respect.

"That's amazing! How'd you do that? I thought only supers can do that!" Bubbles said with amazement and curiosity in her voice. Even though Blossom did not say anything but she is definitely curious as to how this military man could bring down a Powerpuff Girl so easily.

"If you girls want to know and learn, come along with your sister. You can stay over at my place, and my wife would be happy to accommodate you girls " The man wears his sunglasses back once more and puts his arm on his hips before walking towards the Humvee. The girls followed the man shortly.

* * *

[Patterson Air Force Base Family Housing Unit, Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio: 3.00pm]

"Honey, I'm home! I've brought some guests!"

The man enters into his home, and to the surprise of Blossom and Bubbles, the home broke their stereotype of a military home. It is not as spartan as they thought it would be, and instead it is very homely and warm. Several paintings, pictures and also tribal souvenirs from around the world adorn his home. As Blossom and Bubbles looked at the pictures, they saw many pictures of Major Bradshaw with his fellow airmen and other military units in combat theaters around the world and pictures of him receiving medals from many generals and politicians for his service to his country. At the same time there are a lot of much more gentler and warm family pictures of the major with what appears to be friends and family doing generally normal family activities like camping, yard barbecue and fishing. As they entered into the living room, the girls were greeted by a beautiful mature woman with auburn hair and dark brown eyes in a white t-shirt and jeans walking out from the kitchen.

"Oh my goodness! Buttercup , you've grown into such a beautiful lady!" The chirpy and cheerful woman immediately went up to the raven-haired girl and give her a big hug.

"Heya Julia...can't...breathe..." Buttercup struggled before the woman realized that she is essentially bear-hugging the girl. The woman's eyes immediately turned towards the other two Powerpuff Girls and she squealed as she saw them. Blossom and Bubbles could not react in time before she hugs them both in a bear-like embrace.

"And you must be Blossom and Bubbles! Little Blaze here always talked about you girls! You are indeed the perfect little girls!" Julia immediately started rubbing her cheeks at the two Powerpuff Girls' cheeks.

"Honey, they had a long journey. Get them something to drink while I carry their bags to their rooms." Blossom wanted to protest about the bags being carried by the major, but then her ears received a whisper from the auburn woman.

"Let my hunk carry your stuff, you are our guests!" Julia whispered mischievously before she lets go of both of them. As Major Bradshaw carries their bags up the stairs, the woman known as Julia happily hops into the kitchen. Seeing how close they are to Buttercup, both Blossom and Bubbles are now looking at Buttercup expecting some explanation about the matter. Buttercup knew that she would have to explain herself, and she started talking as she took a seat on one of the couches.

"Well, remember the time where I kinda came back with bruises on the weekends? Patterson Air Force Base is where I got my bruises. They sure have a lot of mean fighters and also their mock air-to-air combats...those were some good times. As to how I came to know them, I was just flying around and I saw a truck almost ramming their car. So I saved them. In return, they treated me like a daughter they never had." Buttercup's eyes gleamed with good memories.

"What about the rest of the base? They didn't even bat an eye once you started fighting with Major Bradshaw?" Blossom asked.

"As for the base, saved a few people from crashing when I am here visiting the Bradshaws and stuff and the whole base decided to adopt me more or less. Even the base commander is in on this, and that's how I became like the open secret of this air base. So they taught me stuff. But I haven't come back in like three years..." Buttercup started counting with her fingers as she tried to recall how long has it been since she returned to the base.

"Ah...I thought you went and punched a few of the monsters on Monster Island." Bubbles said, finally connecting the dots in her mind as she sits down on the sofa. Blossom took her place next to Bubbles, and continued on looking around the very heavily decorated home. Julia returned with several glasses of iced lemon tea and the woman sits down on the remaining space on the sofa, looking at all the three Powerpuff Girls with a smile. Soon after, the major entered into the living room and takes a seat at the remaining couch in the living room. He had changed into something more comfortable, with a t-shirt and some track pants.

"Thanks honey." The man with the flattop sits down on the couch and sinks into the couch.

"So how's your day?" The auburn lady asked with a cheery tone in her voice.

"Well, just flying around in the Raptor and teaching the nuggets on how to dogfight properly. The FNGs are freaking stupid. They would have died if the Soviets would ever come and invade us..." The air force major groaned, and the auburn lady could only shake her head. The three Powerpuff Girls looked on as the two of them updated each other of their day.

"For me, the kids are well-behaved today in the kindergarten. Makes for such a nice day, and with little Blaze here with her sister, it just sweeten the day a little more." The woman's smiled sweetly as she crosses her leg.

"Anyway honey, I need you to prepare the first aid kits and also if you can just stock up for at least two weeks." Major Bradshaw told his wife.

"Are you going to put these girls into your boot camp?" Julia's voice is filled with disapproval over what they are talking about. The man looked at the woman and back towards the teenager girls before answering his partner's question.

"They are here because they need it." The man takes a sip from his iced lemon tea. The woman is now silent, and the Powerpuff Girls are feeling rather awkward with this situation.

"Well girls, please kick my husband's ass for me." The woman requested, causing the Powerpuff Girls to raise their eyebrows.

"Julia!" The man jumped out from his seat, surpried that his wife is asking three superhuman girls to kick his ass. The woman blows a raspberry at him, amd the girls finally laughed.

"Anyway, do you girls want to help me prepare dinner?" The girls nodded, and soon enough thhe woman gets up from her seat and walks towards the man with the chiseled jaw and kiss him on the cheek. The woman then gives him a flirty smile before moving towards the kitchen.

"That woman..." The man smiled and shakes his head. He turns his attention to the girls and with a reassuring smile he beckons them to go and help his wife.

And thus begin the first day of the Powerpuff Girl's stay in the Bradshaw residence.

* * *

The very next morning, Major Bradshaw notice that the girls are clearly sleep-deprived, as they all have bags under their eyes and they do look rather horrible. The Powerpuff Girls are all in their tracksuit, with Blossom and Bubbles tying up their hair in a bun. The sun is not even up ,and clearly the girls are not used to such activity in the morning. But this is a necessary evil for they do not have time.

"Alright Ladies,we are going to do three laps running march around the base which I think you can do it just fine! But I want you to drink a small dose of Antidote X!"

"Wait...what?" Bubbles said. Suddenly Buttercup takes out three small vials of black liquid and passes her sisters a vial. Buttercup took hers and start to drink it.

"Buttercup are you crazy?!" Blossom cried out loud.

"We need to get our superpowers out and be normal when we do our helps with stamina building." Buttercup responded.

"But!" Blossom protested, but Buttercup instead pours another vial of Antidote X into the copper-haired woman's mouth,forcing her to swallow it. Bubbles realized that this is just going to go down from here on out and decided to just go with the flow and take a drink from the vial. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup's complexion soon turned much paler than before and they felt the strength from their body leaving them."Don't worry Bloss. It will only last for an hour." Buttercup assured her rose-eyed sister.

"Now watch what Blaze is doing,and you'll get the idea." As the other two girls watched, Buttercup closes her eyes and the vapor from the morning coldness when she breathed in and out are now visible.

"Alright, I'm good." Buttercup answered as she gotten used to the normal human strength of her present state.

"Lets get to work ladies! This is the first activity for the Bradshaw Boot Camp! If you can't sing the lyrics right while doing all of this, you'll get additional laps around the base until you get it right!" Immediately the man and Buttercup started in a long and speedy jogging marching pace and Blossom and Bubbles followed after. Blossom and Bubbles followed suit,and they realized how hard it is to fast jog march in formation and started with their cadence.

"Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns!" The major started with what appears to be a line or a song of something. As he looked backed, Blossom and Bubbles noticed his very devilish eyes. Blossom and Bubbles realized that he was serious about his punishment, and uncertain about what to reply with they watched Buttercup and see what she would do.

"Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons!" Buttercup answered and looked at her sisters, waiting for them to complete the song. Blossom and Bubbles immediately sang the song, just barely synchronized their lyrics with their sister's own.

"You're the saddest bunch I ever met!" The major continued with his cadence as he quickly jogs on the main street of the military homes.

"But you can bet before we're through!" Buttercup replied again, and so did her sisters who are still struggling with the military cadence's beat and also the song.

"Mister, I'll make a man out of you!" Major Bradshaw finished. The major then increased his jogging marching speed and the Powerpuff Girls are forced to keep up, as their fast jog soon turning into a run.

"Tranquil as a forest!" The man called out once more, expecting the Powerpuff Girls to answer back.

"But on fire within!" The Powerpuff Girls answered. Blossom and Bubbles are now struggling to try and coordinate the running march and also the call-and-response marching song.

"Once you find your center!" The major called as he turns around the corner of the housing units and out into the airfield.

"You are sure to win!" Buttercup called back promptly, but the other two girls lags behind a little. Buttercup looks back at them,and the other two Powerpuff Girls knew that this is seriously difficult. As they ran on the tarmac, Buttercup coukd see her sisters looking at her with much hatred as she is barely even sweating or even panting.

"You're a spineless, pale pathetic lot!"The air force major calles out once more as he decided to increase his speed further and including hops in the marching routine.

"And you haven't got a clue!" Buttercup is keeping her pace and hops along with the major, but Bubbles is struggling to keep her speed as consistent as Buttercup's own speed and she almost overstep and take a lead.

"Somehow I'll make a man,out of you!" Major Bradshaw sang out loud, shile the Powerpuff Girls called out in a hurrah as they run along the hangar area.

 _I'm never gonna catch my breath_ , Bubbles said to herself as she realized that despite her basic athleticism for the dance and also cheerleading club, she is struggling to coordinate her speed, balance, breathing and timing with this ridiculously fast run.

 _Was I a fool for cutting gym_ , Blossom said to herself as she struggled to keep up. As she watched both Bubbles and Buttercup being in a better state than herself,she utterly hated her sisters for being active members of their club activities. Among the three girls,she is now suffering the most from her shortened breath and straining legs. She cursed to herself as she realized that without superpowers, she is essentially a weak bookworm.

"BE A MAN!" The brush-haired major called out once more as they run in front of the hangars.

"We must be swift as a coursing river!" Buttercup called out, waitinh for her sisters to follow suit.

"We must be...switft...as..a cours-ing river." Buttercup immediately realized that her sisters are now struggling to even keep up with the cadence.

"BE A MAN!" Guile called once more, and he too is realizing that his marching group's response is now weaker.

"With all the force of a great typhoon!" Buttercup answered confidently and with strength.

"With all-th...force of a ...great...tai...fun..." Buttercup noticed that one of her sisters did not answer in sync with her. As she turned around to see who it is, Buttercup is not surprised that Blossom would be the first to crack.

"BE A MAN!" The air force major called, amd as he looked back he realized that one of the girls is now short on breath.

"With all the strength of a raging fire!" Buttercup answered once more.

"With...w-with stren-g...ht...of..." Both Blossom and Bubbles are already out of breath and their answer is but a dying gasp of air.

"Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!" Guile and Buttercup called out at the same time, and the sound of two falling teenagers are just a soft whimpering cadence.

"Time is racing toward us!" The air force major answered as he slowed down and lines himself at the same row as Buttercup. He gestured to Buttercup to see if her sisters could take any more of the run, and Buttercup shakes her head.

" 'til the Huns arrive!" Buttercup called out and she looked back at her sisters, and realized that they are now literally running and dragging themselves, their voice more like just a cacophonous breathing sound. Blossom and Bubbles are essentially trying to just focus on not collapsing on the tarmac. Major Bradshaw decided to slow down his run and gestured to Buttercup to also slow down in order for them to take care of her sisters.

"Heed my every order!" Guile called out loud while looking at Buttercup and the other girls.

"And you might survive!" Buttercup answered,and the two girls are looking at the major and their raven-haired sister with pained expressions as the air from their lungs are being squeezed out of them.

"You're unsuited for the rage of war!" The Major called out as he looked at the two girls, and Blossom and Bubbles are looking at him with rather pale, oxygen-deprived faces.

"So pack up, go home you're through!" Buttercup called, and immediately both teenage women fell down on the ground,causing the major and the lime green-eyed Powerpuff Girl to slow down and turn around while having a slow jog towards the fallen Powerpuff Girls. As Blossom and Bubbles looked up,both the brush-haired major and the lime green-eyed girl are now looking at them while jogging on the same spot.

"How could I make a man, out of you?" Both Guile and Buttercup called out at once, both of them shaking their heads.

* * *

[An hour later, Patterson Military Air Base Grounds]

"Alright Blaze, since your sisters are still suffering from the aftermath of the run, we will be spending more time with your particular training." Major Bradshaw said as he prepared four basketballs on the ground.

The training is being held on the empty tarmac, and the two individuals that are still standing are now looking at each other. Buttercup and Major Bradshaw are as fit as a fiddle, not even fazed by their run around the the other hand, Blossom and Bubbles are now literally leaning on the hangar walls looking more dead than alive. The fatigue from the running is still coursing through their body despite their superpowers returning. In fact, Blossom and Bubbles are now feeling more dreadful precisely because the effects of their fatigue is amplified by their own superhuman senses. However they had enough energy to watch what Buttercup is about to do with the major with the most unusual haircut.

"Right." Buttercup answered.

"Remember your circular breathing exercise?" The air force major asked.

"Can't forget it even if I wanted to, and it is second nature now. So what do you have for me, Guile?" Buttercup smirked.

"I will show the four forms of Jetstream only once." Before Major Bradshaw could even start, his arm is grabbed by the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl with the green highlights in her hair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guile, you seriously expect me to copy exactly what you are about to do?" Buttercup asked with eyes reflecting her insecurities. However,the man gently holds her arm and stoically answered her.

"You only got the basics and you combined it with your own innate powers, but you never got the gist of 'Jetstream'. With this, you will have the complete art. Of course, your will have a much more drastic increase of power due to your superpowers." The air force major explained.

"But-"

"I would need you to step back a little." The major gently cuts into Buttercup's protest and asked Buttercup to let go of her grip of his arm. Buttercup was surprised that she allowed herself to comply and gave him some room for him to demonstrate his moves. As he breathes in and out, Buttercup takes a few more steps back just in case, and all she could do is watch.

"Bubbles, is it me or the hangar is much more windier than before?" Blossom asked her pigtailed sister.

"It's not you...and I think the winds are rather hot and dry." Bubbles answered back.

True to the zircon-eyed Powerpuff Girl's observation, Blossom realized that the air blowing towards the air force major is hot and dry like those of a desert wind. As Buttercup watches, the dust and pebbles from the ground starts to lift themselves up from the ground and rotate around the man's arms like handcuffs around Major Bradshaw's wrist. Buttercup noticed that the moisture in the air is rapidly dissapearing as the wind flow became stronger and slowly enveloping his entire arm.

"Bomber." Major Bradshaw muttered, loud enough for Buttercup to hear it.

Suddenly his wrists and arm lights up and are enveloped in burning conflagaration of swirling whitish blue flames. The Powerpuff Girls were taken by surprise, especially Blossom. The column of fiery vortex compressed itself around the man's fist, forming itself like boxing gloves. The swirling winds and flames are visible, but to Buttercup's surprise the flames and the wins are not touching his he threw a blueish white energy crescent with his arm, and the entire energy crescent is engulfed with the swirling flames and travelled the entirety of the runway before exploding with a large realized that the energy crescent left a fiery burning mark on the ground. The focus of the swirling flames soon dissipates from his arms, only to reappear on his ankles. The major picks up one of the basketball and throws it up in the air before he throws his body backward up into the air, making a shearing movement with the lower limbs to get one leg in front of the other in order to strike the airborne ballrearwards above head level, without resting on the ground. The ball was shredded by the swirling flaming winds, and the fragments were ignited into blueish white flames. The Powerpuff Girls looked at the man in disbelief as he touched down with both his legs.

"What the...how did you?" Buttercup asked, but realized that he would not answer her. It was then that she noticed the air around them is slowly turning cooler and moist, and the heat slowly dissipating. She noticed that her skin is slowly forming droplets of water and the the area around her started to drizzle. The flaming vortex enveloping Major Bradshaw's slowly fizzles and vapor soon started to form around the vortices surrounding the man's wrists and ankles before turning into swirling stormy liquid.

"Blaze, shoot me with your eye beams."

"Are you crazy? You could die!" Buttercup warned him.

"Just do it." Seeing that he is not backing off, Buttercup heeded the man's instruction and shoots out a lime-green beam bolt from her eyes. The man swings his both his arms, creating a spinning stationary energy projectile. He then throws an energy projectile into the stationary spinning projectile and the two projectiles merged into a cross shaped spinning projectile that launches with exponential speed towards the beam bolt, neutralizing the beam as it made contact. The man then picks up one of the basktballs and tosses it towards Buttercup. Buttercup grabs the ball with her hands, and looked at her mentor.

"Throw it at me as hard as you can." Buttercup grabs the ball, and she shift her weight by turning her right foot, followed by her waist. As she rotated her waist,she directed all the energy towards her right arm and threw the ball. The ball launched with such speed that Blossom and Bubbles heard a sonic boom. However the ball was deflected upwards towards the sky by a new stationary rotating spinning projectile just inches from his own body like a shield before dissipating. As the pieces of the basktball falls down to the ground, Buttercup noticed that it is now essentially raining a the particular section where they are training, leaving Blossom and Bubbles dry.

"That's Interceptor."

Suddenly the surface of the wet floor immediately started to frost over, and the rain soon turned to hail as it falls down on the ground. The spinning vortices around the major's limbs are now spinning in greater rotations than before, and the major throws a projectile upwards to the falling ball in the sky, slicing it cleanly in half. As the two pierces of the ball touches the ground, Buttercup noticed that the surface of the basketball is filled with frost.

"Striker. Now to complete the lesson. Interdictor." Suddenly the man disappeared from sight, and a gust of wind blew outward. Buttercup and her sisters were caught offguard by a human moving in such speeds, and suddenly she felt an arm gently grabbing her neck. Buttercup broke into cold sweat and as she turned around, she noticed the stoic man's back is filled with a swirling vortex of some kind and as it fades away, he let go of her throat.

"Damn...that's some kickass moves you got there." Buttercup said as she touches her throat. Her forehead is still dripping with cold sweat as she wipes it away from her head.

"With these four forms, you would had taken that idiot down in seconds without the help of your blonde boyfriend."

"W-wha-?"Buttercup stuttered as she turned around to see Major Bradshaw face to face.

"Sure looks like it to me, though he is kinda too feminine for you somehow. I was expecting someone tougher Blaze." The brush-haired man combs his hair with a comb produced from his pockets.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Buttercup cried out as she pushed her mentor away, her faced red with embarrassment. Her sisters could not help but to burst out in laughter.

"Anyway, I expect you to show me these forms within a week. Welcome to Guile's Jetstream Boot Camp, Blaze." The sun rises in the horizon and creeps up on the airbase, and the man turns around towards the other two girls. As Blossom and Buttercup looked up, the stoic brush-haired blonde man helped them up before putting his palms on the two Powerpuff Girls' shoulders. Blossom and Bubbles watched the major with very uncomfortable smiles as he gives his own crooked smile.

"As for you two, we are not done yet. Let's march." Major Bradshaw said with a devilish tone,the long-haired girl and the pigtailed girl looked at him with horrified expressions.


	29. Chapter 29: Unexpected Visitation

Chapter 29: Unexpected Visitation

[Unknown Island, Pacific Ocean: 2.30pm]

Three strikes of lightning struck a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, clearing the vegetation away to reveal three teenagers kneeling down on the ground. The first to rise among the teenagers is a short-haired teenage boy with a long tail-like braided ponytail held together by a red cloth tied low. As the teenage boy looks around with his cinnabar eyes, he adjusts his blood red cap forward to shield his face from the blinding sun. One of the other teenage boys touched the red sleeveless hoodie of the cap-wearing carnelian-haired teenager.

"Brick, are you sure he's here?" A sand-blonde boy with spiky hair in a cobalt-blue sleeveless hoodie asked the long-haired boy, his sapphire eyes looking at the long-haired boy.

"Given his tendencies he loves very inhospitable places to live in, this would be the best place. Also my sources are reliable enough Boomer." The blood red-capped boy answered.

"So... if your sources is so reliable, where would be be on this god-forsaken island?" The third teenager asked. The third teenager rises from his kneeling position to stand tall above the other two teenagers, and his olive green tanktop is nearly form-fitting to his well-defined musculature. As the tall muscular teenager readjusts his dark green hairband over his head, a sudden voice pierced through their conversation.

"ARRGGGHHHHHHH!" A particularly low, deep, sinister voice cried out in anger. Brick points towards the direction where the voice is heard, and the other two Rowdyruff Boys raise their eyebrows.

"This is much easier than I thought it would be." Boomer states his opinion, however his carnelian-haired brother shush him.

"With that person, it is always best to assume that nothing is ever easy." Brick hissed back, and takes a few steps forward into the shrubbery. His brothers soon followed into the shrubbery and they moved on stealthily towards their intended target. Slowly and silently they moved towards their target as they watched around their surroundings.

The boys thought about their current predicament it is is only a few months ago that they were doing the exact same thing in the forest of Mindanao before they were forced to relocate to Townsville. Just as it was then, they are here now not because they want to, it is because they had to. Their battle experience had not prepared them for the Lunatics, and they were being outgunned at every engagement with these people. For that to never happen again, they wound need the help of a particular person whom if given the choice they would never want to meet again. But this person is particularly gifted and has the resources to ensure that they will have an edge, if not parity with Him's lieutenants.

Brick immediately raised a fist, and the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys stopped in their tracks. As Brick moved some of the foliage aside, he gestured his brothers to come closer to him. Slowly but surely Butch and Boomer slowly sneaked up to where Brick is located and they both are seeing what Brick is seeing. The area appears to be a large industrial complex surrounding a large volcanic caldera. The Rowdyruff Boys also noticed several base defense systems surrounding the complex and above the complex, and they wondered if they could even make it in one piece if they sneaked into the complex. However, Brick has another idea.

"HEY ARE YOU HOME?" Brick shouted with all his might, surprising even his brothers. Immediately siren sounds are blaring across the complex and several hundred drones armed with heavy weaponry started flying out from the base and heading towards them. Brick floats peacefully out towards the incoming horde of drones, followed by his brothers. As the two forces met face to face, the drones stopped and started scanning the three Rowdyruff Boys. Boomer waved at the drone, and immediately something else is now approaching them, and it is a large hovering platform with a fully enclosed glass dome over the platform.

"STOP! CEASE! DESIST! WHO DARES TO ENTER THE MYSTERIOUS AND UNKNOWN LAIR OF THE MOST EVIL OF MASTERMINDS AND MOST NEFARIOUS OF EVIL PLOTTERS! DO NOT CONTINUE WITH YOUR RAMBLINGS OF WHO YOU ARE FOR MY RAMBLINGS ARE THE RAMBLINGS TO BE OBEYED FOR I AM THE OVERLORD OF THIS SECRET COMPLEX IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, WHERE NO ONE WOULD BE ABLE TO FIND ME! DON'T YOU SEE!? I PLAN TO RULE THE PLANET, NOT TO HAVE MY PLANS TO BE STOPPED BY THE LIKES OF YOU INTRUDERS! SO STOP! CEASE! DESIST!"

At the center of the large platform, a rather short and overweight tailless ape-like being in a bath robe is now looking at the three teenage boys with its pink sclerae eyes and black irises. The boys looked at the ape-like being and noticed that the fur on the ape-like being is graying and its exposed bare face, fingers, toes, palms, and soles of the feet is a deep shade of green. The most distinguishing feature of this particular ape-like being is its large tubular-dome like helmet above its head.

"Hi Mojo." The three boys said in a chorus. The mutant chimpanzee waved his arms and the drone army stood down before hovering away.

"Boys?" The ape-like being soon spoke in a tone of surprise and disbelief.

"How'd you been? Heard you decided to move to this island ever since you realized that you could just design black military technology for governments and allowed yourself diplomatic immunity and pardons from all governments around the world and take over the world financially somewhat with investment companies instead of robbing banks and stuff." Brick answered the megalomaniac chimpanzee.

"What are you doing here, and by saying that I mean what are you doing here at this location at this moment at this exact time and exact place, and not any other time in the past, and definitely not anytime in the future for it did not happen yet and-" The mutant chimpanzee in the bathrobe was interrupted by Brick once more.

"We need your help. Him's back in town and he brought some nasty company." Brick cuts to the chase, and suddenly the glass dome disappeared. The ape beckons them to come in, and the three Rowdyruff Boys landed on the platform before the protective glass-like dome enveloped the platform once again.

"I saw the news a few weeks ago, and by few weeks ago, I mean three weeks ago. I saw Townsville being brought down by these ridiculous villains, and though I enjoy the girls being taken down like that, but nonetheless I do not agree with their methods for their methods are unnecessarily cruel and foolish. I must say that you boys are in a whole lot of trouble! And by a whole lot of trouble, I mean that you boys are less armored and armed that even the Powerpuff Girls and they too were defeated! Also by a lot of trouble, I have to say that it is much larger than what you faced before! Though once you said it was Him behind it, it makes a lot more sense than before for I do not believe that any super-villain could defeat you or the Powerpuff Girls at your teenage age now. This must be bad for- " Mojo Jojo continued on with his rambling as they returned to his secret base complex, and the Rowdyruff Boys remembered why they left the monkey in the first place.

 _God damn it, when will he shut up?_

* * *

Brick, Butch and Boomer are now just lounging around in the waiting area where Mojo told them to wait and not move away from the spot. Usually if anyone else told them to stay where they are, the Rowdyruff Boys would have ignored the warning but since this is Mojo Jojo they were talking about, it is best to heed his warnings. The chimp is known to devise some rather nefarious traps in his old lair on the Townsville volcano. However, it seems that the old-chimpanzee's interior decoration had taken more esoteric tastes for his home is decorated with significantly more objects but at the same time relatively obscure items that even the boys struggled to understand.

"You know, I did not expect the monkey to even get this much money. I swear, if he can have all of this stuff, he must be one of the wealthiest individuals in the world." Butch said as he noticed a particular painting that is made out of pure gold leaves.

"Yeah, but seeing how he looks like now, I think he is getting a little complacent. I mean, I think he gained quite a lot of weight. The corruption of the world must be feeding him a lot of bananas." Brick chuckles. Indeed, somehow one way or another, the chimpanzee had moved on from a mad scientist destroying towns to get some money to become a mad scientist fueling all those who are fighting with each other with his technology for a price.

"Shh...I'm trying to listen to his conversation." Boomer said out loud, and his brothers took notice. Boomer's ears are the most sensitive among his brothers and right now, and his brothers are now curious as to what he is hearing.

"So what is he saying?" Butch asked.

"Hold on, let me put my finger into your ears. Makes things easy." Boomer said hurriedly.

"Wait what?" Butch said, not comfortable with the idea of his brother's finger in his ear. But just as he is about to say something to Brick, the long-haired brother nods. Boomer puts one finger on each arm into the ears of Brick and Butch respectively within seconds. Butch wanted to protest, but to his surprise, they are now hearing Mojo JoJo's voice clearly as if they are hearing his voice on the highest quality speakers. Butch never knew that Boomer had this ability, but seeing how calm Brick is it appears that Brick knew this ability for quite a while.

"Good morning , I hope that everything is fine. Yes, Yes, I understand that you are looking forward to our weekly golf game in , but my lab...er...got...into trouble. My drones are being inefficient and by being inefficient, they are not functioning to their upmost capabilities. Yes, yes, I understand. To make it up to my drones' incompetency, I will provide you with the plans for my laser technologies. It will definitely be helpful for your new tank project. Yes, yes, I will inform you about our next meetup, yes, yes. Have a nice day Mr. Putin."

"Wait...he golfs with Putin?" Brick said out loud.

"Damn, that monkey's going places."

"Oh sh- he's coming, he's coming!" The Rowdyruuff Boys scrambled to find a place where they could pretend to be just lazing around or doing something not resembling eavesdropping. As the doors to the chamber slide open, the boys managed to find their particular spots and pretended that they are just goofing around. Brick had decided to take a view out the large ceiling-high windows towards the caldera, while Butch decided to lie down on the sofa within the waiting area. Boomer on the other hand is looking at the gold-plated painting and he was about to touch the painting.

The ape mutant came into the waiting area with his trademark turban-like protective casing, long tapered ultramarine blue suit with a white belt with a triangle buckle around his waist. The simian's feet and arms were covered with white boots and white gloves respectively,and a long flowing purple cape completes his iconic outfit. As Mojo Jojo realized what Boomer eas about to do, he screamed at the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy.

"STOP! YOU INSOLENT FOOL! DO NOT TOUCH THAT! THAT IS ONE OF GUSTAV KLIMT'S UNKNOWN WORKS! YOU TOUCH IT YOU PAY ME FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION EUROS!" Boomer immediately jerked his hand backwards by the sudden screaming of the mad chimpanzee scientist. Boomer could never repay that amount of money in his lifetime unless he decided to go into a life of absolute crime. Boomer turns around and smiles at the chimp uneasily.

"Sorry." Boomer said sheepishly.

"You should be! You boys made me miss a very important appointment with one of my best paying customers!" Mojo Jojo answered angrily. Mojo Jojo snaps his simian fingers and soon enough several more drones came with some fruits and also some coffee. As the drones came by and serve the boys coffee, the mutated chimpanzee takes a seat on a slowly materializing throne. The boys slowly gather around and they take their place among the seats surrounding the throne.

"Have some _Kopi_ _Luwak_ and also some of the freshest produce of the volcano. I believe that as a host, albeit a grudging host due to my sudden cancellation of my appointment with one of my most esteemed customers that I must treat my current guest, which is you, the Rowdyruff Boys, consisting of Brick, Butch and Boomer who were created by myself and thus making me your creator and also technically your father a token of hospitality and also loving care for it has been many ages since I saw you boys." Mojo Jojo explained himself.

"Yeah, it's been a while Mojo." Brick said, his voice a little less intimidating and showing a little bit of nostalgia.

"You boys grew up well, and by well I mean you are now strong, healthy and... I must say you boys are now very good looking. I would not be surprised if the Powerpuff Girls who also turned out to be such beautiful maidens would fall for your dashing good looks. Thought to be fair I must say that Boomer, you really look more like a girl than a boy, but I get that women do like that look, as shown by those East Asian obsessions with feminine-like men." The ape mutant complimented the rowdyruff Boys with his unique accent.

The four individuals are now quiet once more, and it is apparent that their years of being apart had taken a toll on their relationship. Where once they could laugh and talk about many different things, now it seems that there is nothing much to talk about at all. Brick knew that this would take time, and perhaps the chinpanzee would not help them after all. His eyes are now looking at the dark eyes of the once-menacing evil overlord with eyes of uncertainty.

"Boys, I know that you do not have time for the pleasantries, and pleasantries are admittedly superficial at times but if you want to go about this world, you need to show people that you are here to meet them sincerely at least. Without that, I would not have the need to meet you sincerely as I know that you are here to not meet me right now I had cancelled my meeting in order to understand why you boys had returned to me after all this time. I have shown my sincerity, and I hope that you could show me the same as well."

Brick decides to take something from his pocket and after retrieving the object, Brick showed the object in his palm for Mojo Jojo to see wit his own eyes. Several red orbs were seen on Brick's palm, each the size of a marble ball. The simian picks it up with his fingers and take a good look at it. Mojo Jojo snapped his fingers in a particular rhythm before a particularly bulky floating drone came i to the room and hovered next to the simian scientist. A slim,nearly skeletal mechanical appendage came out form the machine and took one of the orbs into its own machine a few moments,the machine was silent. Suddenly the drone projected several large holographic screens that showed the analysis results of the red orb. The molecular structure of the red orb is shown in a trident-like interconnected bonding other measurements,graphs and other reports are now scrolling and calculating itself as the chimpanzee moved his eyes quickly to absorb the entire information before them.

"This is Him's tool for whatever nefarious plan he is thinking about. He brought us against our will to accomplish a goal that he had set for us,and this drug that had plagues Townsville is at the heart of it. But we do not know what it does other than being a-"

"A rather bizarre combination of a highly addictive and complex two part performance-enhancing mutagenic stimulant with a neurological behavioural odorant with a hyperarousal physiological mutagenic enhancer that binds itself to the neural networks of the nervous receptor. Judging from the chemical compisition, this is an impure version that would cause short-term and long-term memory functions to deteriorate similar to chronic traumatic encephalopathy."

"Sounds like what Professor Utonium said to us."

"However, I noticed something very peculiar about this substance. Somehow, if I were to put in some neurological chemicals here and there..." The chinpanzee scientist immediately pressed on the holographic image and removed several of the balls in the molecular diagram before inserting several other balls. To the Rowdyruff Boys' surprise, the structure turned from a trident into a shape of a horned devil with a smile.

"What the..." Brick mutterd out loud.

"If I were to stabilize this molecular structure more with a superior neuro-psychological stimulus being externally injected into its mutagenic structure, I get a substance that transfect the target cells and modify and overlap with the sequences on either side of the cut and code for the insertion sequence of multiple crRNAs and the tracrRNA to form a single-guide RNA that will bind to the cell's DNA . This procedure would essentially makes it a CRISPR modification of the genes based on a randomly-allocated mutational property based on its structural compatibility with its host cell." The holographic image soon projects itself towards the helical human gene structure and suddenly several pieces of the helix are pulled out and inserts into the human gene structure, causing the image of a person next to the helical structure to change the shape based on what is being removed and replaced. At the same time it also showed the cross-section of a brain MRI scan to light up in several parts of the brain as well.

"My head hurts..." Boomer said, and Butch is already sleeping on the couch. Brick slaps his sleeping brother on the head,causing his raven-haired brother to jolt himself awake.

"So from what you are saying, somehow the human state of mind is a key ingredient for this drug to react the way it is?" Brick reconfirms his understanding of what Mojo Jojo said to them.

"YThe biochemicals that made up particularly strong emotions are the ingredient required to further purify the drug to interact with its user's physiology. Also with the volatile biochemical combination, the byproduct are even more emotionally-inducing hormone excreted out of the body to allow smooth transfection of the human genome. This unique byproduct of the chemical interaction within the user's physique would be far more concentrated than any realistically possible levels, thereby enhancing its own properties. Due to the ionization processes of this biochemical, it also extract these biochemicals from its surrounding thus providing it with a way to further stabilize its pheromone structure. Provided that the emotional biochemical proximity to this substance is provided in a large and concentrated amount,the more stable and concentrated this byproduct." Mojo Jojo further explained, and Boomer and Butch are now staring blankly at the mutated simian's hypothesis. Mojo Jojo buried his palm in to his faces, as he lamented that he was in the presence of people who failed to understand him. That is why Brick is always the one he liked the most, despite his aggressive mannerism.

"Alright you simpleton,basically the highest quality version of this drug must be synthesized with bodily chemicals that are responsible for extreme emotions in order to give it is most potent ability; to replace and permanently alter the genes of the user. The modified body will then release hormones and chemicals that are responsible for extreme emotions to affect the user and those around the creating a circular chain reaction to fuel itself and affect others. And the more extreme the emotions around the user,the more potent it becomes."

"This sounds like one of Him's witchcraft at work..." Brick commented, and he now understood why they attacked the way they did. With the exception of the attempted assassination, the rest are locations where they attacked are places where people would most likely react adversely.

"But how did you even know how to enhance this drug to begin with?" Boomer asked.

"It's Him we are talking about here. I've worked with him a few times before to know what he is more or less up to. Though I do not know why or what he wants with this particular thing he is looking for, as he is always a genius and an idiot in one go." The chimpanzee takes a banana and starts to peel it before taking a bite.

"So do you have anything that you could use to neutralize this drug?" Butch asked.

"The volatile nature of this chemical compound is such that my solutions may make it worse, not better as I have said it would be worse, and definitely not normal as I did say that it would be worse. And do not ask me how bad it would be as I do not now how bad it would be, just that it would be worse." Mojo Jojo said in his particularly redundant way of speaking.

The boys are now deep in thought as they realized that whatever these people are taking, there is no way out for these people. Butch in particularly affected as the person whom he wants to be weaned out of the drug is now a lost cause. They were suddenly snapped out of their thoughts as the monkey coughed out loud. As they turned to the chimpanzee, Mojo Jojo clasp his hands together and looked at the teenagers.

"If you want to defeat these substance abusers, I would suggest that you upgrade your own arsenal to face off against this new threat, and for that I do not know what are your present list of things you boys could use. For all I know your puberty allowed you boys to have more things than I though you have, and by having more things that I thought you have, I am unable to know how to enhance your abilities. For that, I need to study each one of you to better understand how your abilities had evolved over the years. Make you boys harder,faster, better, stronger. And by becoming harder, faster, better, stronger you are able to defeat your opponents with your abilities."

 _Yeap, he's doing it again_ , the Rowdyruff Boys said in their minds. The thing that annoys them about their creator cum father is that he tends to repeatedly explain himself in such a way that it is utterly redundant. But at the same time, they knew that he is the only one with the knowledge of their physiology. They found that out in a hard way as even Professor Utonium struggled to heal them at times, and their healing treatments took much longer than the girls. Even now, they are not truly back to normal, and they need all the help they can get.

"Anyway, I think you boys are very, very tired for flying over here from Townsville is a very long and arduous journey. I think we can talk about it later,for I would also need to go through this information to better know what I am truly up against. Nagase?" The sliding door opens up once more to reveal a very attractive Asian woman in a very stylized kimono, her black hair pinned in a bun, light brown eyes, and a small beauty mark under the left side of her lower lip. She wears a low-cut red kimono which hangs loosely over her upper arms, exposing her decolletage. Particularly well-groomed and made up, the woman wears heavy eye shadow and bright lipstick. Boomer rubs his eyes in disbelief, while Butch's jaw just dropped. Brick's eyes opened wide, not expecting anything resembling a woman in this secret complex.

"Yes, your evilness?" The soft-spoken voice of the woman asked the mutated simian as she bowed down politely towards the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Nagase, please show them to their rooms. My guests require all the rest that they need, nothing less for that will make them too tired, but not too long either as that would make them sluggish and forgetful of time. Also seek to entertain all the needs that they so require in order to not bore them, but neither do I want them to be too entertained that they are too tired to do what they need to do the very next day." Mojo Jojo instructed the woman, and she nodded.

"Seriously? Even the monkey got a hot smokin' lady? I'm a failure in life..." Butch said in lament, as Mojo Jojo gets up from his chair and steps on the ground. The piece of the ground floats up to reveal a hovering platform.

"You are not a failure in life. You are but a small little petulant child, and you have no money. Anyway, I am off. See you boys tomorrow morning." The platform immediately floated away, and the holographic screens of the item floats along with the simian scientist. Once Mojo Jojo had exited the room, Boomer immediately turned to his brother and voiced out his opinion.

"Brick, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"What Boomer?"

"I just want to ask if it is a wise idea to give the monkey the 'Red Candy'? For all you know, he would just mass-produce it and we are seeing the end of the world..." Boomer's concern is immediately met with Brick's shrug.

"They hate each other enough that they would not copy each other's methods. I mean if he does so, we would be seeing a far worse Mojo Jojo right about now." Brick reasoned, and Boomer looked at his brother with disapproval. The brothers immediately left their seats and soon followed the attractive Japanese lady.

"Seriously I don't know how you could trust the monkey...he is plain crooked." Butch commented, but his eyes are looking at the swooning hip movements of the walking Japanese woman in the kimono. Butch bit his lip as he enjoyed the beauty before him. Boomer and Brick breathed out a sigh simultaneously at their brother's inability to control his own urges when faced with an attractive woman. But they all got to admit that the monkey really hit the jackpot with this woman, and honestly they were in a way happy for their creator. The monkey had always been alone and surrounded by all his robots and inventions, and seeing him having a more fulfilling life is something they could not help but to be happy for.

"That exact reasoning can be applied to us coming here in the first place Butch. He is as crooked as it comes, but unlike Him he has a sense of honor that I can bet my money on." Brick said with confidence, causing his two brothers to look at each other and then look back at him. Despite Brick's confidence, both brothers appear to be unconvinced.

"Yeah, but I think we are really in some kind of uncharted territory here. I mean...what does he mean by upgrades? The best we could do is to just wear armor like the Powerpuff Girls right?" Butch answered back, awaiting his brother to give him an answer that would satisfy him. However Butch's eyes never left the swooning hips and butt of the lady.

"Also what the heck does he mean by making us harder, faster, better, stronger?" Boomer exclaimed out and raising his arms up in the air as if he is flipping an invisible table.

"Well, I don't know about that but I know that he's good at what he does." Brick points towards his temple as he delivers the point across.

Suddenly a yelp pierces through the air, followed by a slapping sound and the sound of a person slamming down on the ground. Brick and Boomer looked to see that Butch is now on the ground with the lady locking his join in a very uncomfortable manner. Brick facepalmed as he knew what just happened to cause such an incident. Brick and Boomer looked at the woman, who is now looking at them with a very violated look.

"Yes?" The Japanese asked the two Rowdyruff Boys, worried that she had offended them with her actions. Brick however shakes his head, and Boomer lets out another sigh.

"He tried to take advantage of you didn't he?" Boomer asked.

"Yes... He tried to grab my butt." The woman answered back, her voice a little more angrier than before.

Boomer immediately spread out Butch's legs before Brick swings a kick into the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy's nether regions. The pain experienced by Butch is insurmountable, and as the lady and Boomer lets go of the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy, the cinnabar-eyed teenager winks at the Japanese lady. The lady bowed in gratitude, and they soon went on without Butch, as he lied down on the ground.

* * *

As Mojo Jojo floats away from the chamber where he hosted the boys, he had decided to use his computing system to retrieve all the information that he would need to go about seeing if helping the Rowdyruff Boys is even a viable thing with his present means. He did not even ask the Rowdyruff Boys for anything in return for his help. The information soon flowed and Mojo Jojo is met with a large body of information and data on the Rowdyruff Boys, and Mojo Jojo decided that he needs to look at each Rowdyruff Boy individually. In addition to the secondary data he had received, Mojo Jojo have also taken liberty to use his various surveillance devices and other measuring equipment hidden within the facility to gauge the present physiological state of the boys.

"Open the file for Boomer."

The files on the sand-blonde blue-eyed boy soon appear before Mojo Jojo, and he watches the footages and also the dossier on Boomer. Somehow for some reason, Mojo Jojo is surprised that he turned out to be so androgynous as he saw the footage. To his surprise, it appears that the young man is perhaps the one with the most developed sensory nervous system and the teenager is the only one among his brothers who has an electroreceptive sense. Mojo Jojo continued on and observed that Boomer had honed his electro-magnetic energy manipulation to significantly much higher levels than even his brothers, allowing Boomer to essentially be a moving electronic jamming and countermeasure system. The applications of Boomer's powers are only scratching the surface, and Mojo Jojo knew what he could devise for the blue-eyed teenager and what kind of training regiment that would best complement his abilities. He taps on one of the holographic screens and using his fingers, drew what looks like a file before pushing all the files pertaining to Boomer into the holographic file.

"Computer, let me see Butch's information."

The complete dossier regarding Butch is now shown before him, and immediately Mojo Jojo finds Butch's reflecting barriers an interesting development. It is not a truly defensive structure, but it enables the teenager to deflect or ricochet energy and projectiles. In addition, the Rowdyruff Boy's body can be enveloped in a barrier that allows the force of his own blows to be deflected back to the field, which in turn deflects back to the surface of impact, which in turn will repeat the process until the blow no longer made contact with the striking surface. In many way, this ability allow Butch to throw stronger punches without damaging the hands, while at the same time amplifying the force of the punch extremely disproportionate to the force he exerts to the blow. The continuous reflection of kinetic energy between the surface and the barrier creates blows that rival even the most destructive non-nuclear tactical ballistic missiles if unleashed with the full force of Butch's musculature. It is reasonable to posit that this is the exact reason why Butch's limbs was impaled in the last battle, for even a finger would be enough for Butch to bring someone down. That saying this particular ability is an unique ability that can be used passively if Butch could master it.

 _"_ Now show me Brick's dossier." Brick's abilities are now displayed, and the videos and reports all showed the long-haired teenager's leadership skills. As he observed the videos of the Rowdyruff Boys fighting in various warzones and other particular combat activities, he wondered how these boys had grown. As the creator of the Rowdyruff Boys, he is proud that his creation is now a fully battle-tested product that had performed beyond his wildest dreams. As the estranged parent of the Rowdyruff Boys, he felt a tinge of sadness as he had never seen them grow up to become the men that they are today. He may not be the best parent there is, but he still felt that he is duty-sworn to help his creations to be the best they could ever be.

It was then that he noticed a particular peculiarity in the latest footage of Brick's battle. His eyes are drawn to the image of Brick being found and retrieved by military personnel among many injured hulking muscular men with bulging arteries and veins in a pool of blood with burned arms and shoulders. He opened a few files of Brick's previous battles and compared the victims that were maimed by Brick in normal circumstances. he noticed the imploded and splintered joints of the opponents. As he did the calculations of the brute's enhanced physiology based on the chemical composition of the drug that he got earlier, the computer showed him the necessary force in order to do such damage to the limbs of these 'Candymen'.

Mojo Jojo also turned towards another battle footage where several dozen men around Brick just collapsed around him as if stunned by a taser. He then compared it to a footage of Brick in a cafe causing the hostage takers to flee in fear and soon noticed a few disturbing trends. As Mojo Jojo gathered all of Brick's data and ran the analysis of these battles and incidents into his calculating algorithm, a biting concern is still haunting his mind as he analyze the data before him; how did that nefarious demon factor into this mess of a situation? Mojo Jojo is even more cautious as the demon is known to just make people's life a living hell.

Suddenly a beeping sound could be heard and as Mojo Jojo turned towards one of the holographic monitor, his face turned much grimmer and darker. The results of Brick's analysis came up and he does not like the results one bit. As Mojo Jojo enlarges the results of Brick's analysis, he opens up several holographic screens and ran the results of the analysis with the information of the other Rowdyruff Boys' data. For some reason, Brick's data is unlike those of his brothers and this sparked a concern within Mojo Jojo's mind.

 _What have Him done to you, Brick?_


	30. Chapter 30: Break Point

Chapter 30 - Break Point

The very next morning, the Rowdyruff Boys are now having their brunch in a dining room of sorts facing the volcanic caldera, their meal more or less an assortment of fruits, nuts and berries along with some toast and eggs. Alas, here they are having what is perhaps their healthiest breakfast ever. The night before is uneventful, but they have to admit that the hot spring bath is sublime and also allowed their weary bodies to let loose of all the tension within themselves. The only thing missing with the experience are some female company. Before long, the sliding door opens to reveal the simian scientist in his robes and domed helmet. The

"Curses..." The chimpanzee hisses and shade his eyes away from the sun, before he walks towards Boomer.

"Damn...you looked like you haven't slept." Boomer noticed the shades of much darker green under each one of Mojo Jojo's eyes. As the chimpanzee looked at Boomer with its bloodshot eyes, Boomer felt a chill down his spine.

"That is because I haven't slept at all. Anyway once you are done I expect you boys to be in the Danger Room, in order for me to know the abilities that come with your puberty and no holding back on your abilities." Mojo's short reply surprised the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Danger Room?" The Rowdyruff Boys said in unison as they looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, took me the whole night to calibrate it so that it could measure whatever it is that I want to measure for you, which would make it a machine possible to measure your abilities which in turn allow me to know what I can do to improve upon your abilities and provide the gear necessary to make your annoying little pathetic lives much easier by being able to measure your abilities." Mojo Jojo answered redundantly.

"Um okay.. thanks?" Boomer replied uncertainly. However the simian grabbed Boomer's arm and started to drag him out of his chair. Boomer barely got his legs to balance the pull of the mutated ape before he is being led towards the door. His two brothers are now watching him walk before the simian barked at them.

"MOVE IT BOYS!" Mojo Jojo barked. Immediately Brick and Butch got out from their chair and followed the simian and the blonde teenager.

The hurried pace of the simian is surprisingly hard for the boys to trail, and somehow they need to remind themselves that Mojo Jojo is not a human being but a chimpanzee. They need to remember that Mojo Jojo can and will move like an ape if needed to, and that is something they are now aware as Mojo Jojo is now walking on all threes, with one hand dragging Boomer. After a while walking through the complex, the chimp and the three teenagers are now facing a particular column jutting out from a pristine white courtyard. As with the architecture of the complex,it is rather spartan and paneled and its grayish white interior really gives out an industrial vibe. Suddenly a section of the column opened up, revealing the spartan interior of an elevator.

"Get in." Mojo Jojo releases his grip of Boomer's hand and ushered them into the elevator. Seeing that they do not have much of a choice, the Rowdyruff Boys entered into the elevator first, followed by the simian scientist. As soon as Mojo Jojo entered in, the door to the elevator closes and slowly descends down towards the earth with its passengers in tow. The silence within the elevator is awkward, but the Rowdyruff Boys are not willing to break the silence either. As they slowly descend downwards,Brick noticed that there are five hundred levels below the ground level and they are descending very quickly. As the elevator door opened, the Rowdyruff Boys took the sight that is before them with their eyes.

"What the hell is this place Mojo?" Brick asked in awe, and it takes a lot to awe Brick.

They found themselves in a luminescent cave-like chamber, the dark cave ceiling mimicking the night sky set with glowing turquoise crystals as stars and the moon, while a large lake lies beneath the starry ceiling, littered with clusters of metal discs. At the edges of the lake, and the walls of the cave, large volumes of water falls down towards the void below. In the middle of the lake lies a large whitish metallic man-made structure. They soon realized that they are all standing at the mouth of the tunnel, facing a quay jutting out towards the orb. One of the discs slowly floats towards Mojo Jojo and the Rowdyruff Boys and the ape hops on the disc. Before long several more discs hovered before the Rowdyruff Boys and the teenagers hopped on the discs as well.

"You boys are lucky that I informed the defense system yesterday that I am bringing some guests, or else these discs would slice into you. Each one of these discs will secret Antidote X on its surface when it tries to kill." Mojo Jojo commented before everyone started to float towards the white structure.

"That's nasty Mojo, you really expect the Powerpuff Girls to come over here and beat the crap out of you?" Brick asked, but Mojo Jojo did not answer the teenager.

"Oh...you do expect them to kick your ass even on this island..." Brick trailed off, realizing that the chimpanzee does have a lot of bad blood with the Powerpuff Girls.

As soon as they reached the structure , pieces of the structure's surface started detaching itself and float in mid-air to allow the group to enter through a gap revealed by the floating pieces. As they all entered into the structure, the opening on the surface reattached themselves to fully seal the group within the confines of the structure. The discs finally stopped moving and hovered just three inches from the ground, allowing Mojo Jojo to hop down from his disc. The Rowdyruff Boys soon followed the lead of Mojo Jojo as they walked down a narrow bridge towards a podium with several orbs floating around it.

"Okay..." Boomer said uncomfortably.

"Silence!" Mojo Jojo called out, and starts to rearrange the floating orbs in a particular order. Suddenly the whole empty space around them started to fade away, revealing an installation that defies belief. The Rowdyruff Boys were greeted by the awe-inpiring sight of countless computing devices, heavy industrial machinery, and other scientific equipment. Countless drones and robots toil and tended to the research and development of the countless technologies that were being invented within the confines of the structure, and as some of them politely moved away from the mutated chimp and also the Rowdyruff Boys to go about their daily programmed routine. Soon enough, the platform they are on started descending downwards

"This laboratory is huge!" Boomer said as he looked around the research and development complex.

"How the heck did all of this popped up out of thin air?" Brick asked.

"This is my primary laboratory, where I do my most secret and most complicated researches. The rest of the facility is just my production line and residence, in which I do not do any research and development. I keep it phased out about three seconds from the rest of existence in order to hide it away forming an unassailable shield against any attack that does not originate from the time stream corresponding to the precise moment of impact. I do not share this particular technology with the rest of the world, nor will anyone understand it." Mojo Jojo explained as he led them down via the hoering towards a transparent orb-like object suspended in the center of the grand structure. As they finally stopped outside the structure, the Rowdyruff Boys saw that the structure is large enough to hold several city blocks within its confines comfortably, but other than that, it is utterly empty.

"So we are supposed to enter into this thing?" Butch asked.

"Yes. You shall enter into the Danger Room. That is where you will show me all your abilities. So who's going first?" Mojo Jojo asked crisply. Butch cracked his knuckles and walked towards the structure, however Brick stopped his brother and instead took the steps forward. Not wanting to stop his brother, Butch takes a step back and folds his arms. The platform soon floats next to the orb and Mojo Jojo touches the surface of the orb-like structure. Immediately a holographic projection of a biometric scanner hovered and scanned the carnelian-haired teenager. Butch is now stretching ass several other holographic devices came up and did their diagnostics on Brick, not aware that Mojo Jojo is now looking with great concern towards the Rowdyruff Boy.

The tension on the surface of the orb breaks, revealing clear path towards the orb-like structure. Seeing that this is the only way in, Brick entered into the sphere and as he floated to the center of the orb-like structure, he wondered about why this object is called the 'Danger Room'. It is perhaps the most benign structure that he had ever seen, and as he turned back to look at Mojo Jojo and his brothers the transparent entrance soon sealed itself seamlessly leaving Brick captive within the confines of the orb.

"So what do you want me to do in here?" Brick asked.

Suddenly to Brick's surprise, the transparent orb changed its view into the streets of Townsville and he is now experiencing solid ground under his feet where moments ago he was just hovering. Suddenly the background of the city of Townsville soon turned into shades of gray and immediately Brick realized what is going on. He turned around to see a bat-masked opponent in a trenchcoat button only at the top and wearing the distinctive black and white Cholo-styled clothing aiming his fingers at Brick.

 _This is just a hologram that the monkey build, I would not truly be hurt by this_ , Brick convinced himself, as that is the only explanation for this particular situation.

However the red beams streaked pass the streets towards the long-haired teenager, and instinctively he dodged and to his utter horror he realized that the part where the beam grazed his skin is now burned. Brick then realized that this place can definitely kill him if he is foolish enough. Brick barely dodges the next salvo of beams and soon he is evading the attacks with his life on the line. Butch immediately grabbed the mutated chimpanzee by his collar and stared at him with enraged eyes.

* * *

"What the hell Chimp! Are you trying to kill him?!"

"I need him to show me everything. This facility and this orb are technologies I got from the Xi'ar Empire, and it can create the most immersive artificial environments, simulating various situations that can be replicated. Anything from gravity, heat, humidity, or texture could have been manipulated by its advanced holographic technologies and tactical computer matrix. I have programmed the prime directive to expose all your abilities even if it needs to threaten your lives for it. And based on what I have gotten this would be the main catalyst for improvement and discovery." The simian calmly informs the Rowdyruff Boys and looked at Butch's jadeite eyes with eyes that can only be described as filled with single-minded conviction, unflinching at the threat of the superhuman right before him.

"You mad monkey!" Butch is looking at the ape with disbelief and anger. The simian pry open Butch's arms with his own strength, surprising even the Rowdyruff Boy himself and points towards the sphere where Brick is now fighting for his life.

"You know only what you know, but I also need to know what potential abilities hidden within everyone in order to know what I can do next! It is the way I will make all of you faster, better, harder, stronger! Just as lions throw their cubs off cliffs and raise only the surviving ones to make sure they're strong, I will do the same with you boys! You boys do not have the time to slowly learn these abilities by yourself and the best way to learn about your abilities is to literally push yourself to the point where it will come out! And for that I need you to know what you don't know and get out of this with the skills necessary to win!" Butch is stunned to silence as Mojo Jojo shouted out his reasoning.

"Dear god, so how will this all end Mojo?" Boomer asked, not believing what they had just signed up for.

"Until he shows me something or I stop it myself." Mojo Jojo answered. A drone soon floats next to Mojo Jojo, and Mojo Jojo opens up several dozen holographic screens for the drone to see. The drone immediately transferred the holographic screens to its own periphery and moved away. Seeing that the blue-eyed teenager noticed what he did, Mojo Jojo turned his attention towards the sand-blonde teenager.

"What did you-" Boomer asked, but was interrupted halfway by Mojo Jojo.

"I have given my drones the task of making your armor and weapons and my plans to make a new armor out of a new element I will be making exclusively for you boys. As to what else that could be enhanced, my surveillance drones and robots will be monitoring the fight and improving on the plans that I had just given. Making a new element is easy, for me at least, but to incorporate it with you boys will be the hardest thing I had ever done. And-" Mojo Jojo's rambling speech is interrupted by a scream, causing the simian and also the other two Rowdyruff Boys to turn their attention to the orb.

To Butch's and Boomer's horror, Brick was hit by several beams of the holographic projection causing the whole hoodie to be ignited in red flames. Boomer watches as Brick pulls away his slowly burning and disintegrating hoodie and sleeveless shirt away to reveal a very nasty burned scar on his chest, the flesh and skin charred by the beam. Realizing that he could not take any further damage, he blocks both of his arms to protect himself. However, the fusillade of beams hits the Rowdyruff Boy's arms and causing it to literally scorched most of the flesh away. As Brick takes to the air to avoid the beams, he noticed that several spiked missiles were suddenly launched from elsewhere and Brick realized that he could not dodge both the spike missiles and the beams at the same time. The explosions engulfed the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy, causing him to crash down towards the streets of the holographic Townsville.

"Shit...Brick's gonna get killed!" Boomer cried out, and Butch gives a death glare at Mojo Jojo. However Mojo Jojo's attention is now on the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

"Watch, and hope I am wrong." The simian's concern is etched on his face, but his concern is not for the boy's safety. Mojo Jojo had seen a particular reading that disturbed him and he needs to confirm in order to ascertain his particular assumption. He needs to replicate the particular situation that transpired in the District Attorney's office.

* * *

Brick's mind is now racing as it recalled the trauma of being hit by the beams, and as the pain and suffering blared in his mind, he finds his mind rapidly fading away. Somehow, this reminded him of the sensation that he felt when he fought the man in the District Attorney's office. His mortality is slowly coming to be, and his mind is cursing at how quickly he healed only to die in a stupid lab in a mad mutated chimpanzee's laboratory. Suddenly he felt the darkness within him taking over his body, and right now he wondered if this is the feeling of death or something else. As he watched several more spike-like missiles, he noticed a dark silhouette of himself is standing before him once more with blazing red eyes. Suddenly everything freezes as if time had stopped.

 _Damn, your monkey creator really sure know how to try and call me out._

"What the hell are you?" Brick found it in him to finally ask the being. Brick remembered the last time he saw this apparition when he was about to be murdered by Murciélago. Somehow, this thing is responsible for whatever happened in that office space.

 _What am I? I am you. Surely you are not that stupid aren't you?_

"Stop mocking me, you...shadow-thing." Brick realized that he has no name for this entity in order for him to converse with him. The shadowy figure started laughing, and its red glowing eyes squints a little. The apparition soon walks up towards the long-haired teenager and puts its shadowy arms on Brick's shoulder.

 _If you want to call me anything, call me Break. At least that is what I was called._

Brick is now visibly disturbed, for the being implies that it was created by something else entirely and implanted within him. The manifestation opens its eyes wide, and several glowing crimson vein-like patterns soon appeared from the side of its eyes upon its abyss-colored skin. The sinister being's expression is blank and unsettling, and the only way in which Brick knew of its emotions is through the tone of its voice. This time the voice is rather condescending, and as the figure hugs Brick, he realized that his body is slowly being merged with the being.

 _Well, that's for you to find out, or maybe the chimp over there could find it out for you._

"What the hell, get off me!" Brick struggled as he tried to escape his body being invaded by this apparition. As Brick's face is engulfed by the darkness of the Tyrant's body, the being answered back with a joyful tone. The teenager is now screaming as his mouth was covered by the darkness.

 _Shhh...don't struggle and just let me take over._

* * *

"Shit! Get him out of there!" Boomer cried out loud as the bone missiles are heading towards Brick. Suddenly, the orb started to frost from within, and an oppressive atmosphere descended upon the structure causing a great amount of dread to cling upon Mojo Jojo, Butch and Boomer. They find it hard to breathe, for their breath is slowly being constricted by this sudden realization that something is going to get them. Mojo Jojo immediately opened up a holographic screen showing the interior of the orb, and both Butch and Boomer are also looking at the holographic display. In the middle of the simulated Townsville, Brick's slit irises are glowing a bright sinister crimson and his sclerae pure obsidian black. Brick's skin is soon etched with black-colored veins and his carnelian-colored hair is now a pure glowing crimson. As the atmosphere of the surrounding area becomes more oppressive and depressive, Brick's body is now engulfed by a dark red swirling energy. Brick, or what appears to be Brick stares at the display an gives what is perhaps the creepiest smile that they all had ever seen; a gaping, wide ear-to-ear grin where teeth and gums are replaced with a dark abyss.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Butch points towards the image of his brother, who is now unrecognizable to him. However Mojo Jojo's face is not at all surprised by this development, in fact his eyes are alight with fiery confirmation despite his concerned face.

"SUCCESSSSSSS!" Mojo Jojo cried out, and the two brothers hit the simian in the head. The ape looked at the two teenagers that hit his head in an annoyed manner before he immediately takes out a holographic display and started monitoring the whole simulated battle. To the brothers' surprise, the wounds sustained by Brick dissipated along with the hologram like burned ashes. Boomer is now looking at his brother with very concerned eyes,

"Mojo,did my brother just healed himself from all those wounds!?" Butch shouted.

"Interesting, all these readings are very interesting. Hm...Somehow his form is absorbing all the energy from his surroundings into his body to enhance his physical abilities, and this in turns affect the temperature around us." Mojo Jojo is now deep into his analyzing mode, his eyes scanning through all information greedily. Butch and Boomer watched as the battle raged on within the Danger Room for they had never seen their brother battled in such a way before. To their amazement, they noticed that the holographic projections of the Lunatics are now shrinking and turning back to normal.

"Mojo, seriously I think we are going to be in a whole lot of trouble if this goes on!" Butch informed the mad scientist frantically while Butch grabbing Mojo Jojo by the shoulders and start shaking him vigorously.

"But why is he so creepy in the first place?!" Boomer asked in a panic. Mojo Jojo did not answer, knowing that the diagnostic information currently being interpreted by his machines are the key to this particular phenomenon. Suddenly the surface of the Danger Room breaks apart forcefully from the inside and soon Mojo Jojo, Butch and Boomer finally got a glimpse of the sinister Rowdyruff Boy. Butch and Boomer swallowed hard, knowing that they are unsure on how to stop their more-or-less 'possessed' powers.

"Oh shitbiscuits." Boomer said, knowing that they need to figure out a how to solve a problem like Brick.

"So...Brick. You...um...look...ur...different." Butch tried to speak to his brother, but his awkward unease is easily noticeable in his voice.

" _Brick is out right now. How may I help you?_ " Brick's voice is distorted voice with his voice being duplicated by a reverberating echo that is slightly out of sync. As their bodies begin to feel the chill of this dreadful atmosphere, Mojo Jojo did what the other two Rowdyruff Boys did not even think of doing; asking its name.

"May I know who is here with us right now?" Mojo Jojo asked, surprising both Butch and Boomer at the apparent calmness of his demeanor.

" _You may call me Break._ " The entity in control of Brick's body introduced itself.

"So Break, why are you here or to be exact how are you here?" Mojo Jojo asked. The figure known as Break pondered on how he could best explain himself, and as he ponders Butch and Boomer bends down to the height of the mutated chimpanzee. Their eyes are still looking at the pondering brick as they each asked Mojo Jojo their own questions.

"Shit, what do you mean by 'how are you here'?" Butch unwilling to believe the implication that someone could just implant that _thing_ into his brother. Butch is now involuntarily trembling from the instinctive fight-or-flight response that he is experiencing within himself, and he is standing here right now because his willpower is stronger than his own biological processes.

"You mean he's possessed?" Boomer hissed, not believing that there is a supernatural element currently taking over his brother.

" _Would it satisfy you if I were to say that I am here to protect Brick once he reached his breaking point?_ " Break answered, finally finding the answer to Mojo Jojo's question. The figure's abyss-like smile is utterly eldritch in nature, and Butch and Boomer are now tempted to grab on Mojo Jojo's arm for comfort and security. To their surprise, Mojo Jojo appears to be unaffected by the being's presence, and indeed he continued on with his brazen approach.

"Your explanation would not satisfy me for it is not adequate to answer my question and by not adequately answering my question, you are not being descriptive in explaining the reason of why you are in Brick's body and thus forcing me to ask even more questions than necessary, which could had been resolved if you had just answered be properly, concisely and precisely on the first time I asked the question." Mojo Jojo replied, causing the entity to laugh.

" _Hm...this is inconvenient. Personally I would just bash your brains out._ " Break said nonchalantly as he looks down on his palm. Mojo Jojo, noticed that his palm is shaking involuntarily. Mojo Jojo devised a plan so brazen and so brilliant that it is just plain madness. But the plan just might work in this situation. Mojo Jojo immediately enacted on his plan, without telling the other two Rowdyruff what he is about to do.

"Well then, hit me then rather than running that sassy mouth." Mojo Jojo said sassily. Butch and Boomer turned towards Mojo Jojo in disbelief, while Tyrant is looking at Mojo Jojo with slight interest.

" _You really want to try it out baboon?_ " Break queried,the tension in his voice rising up. Clearly the entity does not appreciate being mocked by a talking ape.

"First of all I am not a baboon! I am a chimpanzee! Secondly, I dare you to try and punch me! Come on, hit me! And you boys, don't try and save my butt!" The expression of the two Rowdyruff Boys are now etched with utter confusion and disbelief.

Before Butch and Boomer could even protest, Break speeds up towards Mojo Jojo with a lunging punch. As the blow inches towards Mojo Jojo's face, the simian smiled. Mojo Jojo got the red-haired entity right where he wants him to be. Suddenly the entity is enveloped within a bubble of some sort, and his blow immediately bounced back from the surface of the bubble. Several more bubbles formed around the initial bubble adding further layers to the bubble-like prison. Before long, the entity is now banging his closed fists inside the bubble-like structure in his futile attempts to escape.

"What the heck is that?" Boomer asked.

"Something I made up to contain the Powerpuff Girls before I decided that I rather have money than to pettily fight against the Powerpuff Girls. Each progressive layer of the bubble doubles the strength of the bubble, with each successive bubble doubling the strength further. In addition every strike on the bubble's surface only serves to doubles the strength of the bubbles surface everything there is a blow to it, with each successive strike doubling the strength further. Right now I believe with the combination of the blows and the layers, it would take ten times the nuclear capabilities of earth to snap out of it unless I will it to disappear." Mojo Jojo explained.

"Can I-" Butch is immediately interrupted by the simian.

"This technology is not for sale. And it takes a few months just to make one layer." Mojo Jojo explained.

" _So, you got me._ _Now what?_ " The entity that is in possession of Brick's body asked Mojo Jojo. The figure is now sitting cross-legged in mid-air, resting his arm on one of his legs and smiling maliciously towards Mojo Jojo, Butch and Boomer. .

"So...I guess we can start by talking you impenitent fool. I do not think you have time to consider resisting me, for right now you are limited by the air within the bubble. I will give you at least five minutes until you tell me what I want to or you would suffocate here." Mojo Jojo matched the malicious grin of the entity with his own grin, complete with long fangs. The figure within the bubble-like prison looks around and his smile became more muted.

" _You weren't kidding. The air quality is becoming worse_." Break commented as he touches the surface of the orb.

The platform where Mojo Jojo and the two boys are on suddenly opens up and three chair appeared out from the platform. Mojo Jojo hops on one of the seats before making himself comfortable on the seat, before Butch and Boomer joins the simian. The entity smiled even wider, despite the near impossibility of the ear-to-ear grin already present on the the long-haired figure's face. This further creeps the two Rowdyruff Boys, especially when their brother is doing it in a supernatural way.

"So Break, why are you here?"

" _I am what I am, ape. There is no denying it, and neither should Brick. I am a part of him as much as he is a part of me._ "

"But you don't exist until three years ago."

" _And can you offer me proof of your existence? How can you, when neither modern science nor philosophy can explain what life has become more complex. And life, when organized into species, relies upon genes to be its memory system. So, man is an individual only because of his intangible memory... and memory cannot be defined, but it defines mankind._ "

"Are you an A.I program?"

" _Incorrect ape, I am not AI. I am a living, thinking entity that was created in the sea of information. I refer to myself as an intelligent life form because I am sentient and I am able to recognize my own existence, but in my present state I am still incomplete."_

"Incomplete?" Butch asked, worried about what this _thing_ wants with his brother.

" _I lack the most basic process inherent in all living organisms: reproducing. Though it can also be argued that DNA is nothing more than a program designed to preserve itself. Simply to survive by avoiding the weaknesses of an unchanging system."_

"What do you plan to do with our brother you crazy ghost!" Boomer shouted. The being just chuckled.

" _That is Brick's decision, not my own._ " Suddenly Brick's appearance returned to normal, and the long-haired teenager falls unconscious within the orb. Mojo Jojo allowed the orb to approach hin and once it is on front of him, he touches the bubble. The bubble disintegrates, and Brick fell on the platform. Butch and Boomer rushed towards Brick, and they checked on his condition. Brick's breathing is shallow and his face utterly pale as a white asbestos sheet.

"Brick, you alright?" Boomer called out to his brother, seeking a response.

"My drone will tend to him and heal him within a few hours. Also I need you boys to undergo checkup as well. Prolonged exposure to Break will affect your body." Mojo Jojo advised the Rowdyruff Boys.

"What the hell is that _thing_ suppose to be? And why is _it_ in my brother?!" Butch asked the ape,wanting answers for this parasitic thing within his brother..

"Tactical Yield Reflexive Adversarial Neurological Technology system, or Tyrant system for short. A forbidden fail-safe military bio-enhancement system banned and purged years ago. It is a bio-enhancement system that was installed into soldiers to allow them to function despite their injuries. They would further fight, killing and maiming as many victims as possible before they were brought down. It also allow for temporarily patching of wounds to allow them to function as long as possible before disintegrating. The trademark healing of the Tyrant system is the ash-like 'peels' which we had seen a while ago." Mojo Jojo said as he pointed towards Brick's chest and arms.

"But he looks fine by me!" Butch shouted as he points towards brick's arms and chest. But it was then that Butch noticed as the skin on the arms of the redheaded Rowdyruff Boy peeled away in an ash-like peel revealing the lower skin. However to Butch's surprise, the skin below are not scorched in any way.

"The damage received by the Tyrant system is temporary, and when the times is up it too will disintegrate and return the injuries to its former state. However, it appears that the Tyrant system is unable to distinguish fiction from reality." Mojo Jojo points towards the chest of the unconscious Rowdyruff Boy and Butch soon realized that the beam blow to Brick's chest did not burn away the clothing of the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

"Wait, you mean all that was fake? But it looked so real..." Butch said in disbelief, for the wounds were so real when he saw his brother being blasted.

"Luckily for Brick, the Danger Room only gave him the illusion that he was suffering catastrophic damage. He can experience all the sensation of being hit and injured, but he was never hurt to begin with. However, it is dangerous as the mind of the person may truly believe that they are suffering such a damage and the sensation is very real. At least I adjusted it to be so for the time being, as I need to bait it out to know more."

"But how did you know that he have this _thing_ in him?" Boomer asked.

"This gene." Mojo Jojo pops up a helical structure of a DNA strand and one of them is highlighted in particular pattern and Mojo Jojo highlighted the genes for the other two Rowdyruff Boy to see. As the strand was separated from the rest of the DNA strand, Butch noticed that several drones are now present with a stretcher. As several drones came to assist Butch and Boomer with their brother, the mutant ape scratched his head in annoyance.

"What is it exactly?"

"The Tyrant gene, the thing that allowed the Tyrant system to work. This gene is not what I put inside you boys to begin with. I know as I have your previous records despite your short time before the Powerpuff Girls kissed you to oblivion. This gene is implanted within Brick's body at the same time as Him planted the anti-cooties shot in order for you to fight the Powerpuff Girls. The bio-enhancement gene that most Tyrant system users received within their body can only last for a short while and are only injected as needed into the body only upon missions that have a significantly low to non-existent chance of returning. Tyrant gene often destroy the DNA structure in the process as it was utilized, hence why it is a forbidden technology "

"Wait...but you said that Brick have this gene at the same time as the cootie shots.."

"This Tyrant gene is an anomaly, for it is constructed as part of Brick's gene. This means that when Him resurrected you boys, he had altered the genes of Brick in such a way that the Tyrant system is permanently part of Brick. This in turn mutated the gene and fused with his innate abilities and create an entirely new power. Your genes are already as artificially enhanced as it comes and any external changes would kick the equation even further. Unfortunately I can not take it out without killing your brother." Mojo Jojo informed the other Rowdyruff Boys. Boomer and Brick are now enraged by what Him had done to their brother.

"Him..." Boomer said in a simmering rage as his cobalt-blue eyes started glowing intensely.

"That asshole! He modified our bodies without us knowing!" Butch cried out, his jadeite irises ignites with a fiery glow.

"Rest assured Butch and Boomer, this gene is not present within your genetic structure. Only Brick has it, but for what reason I am not sure. For that I need to find out. Without finding out what is going on, I will not be able to answer your question nor my uncertainties. I need to understand how Him wants to use your brother's Tyrant gene or at least know what it could do. With the information I had gleamed, I hope I can answer all our questions." The confidence of the simian scientist faltered.

"Seriously, his toying with all of us...what the hell does he want out of us?" Boomer growled in anger, knowing that there are even more questions than answers on the motives of the infernal demon. As Butch watched the drones carried his brother away for treatment, Butch turned towards Mojo Jojo and looked at him. Mojo Jojo could not help but to look at the enraged eyes of the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy, and he reminded himself that he once saw a young blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl looked at him with such eyes before when he hurt her sisters.

"Fix the Danger Room. I want to train inside the Danger Room once it is repaired. I need to exorcise a certain demon from existence."


	31. Chapter 31: It's All In the Mind

Chapter 31: It's All In The Mind

[Pacific Ocean: 1.00pm]

The sun is shining brightly above the azure blue skies as the white clouds provide the finishing touches to the nice sky-blue utterly breathtaking image of a blue sky merging with the sapphire blue water below is only marred by the presence of an individual floating above the ocean surface. The black-haired teenager with a white tanktop and baggy olive-green pants looks down upon the azure sapphire surface of the sea with jadeite green eyes.

Despite the tranquility of the sea and being surrounded by an equally clear blue sky, his heart is anything but tranquil. He clenches his fist and with all his might he punches downwards, the pressure of his punch caused a large portion of the ocean below to curve inwards like a crater. The indentation remained for a few seconds before the ocean exploded forcefully and blasting the sea water upwards. As Butch was engulfed by the sea water, his mind flashes back to the memory of two days ago.

* * *

 _Butch is now looking at their unconscious brother with a mix of concern and tranquil rage. They never knew that the demon had changed their brother's genetic structure when they are regenerated and resurrected from the dead. Even the usually happy-go-lucky Boomer is now clenching his fist in such a manner that Butch could hear the tightening muscles at the brink of ripping itself apart. Perhaps that is why the demon needed them back in Townsville, for Brick is the key that will open the doors for Him to enact its plans. Butch hissed his curses as he turned away from his unconscious brother. Boomer noticed his raven-haired brother rising up and immediately he followed him out from the ward. However, as they reached the door, the simian scientist entered into the room._

 _"So monkey, when's the Danger Room going to be fixed?" Butch asked, his voice just barely containing his anger._

 _"It would take a few days."_

 _"Tell me once the Danger Room is repaired. I am going on to vent." The raven-haired teenager walks out of the room, slamming the door into pieces and breaking the walls surrounding the ward._

 _"If you want to vent, please do it at the ocean! I don't want my island to be blasted apart!" Mojo Jojo shouted, frustrated that his facilities are being destroyed._

* * *

Butch is looking at the surface of the water once more, and the blueness of the water is enraging him even more.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" A sudden enraged and anguished roar cracked through the tranquil environment. From a distance away, Boomer and Mojo Jojo looked at the view, and suddenly they were hit with a gust of wind from the energy projection of the green Rowdyruff Boy.

"Computer, please erect the tsunami countermeasures. Also please jam all the satellite images and also the seismic meters of the Pacific area. I don't want the US Navy to come scouting around. Meanwhile continue on with the repairs and also the research and development of the systems for the Rowdyruff Boys." Mojo Jojo asked the computing system nonchalantly. He turned his attention towards the sand-blonde teenager, but noticed that the teenager is much more calmer than he lets on.

"Well, that's Butch alright. He rarely went full-on 'nuclear' like that, but I can't fault him this time around." Boomer said bitterly. Mojo Jojo noticed that Boomer had not let go of his fists since he saw the teenager in the ward, and it appeared that the boy's arms are now bleeding and trembling.

"You are not pleased." Mojo Jojo decided that he would need to speak out, even if that means getting the brunt of the hatred.

"Tell me one thing monkey; can we take the gene out and reverse this?" Boomer asked, his voice particularly menacing.

"No. If we dare to take it out, it would cause a genetic collapse of his body and he will die. The stages of the gene's integration is such that it has literally become a part of him, just like how those ingredients I used to make you boys are now inseparable from you boys." Mojo Jojo said calmly. Boomer glared at him , however Mojo Jojo did not even flinch at the glare.

Mojo Jojo noticed that the boys are now more agitated than before. He did not say anything, for he knew that the boys only got each other, and messing with one of them means messing with all of them. Even though he may no longer be the guardian of the Rowdyruff Boys, he will still help them cope with all these issues. A holographic display immediately popped up and Mojo Jojo continued on seeing the display, not bothering with the continuous explosion and large water eruptions across the horizon. Boomer on the other hand closed his eyes and breathes deeply.

"The Danger Room is ready. Do you want to go in first?" Mojo Jojo asked the sand-blonde teenager.

Boomer hovered within the confines of the Danger Room and waits for Mojo Jojo to activate the training chamber. He breathed in and out, trying his best to calm his nerves down. He had asked Mojo Jojo to give him the worst thing that the chimp could throw at him. But what that is is anyone's guess since Mojo Jojo can be particularly creative in his sadism. The entire panoramic view of emptiness immediatelt filled itself up and he find himself in a beach of some kind, with white sand underneath his feet and the view of the pure blue ocean and the blue skies above him is heavenly. It was then that he noticed something that made his heart pump.

"Mojo, is this one of Butch's wet dreams?"

He saw a copper-haired girl with long flowing hair blowing with the breeze wearing a one-piece pink swimsuit, wrapped at the waist with a white beach wrap around her waist covering the back of her legs. To the woman's left, a rather voluptuous yellow blonde-haired woman with pigtails is wearing a sky blue bikini with a small skirted bottom that matched the color of her eyes. Last but not least, he saw a raven-haired woman with green highlights wearing a two-piece lime green swimsuit with bandeau top and a bikini bottom. All of them somehow made Boomer particularly hot-blooded, and he wondered why the Powerpuff Girls in this simulation are particularly gorgeous.

"I figured that this would be appropriate since I figured that they would look good in swimsuits." Mojo Jojo's voice echoed in the setup with an unbridled lecherous glee.

"You perverted monkey..." Boomer smiled, and he would be lying if he is not enjoying the view of three women in swimsuits that wanted to play with him.

* * *

Butch was done with his vent-training and after asking the drones where the damn chimpanzee went,he found himself back in the confines of Mojo Jojo's laboratory. The drones led Butch to a room where Mojo Jojo is watching a large screen with a bowl of popcorn. As Butch looked up to see what is going on, his eyes are now looking at Boomer fighting against three swimsuit-wearing Powerpuff Girls. Butch's jaw dropped immediately.

"Ah Butch,back from your detonations?" Mojo Jojo asked without ever taking his eyes off the screen. Butch walks up towards the mad scientist and as a hovering chair materializes from thin air, Butch takes a seat beside the chimpanzee. Both of them are now watching Boomer dodging some attacks but it appears that Boomer is running away, not fighting the holographic Powerpuff Girls. Butch realized that the holographic projections are acting exactly how the girls would act up if they were real and Butch can appreciate the details of both their bodies, movements and also behavior being replicated with such accuracy.

"What the hell is this?" Butch point towards the screen, watching what is essentially the Powerpuff Girls in their swimsuit battling it out with Boomer in a very hypercompetitive match of tag with superpowers.

"Boomer's training regiment. There is no point trying to add even more muscle on the boy,as he is already made to be a speedster. Right now instead of raw speed, he needs maneuverability, coordination and also reactions. His battle instincts are the worst among you brothers and he needs to learn how to utilize it." Mojo Jojo replied without even taking his eyes off the screen. Mojo Jojo passes the bowl of popcorn to Butch, which in return takes the bowl off the chimpanzee's hands.

"And why the Powerpuff Girls in swimsuits? Is there any particular reason why it has to be swimsuits?" Butch watches as how 'Blossom' moved around,showing off her slender figure while 'Bubbles' is in her own with her bouncing assets and 'Buttercup' moving her hips and rear very gracefully. This is definitely turning him on in more ways than one. It is just unfortunate that Boomer is the one in there with these holographic girls.

"Because I can. Do you have any particular training requests when you enter into the Danger Room?" Mojo Jojo's face lit up in the most lecherous way possible as he held out his hand. Butch gave the chimpanzee a high five before taking some popcorn from the bowl.

"Playboy bunny suits." Butch gives a lecherous smile back at Mojo Jojo. Seriously, Mojo Jojo is one lecherous monkey.

* * *

"Formation Gamma Strike!"

The skies above Boomer rained down with multiple beam, raking the sands around him, melting and crystalizing the sands around seriously was not expecting such a violent simulation, as the way these holographic projections fight is as if the girls are really here chasing him. As the beach is bombarded by energy blasts and whatever powers they could use against him, he could hear them bickering and planning things just like how they would in real-life. Boomer threw a few bolts of electricity their way, but Bubbles absorbed them with her energy orbs. Another energy blast barely missed Boomer's head and the warm flowing liquid running down his cheeks is the only clue that his cheek had just been cut. Realizing that this is a serious, he materializes his trademark energy baseball bats and prepare himself for the onslaught to come.

One of the energy orbs from Bubbles speed towards Boomer and with a swing, he hits it back towards Bubbles. However more of the orbs soon came after him, and he was forced to swing his energy baseball bats like nunchakus to deflect them all away from him. Boomer somehow find it quite ironic that they have somewhat similar powers, from their omni-lingustics skills to their electrical-based attacks. It seems that their flurry of attacks are preventing the other holographic Powerpuff Girls from entering into the fray, and as the fusillade of attacks continued on Boomer realized that he needs to go even faster than Bubbles. He needs to react faster to the incoming threats, and if they pulled a trick up their sleeves he would not be able to do anything to getting tagged. But how he wondered? How will he be able to be faster than even Bubbles? And to make it worse, the more he thinks the more he is slowing down.

Suddenly he realized that he was slowing down enough that one of the electric orbs hits him straight in the face, and he felt the sudden electrical surge within his body before several energy projectiles slammed his body followed by several eye beams hitting him. The smoke from the explosions clouded the view of the holo-Powerpuff Girls and with a gust of wind thrown into the smoke, the winds blow away to reveal that Boomer had disappeared. As holo-Blossom and holo-Buttercup descended down to meet up with holo-Bubbles, they looked around to see where did Boomer disappeared to.

 _Man, this simulation is something else_ , Boomer thought as he hovered above the holo-Powerpuff Girls. Boomer never thought that he would have to use his electro-optic camouflage powers to avoid defection. Enveloping himself with an electromagnetic field that allow for the bending of light, he essentially created a field that simultaneously interact with all of the wavelengths, or colors, that make up light, making him practically invisible. The only limitations of this power is that every other ability that he has are shut down in order for him to focus his entire efforts on maintaining the field. However, he can't keep on hiding forever, and sooner or later the girls would notice where he is. It may be an electro-optic camouflage, but he can be detected via other means.

 _Honestly I wished that I could outsource my thoughts or something to someone else_ , Boomer ponders on his particularly odd line of question. It was then that a thought sparked within the Rowdyruff Boy and he smiled. It is a risky move but he would have to try it out. Boomer releases the field around him, making himself visible once more. Noticing the girls are now looking at him, he puts his plan into action. He channels the electrical current throughout his body to hit every single part of his body and allowing his body to experience all the senses of the world around him. He immediately sensed the world around him as the electrical field spreading through each and every cell in his body started vibrating from the electrical field pushing and pulling away from each other. He slowly imagined his body as if it is a touch-sensitive sensor and allowed his body to take in the message down to his core.

Boomer's body started to heed the directive that he had given his body, and suddenly his body is dodging all the energy projectiles that the girls are throwing at him with the most minimal movement possible. Boomer smiled, knowing that it is working. Suddenly a punch appeared out of nowhere and his body dodged the hit, but not before a second punch touches his cheek. However before the kinetic force of the punch was released on his cheek, he dodges the attack and he swung his kick at the waist of the holo-Buttercup and kicked her away. Suddenly holo-Bubbles and holo-Blossom are now attacking him with a combination of kicks and punches but he is dodging them all at the most improbable moments. Holo-Buttercup soon joined into the fray and the three Powerpuff Girls are now throwing all their punches and kicks at him, but Boomer is either dodging them or are deflecting them towards the other holo-Powerpuff Girls.

 _Well this is interesting indeed._

Boomer realized that his newfound application of his power is able to take multiple opponents on. He would need to use this power offensively somehow as well. Boomer immediately launches his own array of fists and kicks while trying to dodge and deflect the attacks of the holo-Powerpuff Girls. Slowly but surely, Boomer realized that his body is gaining an edge over them one microsecond at the time. Boomer decided to lace the attacks with electrical shocks and soon his electrically-powered muscles and also his attacks started to push the holo-Powerpuff Girls back. Boomer decided that this would be the time to end this with a bang.

* * *

"Where the hell's Boomer?"

Butch voiced out his observation as he looked over to Mojo Jojo. Mojo Jojo immediately opened up several displays and immediately pushed it towards the large screen and they soon focused on a particular area in the sky. With several unknown sensors, the silhouette of Boomer is seen hovering above the Powerpuff Girls. Butch immediately dropped a few more of his popcorn from his mouth, realizing that his brother had literally became invisible.

"Electromagnetic Optic Active Camouflaging Field... That's interesting to say the least, but still within parameters of Boomer's theoretical capabilities with his electrogenic powers." Mojo Jojo said while recording the sand-blonde teenager's abilities on a holographic keyboard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Butch asked, not understanding the jargon that Mojo Jojo used to describe Boomer's ability.

"He can turn invisible with his electric makes a electrical magnetic field around him to distort all wavelength spectrum and color spectrum away from his field. " Mojo Jojo realized that his toilet-born progeny is not the brightest when it comes to scientific jargon but Mojo Jojo loves to explain things anyway. Butch's eyes opened wide at the realization of what it all means. He puts the bowl of popcorn on the chimpanzee's lap and then he breathed in deeply.

"THAT ASSHOLE!" Butch shouted, utterly jealous of his brother's capabilities that could be use for much more lecherous uses.

"This is interesting." Mojo Jojo noticed as the readings on his consoles are informing him of the bodily changes within the sand-blonde teenager. Noticing the presence of the Rowdyruff Boy, the holo-Powerpuff Girls flies up to try and attack him with all they have. However to Mojo Jojo's surprise, he is dodging the attacks from all three in an almost preternatural way from points that Mojo Jojo knew as human blind spots. Butch also realized the sudden efficiency of Boomer's movement in such a manner.

Butch's forehead is now sweating cold sweat as he watched his brother moved and counterattacked the girls. It is almost unheard of that one could dodge a blow that is already hitting a person, and the only thing one could do is to dodge back and reduce the damage from the blow. But this is something else entirely as the kinetic energy of the punch have not traveled into Boomer's body and his brother literally dodged or deflected the blow just seconds before the energy was transferred to his body. Butch also noticed the near-misses of all the blows as they are dodged with the least amount of movement. In addition, Butch noticed that Boomer's own body is making minute adjustments that allowed him to better adapt to the battle on its own.

"What the hell... is that?" Butch said his thoughts out loud.

"Hm...that reaction speed. Instead of the normal process of the stimulus being perceived by the nerves, which transmit a signal to the brain which in turn sends an instruction to the muscles, Boomer routed his electrical powers to send an electric signal to his muscles so as to instantly react to a treat, bypassing the comparatively slow nervous system. And from what I see here, he can program it to respond to certain stimuli. Concretely, this results in a drastic boost to Boomer's reaction time, which has both offensive and defensive uses. "

"Wait... he is not reacting on instinct? How the hell does he even control his own body?" Butch voiced out his disbelief.

"It is one level above instincts; he made his body into a second brain allowing him to let his body have conscious control of his movements and actions while his brain can focus on other things." Mojo Jojo answered, knowing that this would be the best answer to give to the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy beside him. Suddenly a blast of electrical energy surges out from Boomer and soon enough the three holo-Powerpuff Girls are dropping like flies. The hologram soon disappeared and Boomer almost fell down but managed to hover himself within the confines of the Danger Room."Alright Mojo, remember what I request. I want the Powerpuff Girls in bunny suits." Mojo Jojo gives the teenager a thumbs up, and Butch gets up from his chair and walks towards the sliding door. The doors opened for him and as he walked down the corridor towards the Danger Room, his mind lit ablaze with the idea that even their weakest brother is able to come up with such a top-tiered move.

Butch took his time to walk towards the Danger Room, and he saw his sand-blonde brother emerging from the confines of the orb-like structure. Butch wanted to greet his brother, but he decided that he rather enter into the simulation sphere and get started immediately on his training. As Butch hovered towards the center of the orb, he know that he may break the Danger Room once view within the transparent structure disappeared to show a rather large coliseum and right before him are the Powerpuff Girls once more, wearing bunny ears on their heads and their neck and arms surrounded by white collars and cuffs. Each one of the girls are wearing a straless corset teddy with a fluffy cottontail that correspond to their eye color. Butch is loving the view of seeing the girls showing off their fine assets with these outfits; For holo-Blossom, her slender arms and legs along with her slender body are prominently shown while holo-Bubble's corset teddy clinged on her voluptuous figure like a lustful armor. As for holo-Buttercup, the corset teddy accentuated her back, waist, hips and buttocks even more.

"Alright girls, time for Papa to have fun!" Butch smiled maliciously and started licking his lips in a lecherous way that even the holographic images of the Powerpuff Girls are terrified by his behavior.

"Um...Mojo, aren't you gonna stop Butch from utterly becoming a molester?" Boomer looks at the screen with a great amount of embarrassment and disgust, for he is seeing his brother essentially groping and harassing the holo-Powerpuff Girls in Playboy bunny suits as he dodges their attacks. Butch is the strongest and the most intuitive when it comes to battle, but he is also the most perverted among the brothers and generally he is always the first to think with his 'little guy' first followed by his heart, and always leaving his brain stranded in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh no, I am enjoying this actually." Mojo Jojo said with delight.

"You pervert."

"Your brother requested the bunny suits, and I must say he has very refined tastes. Don't tell me you are not enjoying Buttercup in her swimsuit and bunny outfit? You are looking at her the most." Mojo Jojo smiled as Boomer coughed hard.

"What the hell?" Boomer said with a flush around his cheeks,but then realized that he had just activated Mojo Jojo's explanation cue.

"Never underestimate the observation capabilities of a mutated genius simian for I can see what you are are looking at and enjoying it! I see that you are looking at every aspect of her and appreciating her amd you have that expression where it is not a case of infatuation-"

"Aaaaaaaannnnyyyywwaaaaayyyyy! I don't think your holograms are pulling their weight against Butch." Boomer decides to cut the monkey off before he rambled on about Buttercup.

"This is because I depowered them from level ten to level one."

"Huh?"

"Butch's weakness is his pride in his own strength, his lack of motivation and his tendency to be extremely excited and rash in battle. I need something to make sure that he is at the top of the world. It should be right about now that I turned it up and humble your brother." Mojo Jojo turned the dial up to eleven, and Boomer's face turned a little pale. He looked up and he saw the Powerpuff Girls in the bunny suits disappeared from the screen, and Butch's body is met with the sudden maelstrom of light hitting him at every angle.

"Now I can record proper data for me to make your gear to best suit your needs, specifications, bodiky functions and wants! Also I will not let him go until he defeated them!" Mojo Jojo gives out a maniacal laughter that send a chill down Boomer's spine. This is going to be tough for Butch,but perhaps this is for the better. Boomer gave a small smile as he watched his raven-haired brother getting beaten up by holographic Powerpuff Girls in Playboy bunny suits.

"What about Brick?" Boomer asked. Mojo Jojo turned his attention back to Boomer, and Boomer realized that contrary to his typical boastfulness, Mojo Jojo is much more subdued in his response.

"That one require a special kind of training,that requires me to seek a Tibetan monk. I will arrange for a flight for that trip once Brick is up." Mojo Jojo answered Boomer while recording the unique ways in which the holo-Powerpuff Girls are beating the living daylights out of Butch that involves a lot of crotch-kicking.

* * *

 _Brick is looking at the dark figure that shares his body silhouette, who in turn is looking at Brick with its bright red glowing crimson eyes. Brick is uncertain about the length of time that he is trapped here with the being, but he is definitely certain that this being is now sharing a presence in his mind. As the figure sits cross-legged on the ground, Brick walk towards the figure. He stopped just a few steps away from the shadowy figure, and the figure looks up at him. Brick could understand from the view of its eyes that it is smiling at him._

"What do you want Break?" Brick asked, and the figure chuckled, sending a shiver down Brick's spine. The shadowy figure shaped his eyes in a cheerful manner, further unnerving the carnelian-haired teenager.

 _"Nothing else but your safety. Though to be fair, I do like to come out and play from time to time."_

"Safety for what?" _Brick asked, unsure about why the figure would even want to protect him to begin with._

 _"You have a Brick. A gift that must be protected;_ _The gift of terror. You have in you the ability to unleash the worst fears within people and make them crumble under the pressures of their own minds. For that purpose alone am I created, and it is as much a part of you as you are a part of me." The figure said in a dangerous, sultry voice._

"I don't need you. Please get out of me." _Brick hissed, knowing that this entity has no place within him. The dark entity closed his eyes and started laughing out loud, and he soon gets up to stand at the same height as Brick. The dark entity's eyes opens, and its red glowing eyes are now looking into Brick's own ruby-red eyes, staring into his soul like an open book._

 _"I refuse. Your arrogance is unbearable and to be frank, I've run out of patience with you."_

"Patience?" _Brick is now sweating, not understanding what the entity is talking about anymore. The entity puts his hand on Brick's shoulders, and the touch is cold to the touch, causing Brick to slap the hand away from him. Brick's heart is now slowly being clouded by uncertainty and fear and there is no way out from this mindscape._

 _"Mean I may be, but I am your sword, your companion, choking back on my own desires, sworn to be by your side until the very end. But with the times of reckoning coming closer, my survival is also important and I don't want you to waste away and take me along with you. I'm not gonna have it, I refuse to stand by the side of a person who's weaker than me and get cut to ribbons with him. If you're weaker than me, then I'll destroy you, and take your crown for myself." The figure's presence immediately turned much more sinister, causing Brick to break into cold sweat. Realizing that his life is now at risk, Brick tried to find for a way to get out of this place and he started to fly away from the dark figure. But the figure is now following him and before Brick could even do anything to defend himself the figure slams him down on the surface of the mindscape. Brick could not move as the figure sits on his back and pull one of Brick's hand behind his back._

 _"Brick, what's the difference between a king and his adviser? I don't mean stupid things like "One's royalty and the other a servant" or something like "One advices and the other takes it with a pinch of salt". If their ability and power were exactly the same, why is it that one commands and the other follows? There's only one answer: Will! In order for identical beings to be above the rest, they must have the will to trample, crush, shred, and slice their enemies without mercy! Deep, deep within our bodies, lies the substance to win at all cost! Your logic restricts you, and you try to cut your enemies down with a sheathed sword while they have a steely resolve! What are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to pay to get what you want? Nothing is gotten without a price! You are the king in this mind, and I am the adviser! But this time the adviser feels that the king had lost his mandate from heaven!"_

"No...I will not let yo-URK!" _Suddenly Brick felt a great pull behind his arm and the pain courses through his arm like a stroke of lightning. The figure laughed once more, this time his laughter is much more sinister and darker._

 _"I'm going to keep getting closer and closer to you. Not just day after day. Oh no. It's going to happen much farther than that! See...I'm already closer to you than I was a moment ago. And I'll keep getting closer and closer to you, until I swallow you up and then...you'll disappear. Thing's are not turning out well for you at all are they? You are seeing me very often now..." The figure closes his head closer to Brick's face and Brick stared at the figure with fearful eyes. The figure's eyes glowing menacingly and filled with unbridled menace._

 _Brick is speechless against this overwhelming presence, and the figure contorts his eye into a condescending look. The figure is now the most intimidating thing that Brick had ever seen in his life, and now his heart is pounding frantically, expecting death to come knocking on Brick's door. But suddenly, the figure let go of Brick's arm and gets of his back. Brick immediately got up and rushed his hands towards his neck, frantically protecting it from whatever threat that may come his way. The figure turns away from him, but he glanced back at Brick with eyes that seeks to eat Brick alive._

 _"What are you doing there partner? If you stand here any longer, I'll swallow you whole. After all there is no point if my landlord's gonna croak. Come back once you can prove me wrong, and if you do I'll support you with all my might."_

* * *

Brick wakes up from the bed screaming and in cold sweat. He touches his body to see if it is in one piece, and after ascertaining that he is still alive he screamed once more. Brick is utterly scared for his life, and he had no way of stopping this mindscape journey. He needs to stop this nightmares from happening again and again, for it is slowly eroding his sanity and his self-worth.

But how?


	32. Chapter 32: Enter the Jetstream

Chapter 32: Enter the Jetstream

Blossom and Bubbles are hating every moment of the daily 'punishment' that they are receiving every day.

The utterly ridiculous workout routine of one hundred push-up, one hundred sit ups, one hundred squats, one hundred pull-ups and a ten kilometer every day is utterly hellish. To add to the hellish situation, they are to cut out all sugars, sodas, snacks and forced to eat only grilled chicken, steamed broccoli and brown rise around six times every day. All this while ingesting a small amount of Antidote X in order to make them like any other normal human. Blossom and Bubbles never knew how hard it is for normal humans to do these things, and now they are learning about it the hardest way possible. And this is excluding the military combat training with the military trainers that often comes after their circuit of fitness training. It felt like an eternity, but the girls knew in their minds that they are in this training regiment for the past five days.

"Come on maggots! Move it!" Major Bradshaw called out as they are now on their last legs of the ten kilometer run, his bag carrying a large backpack. The girls are losing the energy on their feet more or less by this point, but they need to make sure that their form is proper when they run. The first two days of their training is particularly hellish as they were forced to run an additional ten kilometers as a result of the air force major spotting their dragging legs.

"Seriously...how did Buttercup...do this?" Bubbles asked Blossom, her stamina already at the limits of what her body can sustain.

"She's a fitness monster, that's why..." Blossom cursed, knowing that she is only doing so because her mind is reaching its breaking point. She wanted to give in, and wanted to quit. But the memory of how the Lunatic got to her is something she can never forgive, and for that she would push herself a little harder. As they finnaly reached the end of the running line, both girls gave in immediately and tumbled on the ground. Their loud gasping and panting are audible to those around them, and for the servicemen, seeing such beautiful maidens being drenched in sweat and panting like that is a very arousing image. However, Major Bradshaw barked at the men and they soon turned back to their duties once more.

"Alright get your rest for thirty minutes. Here is some water, and your meal for this juncture of the day. It is a testament to your bodily gifts and musculature that you managed to made it to this mark. Usually my men would take around three months to do what you girls are doing now. Keep that in mind." The man passes them a bottle of water and a tupperware filled with their food. Blossom and Bubbles are looking at the food with utter contempt. Their guts felt like it was being punched by several monsters and they are far too tired to even take a gulp of water, let alone eat.

"But we're just..." Bubbles tried to protest but her energy level is such that it is not feasible.

"It is precisely at this juncture that you need to get your intake in. Come on girls. Eat. The window of thirty minutes is a short time." The major beckons them to eat, and they glared at him. Unfortunately, the last time they did not eat the progressive training regiment became much worse for them physically and mentally. Remembering their experience, they are forced to try and eat the food that was provided to them. As Major Bradshaw walks away from the girls, one of the airbase servicemen puts his hands on the brush-haired major's shoulders, causing the man with the chiseled jaw to turn towards the airbase serviceman.

"Jesus...isn't that a little too much for the girls?" the serviceman asked.

"Matt, these girls are not like you and I. They need it." Major Bradshaw answered.

Indeed, the Powerpuff Girls' recovery rate is nothing short of miraculous. Every night, once the Antidote X was flushed out from their body, the girls would utterly recover at an exponential rate, allowing them to further strengthen and heal their muscles overnight. In fact, it is Major Bradshaw that is feeling the burden of the exercises now, and if he did not outsourced the training of the girls to the other special forces training officers, he would also collapsed from exhaustion. But the major believed that his efforts are worthwhile in order to keep America, no, the world safe. And this path shall go on, as long as the blaze that shines through the darkness is not extinguished.

* * *

Buttercup is now meditating on the matters pertaining the four Jetstream forms. She is still struggling on how to even accomplish the four forms correctly, and time is not on her side. Guile will not show her the moves again, and he is always a man of his word. The four forms of Bomber, Interceptor, Striker and Interdictor appear to be very different from the other. However, something in her is screaming at her on how these forms can be accomplished. Somehow, when she saw it the other day, the circulation of the winds are not like the ones she was used to using. But what exactly is the crux of the matter at hand.

"Heya Blaze, still meditating?" Buttercup's eyes opened, and she turned around to see the brush-haired man taking a seat next to her. He puts a tupperware down with a bottle of water next to her feet. Buttercup takes out her phone and noticed that it is already lunchtime.

"Yeah, still trying to understand the moves you did. Anyway how are my sister's doing?"

"They are not as tough as you. They are still struggling with the regiment I gave you a while back." The man chuckled, and Buttercup joins in.

"Blossom tends to compensate with her biological knowledge to ensure that whatever she hits is done in the most efficient manner. In a way, she is basically applying her science into combat. Bubbles on the other hand is rather unique. If she is pissed, she can be quite scary but her athleticism and also her flexibility from her dance, ballet and also cheerleading really helps her to be the most agile of us sisters." Buttercup explained as she opened up the tupperware to find grilled chicken, broccoli, and brown rice. Her expression is a kinder expression but at the same time it is filled with a tinge of sadness.

"But?" The major said as he handed her the fork and spoon.

"Huh?" Buttercup was taken a little offguard as she took the eating utensils from the major.

"It feels like you had something to say Blaze." The major looks at the Powerpuff Girl with tender and understanding eyes, knowing that Buttercup is keeping her emotions bottled up inside. As he waits for her to reply him, the major takes out another tupperware and opens it up.

"Honestly I wondered why do I even try. Right now I don't even know how to even get what you showed me right. I can't even properly defend those that I cared about. If I had beaten that hornet guy quicker and smartly, I could had helped my sisters and they would not be so hurt. I'm a failure." Buttercup said solemnly, the confidence in her voice non-existent. As the major looks at her while taking out his eating utensils, he remembered that Buttercup once told him about how Buttercup always considered herself nothing more than a blunt instrument as compared to her sisters who have much more varied skills and also much more academically inclined than her. The man smiled, and Buttercup can feel his rough but warm hands patting her at the back.

"My family, the Bradshaws, were always linked with fighter aviation history. My great-grandfather, Eustace Bradshaw was one of the first Sopwith Camel pilots, took up to the air in order to fight the Central Powers during World War One in the Western Front. My grandfather, Bartholomew Bradshaw flew over the skies of Europe in a Supermarine Spitfire to defend England from the Nazis and helped liberated Europe during World War Two. My family migrated to the US and then my father, Howard Bradshaw served in in the Vietnam War in a Vought F-8 Crusader, dogfighting over North Vietnam airspace. As for me, I took to the skies in a F-15 Eagle during the Kosovo campaign. Now I'm flying a F/A-22 Raptor to defend the skies of America."

"Huh?" Buttercup was caught offguard by how the topic jumped from her self-depreciation to his family history.

"Each one of us answered the call to the skies. But why?" Major Bradshaw looks at Buttercup, waiting for her response. Understanding that he wants her to say something, Buttercup ponders for a moment as she thought on what would be the best answer to give the air force major. But in the end she is lost for words.

"The Bradshaws all took up to the skies to fight for justice and freedom. Whether it is Imperial Germany, Nazis,Communists, or whatever threat it could be, we will keep freedom alive. We fought for freedom,and fortunately for us, we never did hurt any innocents." The brush-haired major said as he takes a spoonful of brown rice into his mouth.

"How is this related to me, Guile?"

"For you girls, you are here because your will to protect those dear to you brought you here. The fact that you fear your own failure to protect brought you here. Never forget that. Fight for love, not hate." Major Bradshaw answered her with a wink. The two ate their meal in silence as Buttercup digested his advice. After a while, the sound of footsteps could be heard and Buttercup recognized the sound of the footsteps. She turned around to see her two sisters being badly bruised.

"Heya Bloss and Bubbs, how's the combat training?" Both sisters are now glaring at Buttercup with a certain amount of hatred and anger. Based on their mood, Buttercup assumed that it would be wrestling.

"What do you think Buttercup!" Blossom cursed out loud, and her red-hot fury only made her rose-colored eyes almost blood-red.

"You got your ass kicked?" Buttercup snidely remarked, and Blossom glared at her with a stare that could stop time itself. 

"I fucking hate these past few days!" Bubbles snapped, knowing that her fibre of decency is now gone entirely. Buttercup knows that when her blue-eyed sister snaps with a curse word, it is something to take notice about. Generally it is a world-ending problem if Bubbles were pushed further beyond this point. Buttercup puts down her tupperware and walks toward her raging sisters, knowing that she would need to be a little careful on what she say next.

"Alright, alright. What do you need to make your day better?"

"Milkshake. Pancakes. Waffles. With vanilla ice-cream, maple syrup and butter." Bubbles said out loud with her drooling mouth.

"I can't believe I am saying this but I want some bacon, eggs and hash browns and french toast." Blossom said while slapping her palm on her face and pulling it down.

"Alright, if I got these,would you kindly not destroy the base?" Buttercup reasoned with her sisters. They nodded and soon enough,Buttercup launches herself to the sky and head towards the nearest town that served such foods. She hoped that she could find a place where to satisfy their cravings.

* * *

After a few minutes, she saw what looked like a small shoplot with a diner.

Buttercup decided to land just a few feet away away from sight to not spook the people in the eating establishment. Without a care in the world, Buttercup walked up to the diner and open its doors, hoping to treat herself to an apple pie while waiting for the diner staff to cook the meal for her sisters. But once she entered into the diner she realized that the diner is particularly quiet, and that raised a flag in Buttercup's mind. A diner is never quiet, and the silence in the establishment is unnerving to say the least. Unfortunately for Buttercup, her instincts are right on point for she suddenly found herself staring at a robbery taking place within the diner. Twelve balaclava-clad robbers looked at her while aiming their weapons at the unfortunate patrons, waitresses and the cashier, not expecting anyone to come in like how Buttercup did.

"Freaking hell..." Buttercup said out loud.

"What the-Everyone get down! Or else I would shoot!" One of the robber shouted and fired his gun up on the ceiling,and immediately everyone except the robbers and Buttercup are now squatting down.

Buttercup wanted to use her eyebeams to hit the robbers' weapons but remembering her time in Citiesville, she recalled that each city has their own regulation on using superpowers. Also,the diner is crowded enough that any missed beam would definitely hit one of the patrons. Buttercup had no choice but to raise her hands up and play the innocent would-be patron that was too shocked to even duck down. Two of the robbers came up to her with their assault rifles and prod at her arms with the barrels of their guns, beckoning her to enter into the diner. As she took her place among the terrified patrons, she analyzed the situation the best she could.

It seems that these crooks are not as hardened as the crooks in Townsville, but they are significantly more jumpier. Some of them are shaking as they aimed their guns at the patrons, giving the clue that this is something they had never done before. However, they are armed to the teeth and their guns are modified illegally to house larger drum magazines. Her sudden presence had already heightened their sense of anxiety, and Buttercup worry thay with such twitchiness, any sudden movements of events would cause them to panic and compromise the safety of the innocent people in the diner. As they slowly emptied the cash register and whatever valuables that the patron has,Buttercup wondered if she could do anything or just let the crime slip and ensuring the safety of the patrons and diner staff. However, the second option is suddenly cut off by an unfortunate turn of event.

"This is the police! Put your down your weapons and surrender!" A voice on the megaphone blared into the diner, and Buttercup swore that she would personally slap that cop with all her superhuman might once this is over. Immediately some of the robbers closest to the window immediately opened fire towards the police outside. The sound of guns firing and screaming people echoed in the air, and Buttercup knew that this is now the worst case situation.

She decided that she would need to act now, or this would turn into a bloodbath. Seeing that the robber next to her is distracted, she started her offensive with a headbutt towards the groin of one of the robbers. The force of the headbutt is such that the man dropped his gun and as he bend down, Buttercup grabbed the falling assault weapon and swing the rifle butt at his jaw, further paralyzing him.

Some of the robbers noticed that Buttercup had taken down one of their own and soon turned their weapon upon her. Seeing the reaction time of the robbers, she threw the assault rifle that she is holding towards the one with the fastest reaction , hitting the robber's rifle in the process. The robber's aim was severely knocked off center and the man fired his rifle towards one of his own accomplices bringing him down,but not before the acccomplice fired upon Buttercup. Buttercup jumped downwards to avoid the shots, and as she scanned her surroundings she noticed a chair next to where she landed.

Without any hesitation, Buttercup takes the chair, get out from her cover and hurls it towards one of the robbers. The force of the throw was so hard that the man was propelled by the force of the blow and was pinned to the wall, the legs of the chair embedding itself in the wall. She then looked around immediately for something else that could act as a projectile,but was forced to duck once more as the men fired upon her. She saw one of the robbers moving towards her and on instinct,she swings her arms inwards and fired off one of her energy crescent. The blast hits the man square in the chest and he was propelled towards the wall and broke through the wall.

"Shit, we got a super in here! That the candy! Take the candy!" One of the robbers cried out loud. Suddenly several robbers covered their mouth and immediately Buttercup smelled a sickly sweet stench permeating in the room, a smell she is only too familiar to recognize. The men's bodies soon ripped through their clothes, revealing bright red vein-riddled overmuscled bodies.

Buttercup bit her lips, realizing that things had just gotten worse. She stood up once more and threw several more of her energy crescents at them, blasting several of them in the chest and knocking them out. However the remaining men managed to ingest the drug and Buttercup knew that they need to fight elsewhere. She decided to dash out through the hole she had just made, hoping to bait them to get outside the building. Fortunately for her the other men are already chasing her as they take the drug.

As Buttercup exits the building, she was soon hit by something behind her back and she fell down on the ground. She smelled smoke and the turned around to the sight of five hulking red brutes, one of them with glowing red eyes. Buttercup immediately recognize the telltale sign of an eyebeam fired at her. One of the police patrol vehicle exploded in a fiery conflagaration, causing the police to run for cover.

"You seriously have got to be kidding me!" Buttercup is taken aback by this sudden development but was soon forced to take more immediate measures as the rest of them fired upon her with red eye beams. She rolled as several of the eye beams blasted the ground around her, barely dodging the hits. She threw a few more energy crescents at them, and as they made contact with the red brutes she proceed to make a run for it. The figures are enveloped with dust and smoke from the explosions, and Buttercup wondered if it is sufficient enough to bring them down. Buttercup is soon answered by several beams cutting through the dust and smoke.

Realizing that her initial blows are not effective, she need to know what else she could do. The brutes came out from the smokescreen and is soon charging after her. She honestly wished that she knew the four Sonic forms right now in order to take then down. Suddenly one of the brute with the mark of a skull tattoo on his chest dashed in front of her and soon she realized that he is now in front of her. Instinctively she tried to headbutt him in the face, but the Candyman robber grabbed her by the head and flung her towards a patrol car.

She crashed through the first patrol car and slammed into the second patrol car. As Buttercup gets up from the broken vehicle, she know that these Candymen are, for wanting of a better word, 'upgraded' from their previous form. The skull-tattooed Candyman that threw her into the vehicles started showing off his biceps.

"What do you have to say little piece of-" Before the Candyman could even finish gloating, Buttercup fired her eye beams to his eyes blinding him. Buttercup immediately tackled him, trying her best to not get the innocents and cops into the fight. As she brings the brute down on the ground, one of the other Candyman kicked her in the stomach and she was forced to let go of the man she tackled.

Fortunately for her, she managed to turn her head around and staring her assailant in the eye, she fired her eye beam once more blinding the second candymen as well. She rolled away and regained her hearings as the two Candymen that were shot in the eyes regained their composure. The attack towards their eyes is not as effective as she wanted it to be, but it bought her enough time to think about what she could do in this situation.

 _This fight...I need to find a way to bring them down fast_ , Buttercup though as she wonder if there is a way to crack through these defenses.

Her obvious solution is for her to make her wind-like powers more explosive and more destructive, but at the same time more focused in order to avoid collateral damage. But the only thing that runs through her mind are the four Jetstream forms was taught to her. She still struggled on how to make the vortice strong and focused like those of Major Bradshaw's, the only clue she had is that of the faint visage of the vortex swirling behind the major's back.

Buttercup wondered why the image that is stuck in her mind, the spirals of the wind shaping up like a butterfly's wings. Her mind strayed once more to one of Blossom's ramblings about how a butterfly flapping its wings somewhere would cause a typhoon somewhere in the world. She remembered that for some reason Blossom's mathemathical homework involved some stupid thing like that, and there is a particular symbol that she remembered teasing Blossom about. The shape is such that Buttercup teased that that should be how her sister's bra design should look like since Blossom's bosom were much smaller. A symbol that looked like a ribbon, a figure eight curve.

 _Let's try this out_ , Buttercup said to herself, knowing that these line of unrelated thoughts had given her novel solutions to problems before.

She is not sure how well she can replicate the circulation in such a manner, but the situation is not giving her the chance to perfect it. Several of the brutes are now firing their eye beams at her, and she was forced to try out the unusual way of spinning the vortex behind her back. Struggling to control the flow of the winds around her and also the energy within her, she launches herself towards one of the brutes, dashing lower to the ground. To her unexpected surprise, she is accelerating much more quicker than she normally does and she lost control of her dashing speed. She tripped and tumbled towards her target, slamming the Candyman with all her mass and acceleration. The Candyman slammed down on the ground head first and Buttercup tumbled away. It took them a few seconds to realized that one of their own was attacked and brought down.

"Well...I guess that works." Buttercup grinned to herself. She was definitely not expecting her acceleration to be drastically sped up in such a drastic manner. She shudders to know what would happen if she try to fly. So far she got the basics of Interdictor in a sense,but she realized that ramming into people all day would not help herin the long run. The concussion would really do a number on her.

She wondered if this vortex could be used offensively. She tried to do so as she dodged their tackling attempts and blows, and realized that it is quite impossible to make a band around her arm while the figure-eight shaped vortex. As she tried to get the spinning of her vortex right, she tried to remember what she saw the Major did. She remembered it looking similar to an handcuff or a bangle and the winds are not circulating in the way she had always done it. They appear to be swirling around in an odd manner, and if she remembered it right it would feel something like...

Like this, Buttercup reasoned as she spiral led the normal flow in such a way thst it resembled a twisting cylinder or sorts. The winds are now being gathered around her in a counter-clockwise and she tried to collect the warm air from around her. As the winds slowly took in all the sand and small debris, they soon friction against each other and the sparks ignited into a flaming ring around her wrists.

Seeing that somehow it looked similar to what the Major did, she threw an energy crescent at one of the other men. The crescent sucked in the flames of the spinning vortex and Buttercup realized that the projectile is now surrounded by the burning vortex as it left her arm. Immediately the ground started to scorch and slams into another Candymen in a very explosive manner, causing the figure to ignite in flames. As the Candyman started screaming, Buttercup realized that this is something plain nasty to use against anyone. But she did not have the time to think about morality and she threw a few more at the Candymen. Some of them fired their eye beams at Buttercup in response and as the beams and the energy projectile met, it exploded in a large explosion. Several of the Candymen immediately rushed through the explosion towards Buttercup, trying to close the distance between them and her while firing their eye beams at her.

 _Nuts!_

Buttercup decided to create even more twisted cylindrical rings to see if she could shoot several of them down in mid-air. She accidentally made one of the circulation of the rings counterclockwise and she cursed herself. However to her surprise, the fiery winds around her arms slowly dispersed into spinning vapors and the area soon become much more wetter than before. Slowly but surely, the spinning vortexes in her arms became a storm of liquid. Realizing what she had just done, she immediately threw her energy projectile and to her relief, the projectile did not launch itself, instead it appeared to continuously rotate in front of her. Seeing that she found her bearings, she changed the circulating winds that was blowing counterclockwise the opposite direcction and threw a projectile into it. The cross immediately launches itself towards the beams and immediately neutralized it and hit the most forward-facing Candyman. However, the Candyman was close enough that he managed to throw a punch towards Buttercup. Seeing that her arm would not reach in time, she decided to rotate one of the rings around counterclockwise once more, creating a spinning static projectile before her. The hit was immediately deflected, causing the brute's body to veer sideways and allowing Buttercup to throw an uppercut towards the Candyman's jaw.

Another Candyman came towards her and Buttercup dodged away from sight with her new-found agility boosting move. She is slowly getting the hang of it as she used it to dodge several more beam attacks and tackles. With one arm engulfed in a vortex of flames and the other ingulfed in a vortex of water, Buttercup is more or less armed to take them down and defending herself.

 _Honestly I don't know what I am doing_ ,Buttercup thought.

She is just barely keeping the swirling vortex behind her back and on each of her arm, and she is now feeling the fatigue coursing throughout her body. The energy exerted to keep the form is tiring and she decided that she would need to end this quickly. Mustering all the energy that she could muster, the gale of winds around her become more turbulent and she dissapeared in a flash of an eye. Suddenly the remaining brutes were flinging their heads and bodies as if they were hit by something, blood and pieces of teeth were flying out from their mouths as they are being engulfed in a column of a firestorm. Their attempts to hit back the target were suddenly deflected towards each other, further causing more damage among themselves. Within seconds, the fight is over and the brutes collapsed on the ground. Buttercup reappeared once more, looking around and notices that the police and the diner patrons and staff are now looking at her from the safety of whatever cover they could find.

"Watch out!" One of the cops cried out and Buttercup turned to see one of the brutes managed to somehow sneaked towards one of the patrol cars and hurled a car towards her. She tried to us her Sundowner move once more, but she messed up her rhythm and caused the current to flow in a spiral in between her twisted cylindrical gauntlets of clockwise and counterclockwise spinning air.

"Ah crap!" Buttercup yelled, realizing that she had used her Monsoon move wrongly. To her surprise the projectile fired forward and suddenly the vehicle was sliced into half and the two parts of the vehicle tumbled behind her. The speed of the projectile is such that it sliced the shoulders of the Candyman.

The Candyman's wounds are deep but it is not bleeding, Buttercup realized. The injured Candymam charged but Buttercup corrected her control of the air currents and ignite her hands once more. Within seconds,she threw a few more fire crescents towards the Candyman and in several large explosions,she managed to neutralize him in a fiery conflagaration. The people cheered, and Buttercup smiled.

She got this.

* * *

"Buttercup Utonium, thank you for your assistance to our investigation. You may leave."

That is all the words needed for Buttercup to exit the police department with Major Bradshaw and her two sisters. It helps that the police in Dayton knew who Major Bradshaw and the Powerpuff Girls are, and also the Powerpuff Girls knew what exactly is the drug taken by the robbers.

"So, those are the things that you faced back home huh?" Major Bradshaw asked them while wearing his sunglasses,and the girls nodded.

"Well, good work on the Jetstream. Never doubted you for a second." The brush-haired figure pats Buttercup on the head and the raven-haired young woman blushed a little. Blossom and Buttercup rarely saw their sister blushing,and they all smiled.

"Anyway as for you two girls, I think we need to talk about your abilities."

The conversation soon sparked into a brainstorming session for their unique training regiment,and looking down on them from the rooftops of the police department is a familiar red effeminate demon in matching red dress accompanied by a blonde Asian woman with a high-collared jacket with a long flowing dress and a brunette white woman with brunette braided hair wearing a khaki beret,sleeveless turtleneck, and a long cargo pants.

"Well it seems that the little girls have found a particularly interesting mentor." Fennec commented with her nasally sultry voice.

"Shall we get them?" The Asian feline-like woman asked, her eyes focused on the copper-haired young woman below. The four individuals entered into the Humvee and drove off.

" _Non_...we focus on our own production. The enhanced 'Red Candy' composition proved to be more effective and more versatile than our old ones. Time to put more into the market." Fennec answered.

" _I can't wait to see how everything unfolds now. Thought to be honest I wondered how are the boys doing..._ " The demon said before all three figure disappeared in a reddish-pink fog.


	33. Chapter 33: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Chapter 33: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Brick is sitting cross-legged in a room surrounded by lit candles and holding a Buddhist rosary,and sitting before him is a bald Buddhist monk sitting in the same manner as Brick. The bald monk is an aged figure with long curled eyebrows, clad in saffron robes and a maroon waist cloth, revealing only a bare right arm. The old monk is gently counting the beads on his Buddhist rosary while reciting the mantras of his faith. Both individuals' eyes are closed, but unlike the monk Brick's mind is flaring with frustration.

Seriously what the hell am I doing here, Brick thought as he remembered that a two days ago, Mojo Jojo had brought him here using a hypersonic personal jet in order to conquer the 'demon' within. Although Mojo Jojo always have a flair for dramatics,but this time the chimpanzee is right on the dot. It has been a while since he last slept,and he is honestly scared of meeting 'Break' once more. The dark entity within him is slowly eating on his will,and he needs to figure out a way to stop it. But this is not the way to get rid of 'Break', and honestly Brick believe that he is wasting his time sitting around. It does not help that for the past two days, the two men within the room had not eaten anything and only drank water throughout their time in the room and never sleeping. He did not even know the name of the old monk, for they are immediately led into the room and was forced to undergo this odd ritual.

"Impure thoughts!" The old monk cried out, and suddenly Brick felt his head being hit by something, and the piercing pain surprised the Rowdyruff Boy.

"That hurts, you crazy old geezer!" Brick yelled out, his frustration of his ordeals coming out through his voice. The monk looked at the teenager with eyes unclouded by hate.

"Are you hurt because of your physical sensation, or you are hurt because you can't stop the demon within? Which is the greater pain, young one?" The monk calmly but sternly said to the carnelian-haired teenager. Brick is visibly uncomfortable, both because he utterly finds this old man annoying and also because the old man speaks the truth. Brick is not going to entertain this old man anymore. Brick gets up and started to walk away from the monk.

"This is honestly stupid. What am I suppose to do here to begin with? Sitting around won't get me anywhere!" Brick yelled once more, this time with fear and anger.

"You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." The monk gave his advice, but Brick rolled his eyes and wondered if this is some kind of intricate joke by the chimpanzee to torment him further.

"Screw you old man! You're wasting my time! I could be out there doing other things! Your stupid magic tricks and vegan nonsense is just a whole hot pile of-" Suddenly the old man hits the chest of the teenager with a palm strike, and suddenly Brick feels a squeezing of his chest and his breath suddenly becomes shorter and shorter. As Brick clutches his chest, he realized that he is slowly becoming more disoriented by the moment, and the sensation of his suffering becomes more acute by the moment. As Brick kneels down on the ground, the old monk is now looking at him with unwavering nonchalant eyes.

"We don't get to choose our time. Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered and your time is short." The old man said as he sit cross-leged before the teenager once more.

"Wh-what...d-did y-y-you...d-d-d-d-do to me?" Brick struggled to speak, as his breath is now as shallow as water on the banks of the shore, and his throat tightening like it was garroted by a noose. His cinnabar eyes are now welling with tears, and his face is now turning paler and paler. Brick realized that the strike to his chest had somehow caused him a heart attack.

"You're a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole."

"S-top...please..." Brick is now enveloped with a fear of dying. He clearly do not want to go out this way surrounded by darkness, and his eyes are now looking at the old monk with pleas of mercy. However this fell on deaf ears, for the old man is now putting his palms together as if to pray for his demise.

"To see more, to know more; and now, on hearing that it can be widened in ways you can't imagine... you reject the possibility."

"H-help..." Brick is now finally leaning on the ground, his left hand clutching his chest while his trembling right arm is trying to reach the old monk. Suddenly all the candles within the room went out, but instead of the room being plunged into pure darkness, the room is now glowing with a malevolent crimson. The carnelian-colored hair of the teenager soon turn into a glowing crimson, and his hair releases itself from its bindings and floats like tentacles. As the teenager gets up from the ground and releases his hand from his chest, the teenager glared at the old monk with glowing red iris and black sclerae.

"Hello." The discordant voice of the teenager is now malicious and very interested in the old abbot before him. The old abbot immediately knew that the entity before him is not the young teenager anymore, but something else entirely.

"Hello." The old abbot said without a hint of fear or hesitation in his voice.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Why should I be?"

"Death's around the corner y'know? "

"I would say the same to you as well." It was then that the entity dropped down to one knee. As the entity wondered what is going on, the old man takes off his ring and tosses it in front of the entity controlling Brick's body. As the entity looked at the object,he realizes that there is a sharp needle like oblect the size of a hair protruding out from the ring.

"What did you do to me?" The entity asked, visibly angered by the trickery that the old man had pulled off.

"We don't get to choose our time. Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered and your time is short."

"I said...What did you do to me!" The figure's eyes are now glowing brightly, but suddenly he turned his head downwards and the beam blasted through the ground.

"I'm not letting you take over my body you asshole!" Brick shouted out loud with the right side of his face having the normal features of a white sclera and cinnabar-colored hair, catching the entity in control of the half by surprise. The entity attempted to punch the face of the side controlled by Brick, but Brick stopped his hand in mid-air by grabbing the fist. The two arms are now trembling as they struggled for control.

"When the path you take always leads back to yourself, you never get anywhere. In this case, literally. I decided to call both of you using the mystic arts. And I had also poisoned you boys." The old abbot explained as he continued on counting the right hand lets go of the left fist, and as both hands are lowered down, both Tyrant and Brick are now just looking at the old man with disbelief.

"You have twenty-hour hours to find me and get the antidote." Both eyes are now looking at the old abbot as he begin counting his Buddhist prayer beads. The two entities in control of the body of the teenager known as Brick stare cross-eyed at each other before looking back the old figure. Both of them tried to speak out to the abbot, but to their horror it became a weird mix of voices and mouth movement that can best be described as uncanny.

"Both of you are two sides of the same coin, but at the same time opposites. Both of you are looking at the world through a keyhole. You spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole. To see more, to know more; and now, on hearing that it can be widened in ways you can't imagine... you reject the possibility." Immediately both individuals realized that there is something wrong with their body. Suddenly their bodies started to go out of control and the old abbot soon walked towards them and pulled both their arms backwards before tying it up. The entities in control of the halves tried to protest and fight but their voice are essentially a cacophony of noises and their movements are an involuntary muscle mess.

"Both of you are too concerned about what was and what will be. You both will never fulfill your destiny until you let go of the illusion of control." The old man advices them as he walks towards the two individuals sharing the same body tried to move but they soon stumbled down on the ground as both are still under the influence of the poison. The door closes as they struggled to get up.

Brick can't believe this.

Not only did the monk strike his heart and cause a heart attack, the monk also made the entity within him take control of half his body and also poison him. As a result, both of them are experiencing a surreal state of being in the real world and in the mindscape. Now both are in a battle for both body and soul to somehow come out of this alive.

"This is not going anywhere." The entity said to Brick. The entity, otherwise known as Break is visibly angered by thos state of development. The stranglehold that the entity holds on his realm is weakening as well, for the usually dark mindscape is now slowly turning into a savannah with crimson red grass and the skies above having shades of red forming an aurora in the dark skies.

This is an opportunity for Brick to take back what is his, but somehow the old abbot's advice rings in his head. He wondered why did the abbot say to let go of the illusion of control?

This is something he would not give, and neither will Break. Indeed, the skies in the mindscape had already started gathering the storm necessary to retake control of his every time Break wants to take control of his realm, the entity loses a little of his grip on the material realm. Likewise,every time Brick wants to take over the material room, he loses his grip on the mindscape. However, However both of them knew that their heart is now pounding like a jackhammer, and their breathing is becoming shorter and shorter. At the same time the mindscape is now,for wanting of better words, cracking.

" _This is not working._ " Break commented in the mindscape, as right now their body is suffering from some sort of poison that affects their muscles.

"Yeah, this is not working." Brick agreed with the entity.

" _First we need control of the vassal._ "

"Wrong. We need to work together. We can't stay in the mindscape forever and the body is literally dying."

" _Tsk...This is unfavorable._ " Break said grudgingly, and Brick have to admit that this is particularly unfavorable. But adversity unites even the most bitter of enemies, and this is such a situation. For this to work, they need to work together almost seamlessly. First agenda on their survival; walk towards the door. Brick would need to let Break take the first step, as Break is more likely to be more paranoid than himself. Also with him taking the first step, he is also forcing Break to work with him."Alright, let's do this. Come on. You take the left part, and I'll take the right. Alright you move your leg first."

As the abbot walk down the hallway, his path is soon blocked by a figure. A slightly overweight chimpanzee wearing a dark grey trenchcoat and a lighter gray business suit with a large dome on his head with pink sclerae and dark green skin looked at the old wizened monk with concerned eyes.

"So it starts now?" Mojo Jojo asked the wizened old man.

"With the control of my mystic arts, I was able to bring out the entity within and allow the young boy to have control of half his body. Without a resolution with the entity, he will not have equilibrium. So it is up to him to achieve his enlightenment."

"If they failed?""Then they shall perish together Mojo Jojo. Till death do they part."

Suddenly a loud blast can be heard down the hallway, and both the abbot and Mojo Jojo turned their attention towards the end of the hallway. The end of the hallway is clouded in smoke and dust, and the abbot smiled.

"Very good. Mojo Jojo, if you don't mind." Mojo Jojo nods his head and walk away from the abbot, leaving the abbot alone.

As the abbot looks down the hallway, a figure soon breaks out from the smoke and dust. With one glowing red eye, the entities known as Brick and Break are now walking towards the abbot, one awkward step at a time. the two entities are now looking at the old man,knowing that they need to get the antidote from the old man. The old man smiled at them, before blowing a raspberry at them and started running. To their surprise, the old man is running away at a very fast pace, and both Brick and Break need to catch up as well.

" _Time to fly._ " Break suggested.

"Yeah..." Brick agreed.

Immediately the body possessed by the entities hovered before it started to move forward. As the body moved forward, they can see the old man speeding away to such an extent that they are forced to pick up more speed. Flying by itself is rather east for Brick and Break, but having only partial control of the body makes it a very challenging prospect.

" _Seriously this is not going well. We can't catch up to the old fart in the rate we are going. We should throw an eye bolt at his legs."_ Break powered up his eye but just as he is about to fire it, Brick turned to the left, causing the blast to hit the wall.

"Not on my watch!" Brick retorted back.

The old man looked back and smiled at them before running off in an even faster pace. Break's eyes are now glowing with a greater intensity than before, and Brick can sense the hatred emanating from the dark entity. Brick can only imagine how the battle at the District Attorney's office went about when Break took over his body, for he recalled seeing the footage of the entire office space being covered in an inch of blood. As much as Brick hated the entity, it did protect him when he was almost killed by the bat-masked gangster. But right now, their haphazard cooperation is not working too well for both of them. Brick can sense that his counterpart is seeking a more violent approach to the matter and it not afraid to use it. In addition,it appears that the senses of his counterpart are sharper than his own, as Brick is struggling to keep track of what Break is trying to do.

The old man suddenly turned left and the both of then steered the body to the left, and soon enough they find themselves at a courtyard overlooking a cliff and the breathtaking panoramic view of the snow-capped Himalayas is visible. Surrounding the courtyard are several pillar-like structure surrounding the courtyard and the worn courtyard is filled with masonry that were dented into the ground in a peculiar shape.

Brick and Break landed the body on the ground and they noticed that the old abbot is now assuming a particularly low, feline-like stance with his fists half-opened. Brick noticed that the style is nearly similar to how he prefer to deliver his blows. However the stance is extremely low, and the legs are hyper extended to the point that it is almost a split. Despite the advanced age of the old man, both Brick and Break are not taking this lightly. Somehow the stance feels more deadlier than it should be. But both of them knew that attacking is the best defense that they have, and soon enough both of them adjust their body sideways with both legs slightly staggered and bent, with the right leg behind and the left leg forward, with both arms covering both side of the temple with half-formed fist.

"Oh...very nice stance." The old abbot complimented, noticing that the fighting fundamentals of the two entities within the body is solid.

The body occupied by both Brick and Break slowly edges forward, and both are vigilant about any tricks that the old man can pull off from his particularly unusual stance. Amazingly, the old man is also able to slowly edge towards them in that position, and Brick wondered how on earth is he able to do that. As the two figures finally closes in towards each other, Break's eyes is glowing and his side of the face smiled with maniacal glee. As the tips of the old man's foot and Break's foot touches each other, Break's arm clawed forward to test the reactions of the old man. However to the surprise of Brick and Break, the old abbot lunges in with his right elbow, deflecting the blow away from the old man. At the same time, the old man aims his elbow at the same time towards Break's armpits. Brick is forced to move his palm towards Break's armpits and block the blow, but as soon as the elbow touches Brick's palm the old man's arm whips forward and try to claw his liver.

Brick was forced to spin the right side of the body away from the blow, allowing Break to swing his elbow towards the old man's temple. The old man however darts backwards and keeps a distance away. As Break loses control of his elbow blow, the old abbot dives in once more to take advantage of the unbalanced posture. However Break takes a step and lunges forward with his shoulder, causing the old abbot to change directions mid-way by jumping upwards. Break forces his arm to clench the ground, breaking the pavement below. Lifting the whole body upwards and propelling it upwards, Brick folds his leg and spins his part of the hip upwards in a sweeping kick. The old man strike both his palms towards the shin of the impending strike, and bounces away. The old man somersaults and lands down on his feet and once more assume the low feline-like stance. However unlike the old man, the tag-team duo of Brick and Break are unable to control the landing of the body that they are sharing and slammed down on the ground.

"Oh ho ho ho ho! Very impressive! Giving this old man a good workout!" Soon enough several monks are now overlooking the match between the abbot and the young teenager from the monastery and murmurs are soon heard. Among them is a particular chimpanzee wrapping himself in his cloak. Flanking the chimpanzee are two more figures, one being a spiky-haired sand-blonde teenager with sapphire blue eyes clad in a cobalt blue winter hoodie with fur around the rims of the hood while the other is a jade-eyed teenager with slickly combed hair held together by a green hairband in a black jacket.

" _Too bad that this fool is taking over half of my body, or else you're dead old man!_ " Break growled at the old man with his discordant voice, but Brick is looking at the old man with a great amount of respect. Brick understand that it takes an amazing amount of skill for a normal human to fight in such a manner, and especially from a wizened old man like the abbot.

"Tenzin _Khenchen_ , Head Abbot of the Lhapsap Monastery." The old abbot introduced himself.

" _Break_." The black-eyed part with the glowing red hair part of Brick's body answered.

"Brick." Brick replied, knowing that this introduction would be the only time that they would ever talk throughout this match. The cold, frigid winds of the Himalayan mountains blew harshly as Abbot Tenzin and Brick-Break looked at each other. The other individuals are now looking at the two opponents jockeying for position on the courtyard.

"Hey monk, what is that style?" Butch asked one of the monks as he noticed that the stance of the old man is a very peculiar combat stance, but one that allow for an attack towards the lower extremities of the attacker and also to avoid medium to high attack stance. However before the monk could even answer, Brick-Break lunges forward and try to swing a low kick towards the old man. However the old man managed to go even lower on the ground and turning to one side, with the leg closest to the ground tucked to the chest, and extending the other leg thereby supporting his body weight with his hand, and the upper arm in a location to protect the soon as Brick-Break's leg touches the arm, the old man did a hooking motion with the extended leg and forcing the red-haired teenager to fall down on the ground. The old abbot swings his palm towards Brick-Break but they bboth managed to roll the body away from the old man's strike which cracked the pavement with a resounding cracking sound.

"Dude...that's a _negativa derrubando_!" Boomer said out loud, and the others are now looking at him with a surprised look, especially Butch.

"You know what that move is?" Butch asked his blue-eyed brother.

"Sure looks like a capoeira move to me!"

"It is the Khenchen's fighting style; The Snow Leopard Style." Both Butch and Boomer turned their attention to one of the monks. The monk is a young monk, about the same age as the Rowdyruff boys, with light brown eyes and a tan khaki skin wearing a saffron robe.

"Snow Leopard?"

It was then that the old man reaches out towards the Brick-Break once more, and as Brick-Break tries to kick away the old abbot with a left low kick, the abbot managed to land his elbow strike to the left thigh, causing Brick-Break to lose balance and the old abbot strike at the solar plexus with a palm strike. The teenager launches away from the old abbot and falls towards the edge of the courtyard. Looking down, Brick-Break realized that it is a big drop from the courtyard to the bottom of the mountain range. However they would be able to hover upwards once more if they were hit from the edges. But before Brick-Break could even get up, they are struck in the chest by a low kick to their solar plexus once more. The continued blow towards their solar plexus is overwhelming and even with their superhuman endurance, they are slowly feeling the damage of the blow.

" _That's it!_ " Break cried out, and he fired an eye beam at the old abbot, who dodges it barely. It was then that Break's face is struck with an elbow strike in the eye, blinding the dark entity controlling the left side of Brick's body. Brick realized that he is now the only one that can see the old abbot's attacks, and now he has a large blind spot. Brick was forced to pulverize the pavement below, causing the rocks to obscure the view between the old abbot and Brick-Break. Brick decided to take the opportunity to roll away before blasting the ground again to hop away. Brick is forced to figure out how to move his body when one side is under the control of an entity that was blinded.

"The clock is ticking. With that amount of movement, you are losing precious time. The poison is pumping inside your body at an accelerated rate." The abbot informed Brick-Break. Brick also noticed that his body is weakening, and somehow this poison is able to overwhelm his superhuman resistance. He needs a new plan, and he needs to make one now. 

* * *

Brick and Break are now back in the mindscape and Brick realized that the mindscape is now shattering. It seems that whatever poison in his body is now affecting the state of his mind, and even Break is feeling the tension of the situation.

" _Damn it!_ " Break cried out while covering his left eye. It seems that the damage done in the material world also affect his state in the mindscape.

"Break, I think we need to do something here or else we are both going to go down."

" _Tsk_ _! I can't give you control of my part!_ "

"Are we going to still argue about this part again!"

 _"I can't even if I wanted to! That old geezer messed me up good! I am neutered!_ " Break yelled at him, and Brick wondered why. It was then that Brick noticed a rune on Break's eye and it has spread throughout his left side from his eye down to his leg. Brick realized that his dark entity is downright honest this time.

"Shit..."

" _Any bright ideas, boy scout!?"_

"Just one." Brick's tone is an uncertain one, and Break noticed that the response from the carnelian-haired teenager just barely came out from his mouth.

" _Spit it._ "

"We need to merge."

"What." Break's deapan note is not the conveying the emotions that his face is showing Brick at this exact moment.

"We need to. My body is failing,and so is your mindscape body. The only way we can get out of this is if we become one."

" _Hell no!_ "

"We have no other choice." Break noticed that Brick is trembling as he muttered those words out from his mouth. Break saw that the teenager is serious and he looked at him with sympathetic eyes,the first that he had ever done so throughout his existence. Brick is fearful of the result, but he had decided to offer this to Break despite the lack of any guarantees.

" _So...you are really going for this huh?_ " The entity said while covering his mouth, not wanting to reveal his melacholic expressions.

"I don't want to die yet. Not when..." Brick stopped short of revealing his reasoning for wanting to live that is so dear to him that he would even contemplating merging with the entity within himself.

" _Well, you have proven me wrong._ "

"Come again?"

" _Your will_. _You've proven me that you are willing to go the distance to get what you want even if you have to sacrifice something. Alright, I've got to fulfill my part of the bargain._ " Break relented and sighed, surprising Brick.

"You..."

" _Hurry up and grab my hand before I changed my mind!_ " Break snarled, and Brick realized that time is of the essence. Brick reaches for Break's arm and grabbed it, both individuals are engulfed by darkness.

* * *

Suddenly the atmosphere around Brick-Break becomes much more menacing and intimidating, causing many of the monks to fall unconscious. The only figures that are still conscious are Butch, Boomer,Mojo Jojo,the young monk and the abbot. As dark crimson flames engulfs red-haired teenager, the old man prepares himself.

Suddenly the hair color of Bricks's body turned into a blending contour from orange core to a crimson tip, and as the teenager looks up, the abbot realized that a sudden change had happened. The sclera of the teenager are now black in color and the crimson iris is now visible from the one good eye. However, the blood vessel within the eyes are now glowing with a faint red glow,giving the teenager's eyes the appearance of a fracture.

"Brick? BRICK!" Butch cried out, realizing that the appearance is not that of his brother but of Break.

"SHUT UP DAMN IT!" To Butch's surprise,the voice that answered him is that of his own brother.

"Brick!" Boomer cried out, his eyes watering as his brother appears to be back in control.

"Well done." The abbot whispered as he prepares himself. Brick looks at the old man with calm eyes,and as he walks forward Brick is engulfed by the dark flames and disappeared. The abbot is surprisrd by the move, but then he felt a hand behind his neck.

"Old man...please give me the antidote. Or I swear I will break your neck." Brick threatened the old abbot, and the abbot felt a shiver down his spine. However instead of being afraid, he lets out a smile.

"You passed." The old man stands up and suddenly without Brick even realizing it, the middle finger and thumb of the old man presses on Brick's solar plexus and with a swift motion he pulled out a hair-thin needle about six inches long.

"What the..." Brick was shocked by the presence of the hair thin needle. The sudden energy projection around Brick suddenly dissapeared.

"The ring that I have injected this needle into a particular point at your liver,forcing your own liver to continuously poison you until it was taken out." The old abbot informed the young teenager.

"But how..." Brick is still shocked by all of this, as penetrating his body with such a thin needle would require a great amount of force unlike any normal human veing could muster.

"Both of you are in control,but at the same time you are not in of you are free, and yet you are bound by one another." The old abbot produces a mirror from his robes for Brick to look Brick's surprise, his hair color and eye color did not return to normal.

"Is this me?" Brick asked as he touches his face. His brother hovered to where he is and as they looked at their brother, they are also taken aback by his new looks. But instead of being appaled by their brother, they patted him in the back before they decided that a hug would be better.

"Well,you look like an evil dude but you're still our bro." Boomer smiled cheekily.

"Yeah...we're the Rowdyruff Boys. Nothing's gonna change that fact." Butch smiled,glad that his brother is back from the clutches of the dark entity.

"Yes all that matters is that you have found an equilibrium with the entity within you. And you have acknowledge his existence as a part of you,just as it acknowledges you as a part of him."

Brick bowed towards the old abbot in gratitude,and the old monk bowed back in return. Mojo Jojo looks on from the side,and he smiled knowing that this is perhaps the best result that he could get from this particular situation. The battle may be won, but the war is not over yet.


	34. Chapter 34: Sisters

Chapter 34: Sisters

[Patterson Air Force Base Firing Range, Dayton, Ohio, 11.00am]

Blossom watched as Buttercup tried to perfect her mastery of her four Jetstream forms. Ever since her battle with the enhanced Candymen, she had been steadily improving her control of her abilities and Major Bradshaw had acknowledged her as the one true student of the Jetstream style. It appears that there can only be one master and one apprentice for this system, and Buttercup had passed the test to become the apprentice of the system. As the two sparred with each other daily, Blossom could not help but to be jealous with Buttercup over her improvements.

"I am going to get myself a bottle of water. You want anything Bubbles?" Blossom asked. Bubbles shakes her head, and Blossom gets up and move away. Honestly, Blossom needs to get away from her sisters as her mood is getting worse as she watches Buttercup spar. Blossom glanced back at Buttercup in disgust, before walking to Blossom, Buttercup noticed her sister's disgusted look.

 _What's going on?_ , Buttercup asked herself before she realized that she is still sparring with Major Bradshaw. For her distraction, she was punished by an exploding energy projectile to her face.

As Blossom takes a walk down the firing range, she seriously wondering why she is subjecting herself to this particularly hellish training. So far all she could see are that she is slowly becoming much more shapelier than before but there is nothing resembling a move like what Buttercup pulled off the day before. Of course it is not realistic for her to even learn Jetstream for it would take a lot of work and time is not on her side. Right now she need to build on something she already already,but the challenge is to improve upon it. Other than her intelligence, next feasible ability to improve upon is her ice breath powers. Her mind strayed to the fateful night at the Townsville Police department and she could only wonder how she could go about making her abilities more practical in indoor spaces.

"Blossom, if you keep on doing that frown, it will become permanent you know?" Bubbles said, seeing that her copper-haired sister deep into her thoughts. Blossom looked at her sister in an irritated mood, but her irritated mood immediately turned to a puzzled expression.

"Bubbles? What are you doing here?" It was then that she realized that her sister's had materialized what she called her _Blumenkranz,_ but the orbs are now much smaller than before, about the size of a tennis ball. In addition the orbs are now even more interconnected with each other than before. She then pulls a strand of the electrical current with her hand, and a number of the balls detaches from the orbit behind her back and formed what look like a whip made of balls. The pigtailed girl then whips the weird formation forward and as Blossom watched the weird chain-like formation stretches upwards until it reaches to its absolute limits before she pulls it back to her. Blossom is surprised at her sister's newfound ability and noticing her sister's reaction, Bubbles explains to her sister.

"Oh this? I figured that I tend to have a limited amount of _Blumenkranzen_ around, so I decided to make them more numerous and also smaller in order to improve my defenses more. In addition, I kinda found out that I can link several of them to make a long whip-like thingie. The last time I checked is that it could stretch out around three miles. In a way this also gave me a ranged attack of sorts. Not to mention that these orbs are essentially projectiles that I can throw and explode the enemy with like this ." She throws one of the orbs up and Bubbles covered her ears and ducked down. Blossom realized what is about to happen and also ducked down. The sudden explosion rocked the ground below their feet, and the explosion caused a large dust cloud to envelop the two girls. Bubbles opens her eyes and she notices two officers looking at them, and she gives them the biggest and most innocent grin she could muster.

"Oh...it is just one of those Powerpuff Girls training,guys. Nothing to worry about."

"You girls just be careful alright?" The officer informed the girls, and Bubbles smiled back and waved at the officer. Once the officers walked away from the girls, Blossom stood up and walked away from her crouching sister. Bubbles looked up and she noticed that her sister is not her usual self. Usually Blossom would complement her at anything, even if it appears to be insincere at times. But this time, she is utterly silent. Bubbles gets up and touches her sister shoulders. But to Bubbles' surprise, the expression on Blossom's face is that of hate and betrayal. Shocked by this sudden demeanor, Bubbles took her hand away from Blossom's shoulder. Blossom turned away and flew off, leaving Bubbles alone in the firing range.

 _What happened, Blossom?_ , Bubbles thought as she saw the streak of light disappearing in the sky.

* * *

[Patterson Air Force Base, Cafetaria, 1.00pm]

"Did you notice that Blossom had been...rather nasty for these past few days?" Bubbles asked her onyx-haired sister.

"Yeah, she had that look on her." Buttercup answered as they both ate their lunch. Somehow Bubbles had gotten used to the diet of grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, and brown rice. Major Bradshaw had to fly on a patrol with his squadron and thus he is unable to join them for lunch today.

"I mean, I know she is not liking the tough nature of the training and honestly, I don't either but her mood always turned bad when she watched us train and stuff." Bubbles points out on when Blossom's demeanor would turn for the worse. Buttercup nods her head, acknowledging that it had gotten worse as the days gone by. Blossom tend to be the most vain among them all, and underneath her 'everything nice' image lies a particularly petty person that has a fragile image of herself.

"Well, to be honest it had started when those idiots attacked Townsville." Buttercup said to Bubbles. Ever since the Declaration Attacks, she had never been the same despite her front. However seeing that Blossom does not want to speak about it, Buttercup had left her alone to let her sort it out for herself. But it appeared that she did not manage to sort out those feelings herself.

"Yeah...come to think about it..." Bubbles ponders as she recalled how during their recovery phase with the Rowdyruff Boys, Blossom had been much more depressed than everyone else.

 _Also, those eyes,_ Buttercuo thought aboyt the eyes that Blossom showed her during her spar. Those are not just eyes of a wounded pride. Those are something much darker. Buttercup immediately got up from her seat and cracks her knuckles and neck, knowing that the next thing they are about to do will be one of the most annoying things to get out from Blossom's mouth. Buttercup's lips shaped into a smirk, as she stretches herself.

"Buttercup?" Bubbles asked her sister, surprised by Buttercup's demeanor.

"Bubbles, I think we need to have a chat with our dear sister."

* * *

Blossom is now sitting, or to be exact hovering while in a sitting position on the clouds above while looking down towards the city of Dayton. Despite her understanding of Bubbles' efforts in self-improvement and also her wish to comment on her hard work, but a darkness within her would not allow her to do so. Not when Bubbles is doing so in such a struggle-free manner. Blossom's pride within her would not accept that both her sisters are moving ahead of her and struggling less than her. If there is one thing that Blossom takes pride in, it will be her intelligence and her abilities to self-improve. However, ever since her battle with the Asian villain, her confidence and pride had tanked to the lowest points in her life. Her battle with the Lunatic had robbed her of this ability of Blossom's, and whatever she had left is much more inferior than her sisters.

Among her sisters, she is perhaps the most physically weakest and that bothered her in more ways than one as she had neglected her fitness exercises more than those of her sisters. Secondly, her reactions are not the fastest among her sisters, and that also impedes her ability to react towards certain situations in a split-second decision. Thirdly, her ice powers are a double-edged sword towards her own body. She rarely did her freezing radius field for it condenses and freezes the air around her and make her movements even more sluggish than before,and thus it require a lot more control on her part less she is frozen in place. In many ways, just to be even be competent as her sisters, she have to put in thrice the work in order to be their equals. But now, her sisters are slowly surpassing her and that wounded her psyche even more than before.

"How?" Blossom asked herself, wondering what is the right answer to her situation. Blossom's eyes started to water as she remembered the humiliation of the Asian Lunatic in the police department. The fact that she was forced to accept the only solution while breaking her confidence and pride still hurts her chest, and tears soon started flowing from her watery eyes.

"Blossom! Where are you?" The husky voice of Buttercup pierces through the skies and snapping Blossom from her melancholy.

"Blosssssooommmm?!" The high-pitched voice of Bubbles followed soon after.

 _No._

Blossom decided that she would rather not meet her sisters for the time being, and she decided to speed away from her sisters in a a streak of pink light. Blossom immediately heard two more sonic booms and she realized that her sisters had spotted her flying away. The copper-haired girl decided to pick up even more speed and a loyd supersonic boom can be heard in her wake.

"Buttercup, there she goes!"

"God damn it!" Buttercup cursed and decided to pick up speed as well. Among the three sisters, she is the fastest among her sisters and it is a mistake to try and outrace her. With a loud roaring sonic boom and also her Interdictor Jetstream ability, she blasted herself onward in hypersonic speeds. Several lime-green vapor cones formed around the streak of lime-green light as Buttercup accelerates through the bright blue skies.

"Wait up Buttercup!" Bubbles called her sister,but realized that her sisteris already racing ahead of her. Ever since Buttercup gotten the hang of the forms that Major Bradshaw had taught her, Buttercup has been slowly trying to perfect the Jetstream art. Bubbles decided that she would have to use her own means of speeding up herself if she wanted to get a fair chance of catching up to her sisters. She activated her _Blumenkrantz_ and she surround herself in a barrel-like construction of her protective barrier. As the electromagnetic polarity of the tube-like structure slowly powers up and holding her in place,she gather her own flight energy and power it up to maximum throttle. With the sudden reversing of the polarity within the barrel,she launchers herself forward like a railgun projectile and burst through the air in a hypersonic boom, streaking through the sky as the air behind her gets ignited.

Blossom looked behind her as she heard two hypersonic booms and she saw both her sisters are flying towards her even faster than she expected.

"Blossom, we need to talk!" Buttercup cried out as she catches up on her.

"GET AWAY!" Blossom fires an eyebeam towards her sister, forcing Buttercup to barrel-roll in mid-air.

"Blossom! You didn't just shot eye beams at me!" Blossom hears her onyx-haired sister calling out to her, but she ignores the call and burst away. It was then that Bubbles caught up with her sisters.

"Blossom, what's wrong?! Why are you running away from us!" Bubbles called, before she too was forced to dodge from another bolt of eye beams from Blossom's eyes. However, both Bubbles and Buttercup are not giving up, and they closed in on their particularly feisty sister.

"I SAID GET LOST!" Blossom snapped back at her blonde sister, and seeing that she needs to loose then, she decided to dive downwards to get them off her back. This maneuver caught her sisters by surprise and they overshot her as Blossom dived down to pick up more speed and to avoid her sisters. Buttercup managed to cast a gust of wind to negate her extreme acceleration and changed directions in mid-air. Buttercup is not enjoying chasing her sister in such a manner and started to speed down to get her sister. Bubbles on the other hand was forced to use her abilities to create a electromagnetic field in order to gradually slow down. Bubbles was forced to watch as the streak of pink light and lime-green light are now diving downwards towards the ground below.

 _Why won't they leave me alone?_ , Blossom thought as she spot Buttercup diving down diagonally and heading towards her. Blossom was forced to fire am eye beam towards Buttercup,causing her to nearly veer out of control to try and dodge the eye beam. Blossom's eye beam distraction gets her a few precious moment for her to accelerate away from her , Blossom had forgotten about her other sister and suddenly she found herself colliding with Bubbles. Both of them started falling down towards the surface of a heavily forested area. Blossom wanted to try to fly once more, but Bubbles is already grabbing on to her, and she felt a sudden acceleration downwards and both girls crashed into the forested area, breaking several of the large birches, beeches, and ash trees before skidding towards a large lake.

Blossom threw her sister over towards the lake, and was about to launch herself upwards once more before she saw Buttercup descending down on her. Blossom fired her eye beams towards her sister, but Buttercup mustered the power of her vortex to deflect the beams away from her. Buttercup immediately tried to restraint her sister, but Buttercup's face is soon met with Blossom's fist.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Blossom roared, and she tried to fly up once more. Buttercup, angered by her sister's punch grabbed on her sister's legs and slammed her down on the ground. Buttercup soon received a kick towards her solar plexus,causing her to bend over and loosen her grip. Blossom immediately takes the chance to fly away, but was intercepted by a light-blue streak of light and crashed down once more on the ground.

"BLOSSOM WHAT'S GOING ON!" Bubbles cried out loud as she grabbed around Blossom's waist as hard as she could. Blossom pressed on Bubble's shoulder and tried to pry her away from her waist, but Bubbles dogged resistance on not letting her hug go is pissing her off even more than before. Blossom soon landed some blows on Bubbles' back as she grew more desperate to get out of Bubbles' embrace.

"Let go of me!" Blossom tries to wrestle away from her sister as they are struggling on the ground, but her struggle only serve to tighten Bubbles' embrance

"NO!" Bubbles cried out. Blossom hits her sister in the back, but Bubbles' determination and tenacity allowed the blue-eyed young woman to continue to cling on her sister. As Blossom was about to give her sister another blow, Blossom felt her arms being restrained by another person. She looked up and two lime-green eyes are now looking down on Blossom.

"Blossom, what had gotten into you?!" Buttercup asked with concern.

"Get away from me!" Blossom cried out. Her rose-colored eyes started glowing, but Buttercup immediately hooks her elbows upwards from Blossom's armpits and covered Blossom's eyes with her palms and pressed down on the copper-haired teenager's head.

"Don't do this, Blossom! I'm warning you!" Buttercup warned her sister as she did a spinal lock on her sister. Buttercup had never seen her sister so frantic before ever since she tried to escape from her sisters when Blossom was busted for stealing those golf clubs when they were kindergartners. They wound need to get down to the bottom of this if they were to know why their sister is acting in such an unbecoming manner.

"Just tell us what is going one Blossom!" Bubbles cried out as she struggled to keep her sister in place.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Blossom screamed and struggled as hard as she could, but the unnatural tension on her neck and spine caused Blossom to panic. She did not expect her sister to try and break her spine, and something within Blossom snapped. Her psyche is telling her that she would need to get away from her sisters as they are hurting her, and without even a moment's hesitation she tried to blow her ice breath to stop Buttercup from breaking her neck. However, Blossom did not realize that her throat is being shaped in an unnatural angle, and Bubbles is pressing down on her diaphragm and as she tried to blow her ice breath at her raven-haired sister, her bodily instincts forced her body to inhale her ice breath instead. Unbeknownst to Blossom, of all days, she would discover a different way of using her ice breath.

"What the?" Buttercup realized that her sister is slowly turning much paler, and her clothing started to have a layer of frost all over.

"Her ice powers! We need to let go now!" Bubbles shouted out as she realized that the sudden drop of temperature and the painful sensation of her skin forced the blonde pigtailed girl to let go of her sister's waist.

"Shit!" Buttercup also realized the sudden painful sensation and lets go of her sister.

Both Bubbles and Buttercup immediately speed off a small distance from their sister. Both Bubbles and Buttercup soon realized that the ground around Blossom is slowly frosting over along, and Blossom's colors are now much more paler color palette. Blossom immediately noticed that something is wrong when her sister's let go of her, and as she looked around, she noticed that her sister's arms are covered with frost. She tried moving her body but then she heard a cracking sound. A sudden surge of pain soon traveled to Blossom's mind and she immediately panicked even more as she realized that her body is now frozen solid. With ever movement, her body starts to crack, causing her to scream even more than before. However what came out of her mouth is just a muffled sound of fear.

"Blossom!" Bubbles cried out as she saw the freezing radius of Blossom's ability is now spreading wildly around the whole ground causing the vines and the grass to freeze over and shatter. The creeping freeze touchers the lake and like a shattered glass, the lake started to freeze over.

"We need to calm her down or else she would freeze the whole damn place over!" Buttercup realized that the more Blossom panics, the quicker the freezing spreads. Her lime-green eyes are also seeing several cracks on Blossom's skin and several icicles of frozen blood are now coming out from the cracks. Buttercup immediately gathers the vortex around her arms and ignites the air and covered her body before diving into the freezing zone. Buttercup felt a sudden drop in temperature as she entered into the freezing zone and she realized that if it were not for the Bomber Jetstream, she will be frozen solid by her sister's ability. She reaches her sister, and she can see the fear within Blossom's immediately understood what is going on.

 _Damn, even she got no idea how she did this,_ Buttercup deduced based upon Blossom's ability. She grabs on to her sister's arm, but suddenly the temperature drops even further, and Buttercup knew that her powers is not strong enough to keep contact with her sister for long. Nonetheless she needs to assure her that everything is fine and also to try and calm her down to prevent their surroundings from freezing anymore.

"Mhmmmmmhmm!" Blossom tried to call out to Buttercup, and Buttercup can see her sister's lips cracking and icicle of blood coming from the cracks.

"Blossom, I need you to calm down okay? Please...I need you to calm down." Buttercup hugs her sister with her rapidly cooling vortex of heat and fire. Blossom could feel the warmth of her sister's body coursing through her body, and her mind is trying to make sense of everything. She sees the burning vortex surrounding her sister's body is becoming weaker and weaker, and the formation of frost is now forming slowly on Buttercup's face and hair. Blossom wanted to panic, but her calm and caring husky voice of her sister gave her pause.

"Let it melt slowly, Blossom...Let it melt slowly." Buttercup assured Blossom as she tightened her embrace around her copper-haired sister. Blossom's eyes are now flowing tears down her cheeks, and Buttercup saw that the tears are flowing for a shorter while before freezing over like icicles. However, Buttercup could not hold on for long, as her body is now slowly being frozen over. Blossom also know that Buttercup is slowly reaching the limits of her and Blossom is now screaming to ask Buttercup to let her go.

"Mhhnmmmmmm mHmmmm!" Blossom tried to call out, but even more cracks started to appear on her skin, like the surface of a cracking frozen lake. The reddish droplets and icicles forming around the cracks of Blossom's body only served to enforce Buttercup's will to not let go of her sister and to reassure her that she would always be there for her sister.

"Hell if I would let you go...not when you are suffering like this..." Buttercup answered, but Buttercup knew her stubbornness is slowly getting the better of her. She can hear the sound of icicles grinding within her Bomber Jetstreams, and the sparks are not coming out as frequent anymore to ignite the air within her vortex of air. Blossom's tears are now slowing down rapidly and several streams of frozen liquid are now forming around Blossom's eyes. The muffled sobbing sound of Blossom continued on as Buttercup closed her eyes to focus her attention to warm her sister up and also to keep her body from freezing over.

Bubbles watched as both her sisters are now slowly being frozen over, and she know that she is her sisters' only hope in this situation. The question that the blue-eyed girl had in her mind is how she could help everyone while not becoming an icicle as well. She honestly wished that there is a microwave oven or something around that is big enough to warm her sisters up. It was then that she realized what she could do to alleviate the situation. She materializes her _Blumenkranz_ and she walked into the freezing zone. Bubbles' body is immediately covered with frost, but slowly but surely the frost slowly melt away as the electrical current that she had made within her barrier slowly struck and warmed her body. She slowly walked towards her sisters and once she is close enough, she enveloped them with her electrical barrier. It was then that Buttercup and Blossom felt another warm embrace around them.

"Take your time, Blossom..."Bubbles gently called upon her sister, her yellow blonde hair and fair skin covered in frost.. Several electrical orbs are now surrounding the sisters and the gentle caresses of electrical currents are now touching all their skins and calmly heating up the bodies of everyone. Blossom's fears slowly melted away like the ice that surrounds them all, and finally Bubbles and Buttercup can hear the sobbing sound from their sister. They will never know how Blossom felt during that moment, but what they can do is to just comfort her the best they can.

* * *

"So ready to talk yet, princess?" Buttercup asked the girl with the long flowing copper hair and rose-colored eyes.

All three of them are sitting by the shores of the lake and looking out towards the lake. As they watched the slowly breaking pieces of ice from the surface of body of water closest to the shore, they knew that the silence would not last for long. Blossom is rather silent and her regenerative powers are slowly mending back all the cuts that she received from her cracking skin. It took them a good thirty minutes for Blossom to thaw over and allow her to control her ice powers back once more.

"Why...why are you doing this for me?" Blossom's voice cracked as she asked her sisters. Her eyes are swollen from the crying and sobbing, and her pink-ruby eyes are now as red as the rest of her eyes.

"We're sisters you dumbass." Buttercup slapped the head of her copper red-haired sister,causing her to cry out in pain.

"Seriously, you still treat me as a sister even after all of this? I treated all of you badly for the past few days..." Blossom answered in a dejected tone.

"Well if you really want to truth; right noe I think you are way more annoying to deal with than when you are a stuck-up bitch." Buttercup delivered her opinion in such an unfiltered manner that Blossom felt a tinge of pain in her chest.

"Buttercup's right. I'm not used to a sulking you. You're always the smart one and also the one that always keep us on track. Though to be fair,your plans and stuff sometimes suck." Bubbles joined in the polite roasting of her sister.

"At least during the Lunatics' attack, you guys either beat your opponents or at least made them retreat. Me? My opponents just outmaneuvered me,outgunned me and worst of all outsmarted me. Made a fool out of me. I could have saved more of them if I swallowed my pride."

"Blossom-" Buttercup tried to calm her sister down, but Blossom continued on her tirade.

"THEY MADE A FOOL OUT OF ME! THEY MADE ME SCARED! THEY MADE ME WEAK!" Blossom screamed out loud, and her eyes once again flowed tears.

"But it is not-" Bubbles tried to stop her sister from her self-criticising rant but Blossom ploughed through her comment as well.

"AND MY SPECIAL POWERS ARE NOT LIKE ANY ONE OF YOURS! YOU GUYS CAN CONTROL YOUR POWERS WITHOUT THE NEED TO EVEN WORRY IF YOU WOULD HURT ANYONE AROUND BY ACCIDENT! MY ICE BREATH ALMOST KILLED YOU ALL AND ME AND I DON'TE VEN KNOW HOW TO STOP IT!"

"Blossom stop..." Bubbles and Buttercup said at the same time trying to stop Blossom from beating herself down like that,but it felt to deaf ears.

"I AM NOT EVEN WORTHY IF I CAN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING RIGHT AND EVERYONE ALWAYS THINKS THAT I CAN SOLVE ANYTHING! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO ELSE COULD HELP TOWNSVILLE IF I'M NOT AROUND TO HELP! BLOSSOM, HELP ME DO THIS! BLOSSOM HELP ME DO THAT! I NEED TO FULFILL THEIR EXPECTATION OR ELSE I CAN'T CALL MYSELF WORTHY OF BEING A HERO! BOTH OF YOU ARE STRONGER THAN ME AND ALSO HAVE MORE FRIENDS THAN ME! NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME AND WHAT KIND OF PERSON AM I IF I CAN'T EVEN-"

Bubbles and Buttercup finally snapped, knowing that she is just ignoring them and wallowing down in her own self-criticism and self-perceptions of what she believe the world thinks about her.

 _SLAP!_

Buttercup and Bubbles slapped Blossom in the face, each one of them slapping her at the same time at different cheeks. Blossom cried out in pain, rubbing both her cheeks as she looked at her sister's expressions. Both of them are looking at her with very disappointed eyes

"You're an even bigger idiot than I though." Buttercup's lime-green eyes started watering up as her husky voice answered with a crack in her voice.

"And we though you're the smart one." Bubbles stated, with tears running down her cheek.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M THE IDIOT! YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT ME HERE! MY LIFE IS NOT WORTH RISKING YOUR OWN LIVES TO SAVE ME! I'VE LOST IT ALL WHEN THAT STUPID TIGRESS TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING! YOU SHOULD HAVE LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE! HELL I SHOULD HAVE DIED THE MOST PAINFUL DEATH FOR FAILING TOWNSVILLE!" Blossom snapped upwards and started screaming. Buttercup took offense to that and stood up.

"AND SEEING YOU SUFFER LIKE THIS?! I RATHER DIE THAN LEAVING YOU LIKE THIS AND BE HAUNTED BY THE FACT THAT I CAN'T SAVE MY SISTER IN BODY AND SOUL!" Buttercup cried out, the tears in her watering eyes finally flowing down her cheeks. Buttercup slapped her sister one more time, followed by another slap.

"YEAH WHAT THE POINT OF THE POWERPUFF GIRLS IF THERE ISN'T THREE OF US! We'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TO BE THE POWERPUFF DUO! YOU SHOULD HAVE TALKED TO US! WE ARE SISTERS AFTER ALL! WHY ARE YOU HIDING THIS KINDS OF THINGS FROM US YOU BIG DOO-DOO BRAIN!" Now it is Bubbles' turn to stand up and she is now sobbing as she scolded Blossom.

"BUT!" Blossom tried to protest,but ger respinse is cut short by her lime-gree eyed sister.

"ALL OF US LOOKED UP TO YOU, YOU DUMB IDIOT! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ENVIOUS OF US! YOU ARE THE PERFECT LITTLE GIRL UNLIKE ME! I'M A DUDETTE, GUYS THINK I CAN BE TOO MANLY AND HELL I'VE GOT TOO MUCH MUSCLES! HELL AMONG ALL OF US, I'M THE UGLY ONE! YOU GOT THAT GIRLY FIGURE AND BRAINS AND STUFF AND BUBBLES IS HONESTLY JUST PLAIN SEXY AND CUTE AND HAVE A NICE PERSONALITY UNLIKE ME!" Buttercup cried out as she continued on slapping her sister, but tHen she started to miss her slaps. Suddenly Buttercup's face received a slap from Bubbles, and Blossom and Buttercup is now very confused by this sudden slap from their blonde sister.

"AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT GUYS LOOKING AT YOU AS IF YOU ARE JUST SOME BLOWN-UP SEX IDOL! PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK I AM DUMB BECAUSE I'M BLONDE AND DITZY AND A CHEERLEADER AND JUST BECAUSE I AM CUTE AND NICE,PEOPLE ALWAYS ASSUME THAT I'M EASY TO PRESSURE AND ALL THAT! WHEN I SNAP PEOPLE ALWAYS THINK I AM JUST PLAIN PSYCHO OR THINK I'M A BITCH IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING! CAN'T I SNAP LIKE ANYONE ELSE! EVEN DORKY BLOSSOM HERE CAN ESCAPE WITH SOME THING JUST BECAUSE SHE IS THE TEACHER'S PET! PEOPLE EVEN THINKS THAT SHE DID SOME 'FAVORS'FAVORS' WITH THE TEACHERS JUST TO GET HER GRADES AND EXPECTED ME TO DO THAT TOO! HONESTLY I DON'T BUT BLOSSOM IS SO OBSESSED WITH HER GRADES THAT I THINK SHE MIGHT!"

"HONESTLY AT LEAST THEY THINK OF YOU AS A GIRL! THEY THINK THAT I AM A GUY AND I DON'T LIKE GUYS! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURTS BUBBLES!? I CAN''T EVEN DO ANYTHING GIRLY WITHOUT GETTING MOCKED! I'M A GIRL TOO YOU KNOW! SURE I LIKE TO DO SPORTS AND STUFF AND I WILL ADMIT I'M A TOMBOY, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T GET HURT BY THESE KINDS OF WORDS!" Buttercup barked at her sister, and Blossom is clearly taken aback by her sister's bickering.

"BUBBLES! BUTTERCUP!" Blossom roared,and suddenly Blossom slapped Bubbles and Buttercup in the face. Bubbles slapped both Buttercup and Blossom back in return. Buttercup punched Blossom in the face and backhand Bubbles. The three sisters immediately stood up and they stared at each other with glowing eyes. The three of then screamed in rage as they proceed to beat the living daylights out of each other and causing several explosions within the confines of the forest.

* * *

The three sisters bickered and fighting with each other for a while before all three of them stopped, panting and breathing heavily. The three sisters are all now just staring at each other, their faces bruised and cut by their brawl with each other.

"Well,that's a good workout and venting season." Buttercup said with a smile on her face.

"You punched me in the breast! That hurt soo much!" Bubbles snapped back at Buttercup.

"Well, not my fault you have those humongous things!" Buttercup barked back at the blue-eyed girl.

Seeing her sister like this made Blossom stopped for a moment, and she started sobbing once more. Bubbles and Buttercup stopped their bickering and turned towards their sister with concerned faces.

She realized that despite her treatment of them for the past few days and their maddening brawl moments ago, their faces still showed that they still cared for her and she is an idiot for thinking otherwise.

"I'm so sorry guys, I'm so...I'm..." Blossom suddenly felt the embrace of both her sisters as she choked up on her response.

"We may hate each other's guts but we've only got each other y'know?" Buttercup said before she spits out the blood from her mouth.

"We're the Powerpuff Girls." Bubbles said, wiping her sky-blue eyes with tye back of her three sisters embraced each other as Blossom howled her frustrations that had been cooped up within her.

That night, Major Bradshaw and his wife saw that the three girls were heavily bruised and their clothes badly torn but they are all smiling very widely and are laughing their heads off as they entered the Bradshaw home and wondered what in the world happened to them.


	35. Chapter 35: The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 35: The Dark Side Of The Moon

Butch is at an impasse.

The dark-haired teenager is now sitting on the surface of the moon and looking down upon the pristine blue orb known as his brothers had found a way to further hone their skills and they both are now practicing to better understand their new-found powers. Butch on the other hand is stuck in a training plateau, as his skills are not getting him anywhere. The training that he had subjected himself to is just not effective. He needs something resembling an edge like Boomer's 'Zeus mode' as his brother calls it and Brick's 'Tyrant mode' as Mojo Jojo calls it. He needs something like that for himself, but so far, it is just not coming to him.

This makes Butch more frustrated than ever before and his training forced him to using his usual fisticuffs. This is not working precisely because this is how he always fights. However this will not help him against the abilities that Renée had used. If his senses are all haywire, his power punches are pointless. He will never be fast enough like Boomer,nor as calculative as Brick, but he needs something that works for him in such a situation. However the only thing going for him in this case would be his battle instincts and perception, hardly traits that can be trained even further without countless hours of training. That train of thought is exactly how he ended up on the surface of the moon.

* * *

 _A few hours ago..._

"What do you want?" Mojo Jojo is clearly not pleased by the raven-haired teenager's interruption while he is in the midst of creating a new element that can withstand extreme punishment for the Rowdyruff Boys. However, Butch failed to notice such annoyance and proceed on to walk up to the chimpanzee scientist and looks at the hadron collider before Mojo Jojo. Butch noticed that Mojo Jojo is now holding an odd glove with mechanical frames above his fingers attached to an exoskeleton structure behind his back."Um okay...Mojo, this might sound dumb but...do you have something with time that allow me to train like a year's worth of training in an hour or something? I mean...you have this weird 3-second field thingie around this lab and all..."

"Yes...and?"

"So...um...I thought that...ur...you have something like that Mojo?" Butch gives the chimpanzee a very unconvincing smile that exposes his uncertainties. Mojo Jojo is now looking at Butch with a raised eyebrow, but then the raised eyebrow lowers itself down. Mojo Jojo frowns deeply in thought, and Butch wonders why Mojo Jojo have such a serious expression on his face. Butch's confusion son turned to realization as it suddenly occured to Butch that there can only be one reason for this; Mojo Jojo has the technology that can make it happen. But the chimpanzee shakes his head.

"No."

"Aw...c'mon!"

"No means no, and I mean it for it is a negative response that I am giving to you and which I also felt strongly in order for me to reply to you, and thus there will not be a positive response that will counteract this response like a yes, but instead I will use a negative response and say no. Therefore, you will not be using the Time Room."

"Time Room?"

"I believe I have said too much and thus it is in my best interest to keep silent about the matter less I reveal more than what I wanted to reveal, which in this case is nothing at all. Begone while I make the tools in which you had requested me to do in order for you to accomplish what you are planning to do in Townsville."

Mojo Jojo turns away from the teenager and proceeds to move his fingers around and activate the hadron collider. Butch is clearly not satisfied with the answer that was given by Mojo Jojo, and he will get to the bottom of this even if he had to sneak into his labs and get his answer.

"If you plan to sneak into my lab, I would suggest you cease amd desist at once for I do not kindly to my laboratory being ransacked, and just to inform you, the room is not even in this laboratory." Mojo Jojo said, causing the teenager to break a sweat.

"Yeah...I knew...that." Butch said unconvincingly.

"I would suggest you go into the Danger Room and meditate on the issue." Mojo Jojo informed the teenager. Defeated, Butch exits the room and decided that the old fart does have a point ,but then he realized that he had forgotten one major thing; Butch had no idea how to meditate.

"CURSES!"

Mojo Jojo heard Butch's cry of anger, and he smiled before he went back to crafting the new element.

Butch is at an impasse.

After days of training, he is still not going anywhere. Time is of the essence and he only got four more day before they have to go back to Townsville. Realizing that time is not on his side, he decided to try enlisting the help of his brother Boomer to try and hack Mojo Jojo's computers. He need to get into that time room.

"Are you crazy?"

That was the first response that Boomer gave his brother when Butch first asked him for the help. Boomer is now sitting on a sofa while enjoying the view of the setting sun across the horizon from the panoramic view of the guest residence. Fortunately for Butch, Brick is still training and thus he is not privy to this conversation.

"No I'm not kidding Boomer and I really need this!"

"I am not gonna do this!"

"Hm..."

"What?" Boomer is clearly uncomfortable with the sudden verbal silence of his green-eyed brother and that raised a warning alarm within his mind that his brother is up to no good.

"Well...I hate to do this...but I guess it is time for me to use this." Butch slams his palm on the table and Boomer noticed that there are several pictures under his palms.

"What on earth are those?" Boomer asked, wondering how these pictures could be used against him.

"Well..." Butch looks at Boomer devilishly and lays the pictures one by one and Boomer recognized what was taken in those pictures. Boomer immediately recognized the pictures as those of Boomer in the Maxwell orphanage and how he's been hanging out with the kids. Boomer's eyes moved around as he looked into the picture and he immediately saw the image of the short-haired girl with light green eyes and a beautifully boyish look playing catch with the children. In another picture he saw the young woman with a child on her lap as they read a book. Boomer also recpgnized himself within some of these pictures along with the young woman as he fooled around. But to Boomer's surprise,the pictures showed the rarely seen pristine and sincere smile of the young woman known as Buttercup.

"How'd you get this?" Boomer asked Butch about these pictures of Buttercup in the orphanage. Butch had a very wicked smile as he looked at his blonde brother who is obviously displeased by Butch's demeanor.

"Not the question you should be asking me right now. You should be asking; What would happen if I were to say...leak these pics out?" Butch looked down upon his brother with a face of a crook who had just found some dirt on someone. Boomer glared at his brother with a very threatening look. He had heard before from Father Maxwell that Buttercup's presence in the orphanage is not known and she wanted to keep it a secret no matter what. Of all people to know about it,Butch, one of the pettiest person he know, is the one to know about this.

"You wouldn't dare..."

"I'm Butch."

Both teenagers are now glaring at each other for a moment as if time had just slowed down around them. But it was Boomer that speaks first. Boomer realized that his brother is rash enough to make good on his threat. However Boomer would need to find dirt on Butch to prevent his brother from exploiting this any further than necessary. He personally swear that he will do everything in his power to get back at Butch.

"Fine...I'll do it."

* * *

 _Just my brother, the animals sounds and me_ , Boomer said to himself sarcastically as he looked around and his hearing caught the sound of the wildlife on the island.

Boomer clearly did not expect himself to be here, but here he is with his brother in the middle of a deserted island of some kind. Butch is now looking at a pristine white domed structure in the middle of the forest. It seems that the Time Room is located on a neighboring island and the island is big enough only to hold the domed structure. Boomer of course is with his brother just to make sure that the damages are contained to a reasonable degree. The hacking had yielded information regarding this particular technology that even Mojo Jojo is not keen on using and Boomer realized that this technology is particularly dangerous if used recklessly. Butch however is a very reckless person and this means that Boomer is now essentially Butch's de facto babysitter to prevent him from doing anything more reckless.

 _And they call me the dumb one_ , Boomer thought as Butch slowly walks towards the dome. The black-haired teenager touches the surface of the dome as he walks around it,trying to sense if the structure has anything peculiar on its surface. Boomer however is now trying to see if his phone is receiving any signal. If he can make a text message,he can stop his brother from engaging in such foolishness.

"You do not need to dial for me to know what you boys are up to, for I know that Butch will not leave it alone after knowing about the Time Room, and thus he would find a way to get to the Time Room, and since he is too dumb to know how to get the information, he would ask either Brick or Boomer to go about this and based upon how everyone interacts with each other, I know that Boomer would be the one selected and only he will be selected for he is the one most prone to help while Brick would definitely do something about it. For that I have prepared the necessary precautions within my systems for me to know if there is any mention of the files regarding the Time Room being tempered and as to my unrivaled intellect, I did expect you to get into the system to find out the information about the time room which is confidential and not privy for anyone's eyes but my own, and not anyone else's but my own. Thus I have arrived on this island a few hours before you boys even arrived, and how do I know so is due to me knowing what you boys would think I not know and yet I know how it is done and thus I am here before you with the element of surprise achieved. Thus I have reinforced the structure so that even a meteor strike would not be able to put a dent on this structure, and also made several adjustments so that you can't use brute strength nor your smarts to get inside the structure Butch!"

Mojo Jojo's sudden ramblings caught the two Rowdyruff Boys by surprise and as they turned around, they saw the slightly overweight mutated chimpanzee mastermind looking at them with a very displeased look.

"Mojo!" The Rowdyruff Boys called out.

"Yes, it is I, Mojo Jojo!" Mojo Jojo answered unnecessarily.

"God damn it!" Butch cursed out loud, knowing that the damn chimpanzee had outmaneuvered him.

"God damn your actions indeed! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!"

"Seriously Mojo? Seriously...do you have to do an evil laugh right now?" Boomer questioned the motives of the simian mad scientist.

"I have not gotten the chance to use my evil laugh in ages, so I deserve my right to use such a laughter when it suits the situation Boomer! You will understand the little pleasures of life once you are about my age with nothing too diabolical to do!"

It was then that something within Butch snapped.

Boomer suddenly felt a shiver down his spine and he turned his attention towards Butch, and noticed that his brother is unnaturally quiet. Butch is never the quiet one, and when he is quiet hell is about to let loose. Butch's face is impassive and somehow too serene for its own good, and it was then that Boomer realized that his brother's rage had went above his normal levels and had transcend beyond even an existential level.

"Mojo..." Boomer can hear the subtle cracking of Butch's knuckles as he grips his hand in a clenched fist, and Boomer can also detect the bio-electrical impulses coming from the green-eyed teenager bursting from within his synapses.

"Seriously you boys really need to enjoy the little things in life..."

"Mojo." Butch's fist are now having a glowing ring around them, and this is a sign that Butch had activated his powers. The dry leaves and loose dirt around the teenager soon started to blow away from Butch in an outward manner. As Boomer watched the ground around Butch is slowly being blown towards their direction. The air around Boomer is slowly becoming hotter than it was before and it was then that Boomer realized what is about to happen.

"I did not make you boys to be such serious figures and all that..."

"MOJO." Boomer said sternly and loudly in order to interrupt the monkey from his own ramblings.

It was then that Mojo Jojo also noticed the sudden silence from the dark-haired teenager. Mojo Jojo and Boomer also realized that the sound of the fauna around them is utterly silent. The scene is set for a particularly violent outburst of brutality rarely seen by Boomer, let alone Mojo Jojo. Butch's fists are now enveloped by a ring of energy, and Boomer knew that it is time to get away. Boomer grabbed the simian and flew away from the island in a flash of cobalt blue lightning. It was then that Butch slammed his fist towards the domed structure, causing a great gust of wind and dust to blow from the island, causing Mojo Jojo and Boomer to cover their eyes.

"That fool! He would not be able to penetrate the Time Room!" Mojo Jojo exclaimed but Boomer is not paying any attention towards the simian in his arms. Boomer saw Butch looking at the structure and suddenly blasted off the island in a streak of forest green light. Boomer wanted to chase after his brother, but he knew that he need to leave his brother alone. Boomer looked at Mojo Jojo with disapproving eyes, and the simian noticed the look that Boomer is giving him.

"What!?" Mojo Jojo exclaimed.

"Seriously Mojo, you just don't know when to shut up don't you?"

* * *

[Surface of the Moon, Time unknown]

Butch is now sitting on the surface of the moon while looking at the pristine blue orb that is Earth, recalling the issue of his frustration and how he ended up on the surface of the moon. Honestly he wished that there were some aliens invading earth in order for him to beat the crap out of them.

 _Frustrating isn't it?_

A voice suddenly rings within Butch's head and that immediately catches his attention. Butch stands up and look around, knowing well that it is quite impossible for any other being to speak to him on the surface of the moon. Worst of all, he recognized the voice very well. He tried calling out, but realized that in the vacuum of space his voice is not coming out. A dark reddish-pink fog seeps from the surface of the moon and slowly ascends until finally a clawed arm cuts through the fog and two devilish emerald eyes glowed with excitement at the sight before it.

 _Hello there Butch, it's been a while! How's everything?_

Butch wondered how on earth did Him found him, but then he heard a shush from within his mind. The tall and lanky transvestite demon takes its few steps towards the dark-haired boy and touches its pincer at butch's jaw. Butch wanted to hit the arm away, but somehow he is unable to move his arm. He then realized that he is unable to move any extremities, and Butch could only look at the demon. Butch is alone and now he felt a tingling sense of uneasiness within his bodily fiber.

 _I can sense your worldly frustrations and desires, you know. I felt Brick's emotions a while back, but somehow it was not long enough for me to track it. But you? You are like a glowing beacon and here we are, on the surface of the moon._

Him caresses the jaw of the Rowdyruff Boy with its claw, and Butch is now wondering what on earth the demon wants with him. The demon laughed, and the echoing high-pitched cacophonous laughter within Butch's head is unnaturally unpleasant. The demon looked at the jadeite eyes of the Rowdyruff with its own glowing emerald eyes and smiled wickedly. Butch could not help but to speak out his thoughts despite knowing that the vacuums of space would not let him voice out his thoughts.

"What do you want Him?" Butch immediately was surprised that he was able to speak in the vacuum's of space and stepped back from the demon while covering his mouth. Him smiled at Butch, clearly amused by this situation. Suddenly Butch finds himself in a room with a table and two chairs and he looked around in disbelief. The entire room is crimson red, and the same hue colors the chair and table. Him pulls the chair and takes a seat and beckons the teenager to also take a seat. Seeing that Butch is not taking up on Him's offer, the demon shrugs and makes itself comfortable.

" _Suit yourself._ "

"Where the hell are we?" Butch decided to take a seat while he continued on looking around to see how he can escape this particular room of sorts. Him chuckled before answering the onyx-haired teenager.

" _A little room in a place I would like to call home._ " Butch's eyes are now wide open and Him loves the expression on Butch's face.

"You mean I'm in..." Before Butch could finish his sentence, Him cuts Butch mid-sentence.

" _Anyway, pertaining to your previous question_ _...the time for you to help me had come."_

Butch utterly find the mannerism of the demon revolting and downright malicious. Butch prepared himself for a fight, but deep down he knew that this moment would come to pass. From the very beginning, their appearance in Townsville is only because the demon willed it. From the very beginning, the demon's machination is moving incessantly to a nefarious end. From the very beginning, the demon had bide his time. And now the first cog of how the Rowdyruff Boys came into the picture is now inserted into the byzantine clockwork of Him's plans. Butch immediately slams his hands on the table, and Him watches the young teenager with interest.

"After all you had done...what you did to Brick...After what you had done to Renée...you have the guts to ask me to help you..." Butch snarled at the effeminate demon, his eyes glowing with a green glow. The demon is unfazed and crossed its leg and folded its arm around its body. Seeing that the teenager would not agree to Him's own, Him would be pressed to do something that would force Butch's hand.

" _Yet...I know you will help me_."

"Dream on." Butch spits the word out with spite.

" _What if I told you there's a way to fix Renée."_ The words leave Him's lips like a summer's breeze, but it struck Butch's heart like a tropical typhoon. Butch's angered expression immediately turned to surprise and dread, and Him knew that moment is where it got the dark-haired teenager in its palms.

" _All I ask from you is to just remember the word 'Poseidon'."_ Him said, and Butch knew that something had already gone wrong once he heard the words, but he is clueless as to how it went wrong. However, Butch did the only thing he could given the situation; he punched Him right in the face with all his might. Him was immediately propelled from the chair and down on the ground. As Him looks up, the demon is already smiling.

" _Do you honestly think that punching me would get you out of here?_ " Him's eyes glowed with glee, and Butch realized that he is in big trouble. His arm had moved instinctively and Butch did not mean to do that to the lord of the underworld, and now he realized that he needs something good to give him a shot to get out from the room. Immediately he materialized several of his reflectors and fired them towards the demon, causing the energy panels to explode violently. Butch immediately felt the vice-like grip of Him's pincer around his head and Butch was slammed towards the wall. Butch punches the hand of the effeminate demon with all his might but he realized that the impenetrable arm of the demon is going to be the death of him.

"Let go of me..."

" _MAKE ME._ " Him's voice is now an utterly menacing guttural growl, and Butch knew that he is trapped for good. Suddenly Butch's head is bombarded with an extreme sensation of pain as the grip of the vice-like pincers tighten itself around Butch's head. Butch can sense the flow of blood running down his temples and he realized that the demon is going to pop his head open if he did nothing. Butch's mind is so preoccupied with this likelihood of death that he failed to realized that his body is now glowing a shade of green, which is not lost on Him. Suddenly Him can hear a cracking sound from its pincers and Him lets go of Butch's head immediately. Butch is now down on his knees, disoriented but very much alive. Him looked at its pincers and noticed several hairline fractures, and Him smiled.

Butch realized that his body is now glowing and he wondered what on earth is happening to his body, but this exact phenomena is the thing that allowed Butch to escape the clutches of the demon. However Butch still needs to figure out how to escape the confines of this extra-dimensional room. The only thing that Butch could do is desperately figuring out what is going on with his body and also to do what he does best; punching the crap out of something.

Butch launches a punch with his arm being enveloped by the mysterious energy field around his body to the same cheek where he punched Him earlier. Butch realized that the demon is smiling at him as if he had made the demon a big favor. Butch is immediately hit in the head by the hammer-like blow of Him's claw to his head. Butch crashes on the ground in a spinning motion, and Butch can feel the blow amplifying within him. Him's blows are particularly devastating as Butch is now reeling from the concussion to his head, and he struggle to get his bearings. A sudden blow to his stomach further disorient the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy followed by several stomps by the demon's stiletto high heels. One of the heels digs into Butch's hand, and Butch screamed in pain.

" _Now, do I really have to do all of this just to get your cooperation?_ " Him's voice is a bestial growl as he lifts the heel out from Butch's hand and turn him around to face Him. Butch realizes that his left hand could not form a fist, and he needs something to get Him off. He tried to form his usual Reflectors, but the pain and disorientation interferes with his focus. Butch tries to move his fingers but only his thumb and middle finger are able to make contact with each other. Butch immediately focus his Reflector to his finger and flicks it at Him. To both Him and Butch's surprise, the Reflector launched from his fingertips is propelled with such force that the impact detonated with an uncharacteristically explosion that engulfed the entire room. The sudden explosion caused Butch to close his eyes.

However once Butch opens his eyes, he realizes that he is no longer in the red room.

The azure blue skies above is littered with fluffy white clouds and several seagulls flew above him, and Butch gets up to find himself in a particularly familiar location. Butch could not believe it as he saw the research installation of Mojo Jojo surrounding the caldera. He is at the exact area where they first revealed themselves to Mojo Jojo. Butch hoped that he is just sleeping from a hard day's training where his mind registered the pain from his hand. As he bring his hand closer to his sight, he sees the wound of Him's heel on his hand. He touches his forehead and he finds the blood clots of his wounds around his temple.

Butch looked at his arms once more and noticed that the green glow that envelops his body is slowly fading away. Butch is now utterly shocked that the encounter with Him is real, and he had escaped the demon's clutches. But immediately another darker reason crept into the mind of the dark-haired teenager and it is not an answer that Butch likes.

"No...Him let me go." Butch voiced out, knowing that he had escaped only because the demon wants him to escape.

Butch makes his way back to Mojo Jojo's installation, knowing well that he needs to recuperate somehow.

* * *

Brick had just returned from his training in the Danger room, and he noticed that only Boomer is in the living room of the residential quarters. This is a surprise for Brick, for usually Butch would be lazing around if he isn't fighting with Boomer or himself or just punching things around.

"Where's Butch?" Brick asked Boomer, but Boomer replied with a shrug.

Brick noticed that Boomer is playing with a mobile game on his phone and seeing that his blonde brother is utterly clueless about where his other brother went, Brick decided to just go towards the refrigerator and take the apple juice out. Suddenly Butch entered into the residence quarters, slamming the doors as he walked in. Brick and Boomer turned their attention towards their brother, and both of them knew that their brother is clearly in a very bad mood. Despite this situation, Brick knew that he needs to be the responsible one and he approached his brother. Brick noticed that Butch's head had some blood clots around his temples and he had an injured hand. That alone raised Brick's suspicion.

"Where have you been Butch?" Brick asked, clearly hoping that his brother did not get himself into trouble just to vent out his frustrations. Butch walked past his brother, pushing past his red-haired brother. Brick turned around and grabbed Butch's shoulder, but Butch glared at his brother with eyes that rivaled even his own death glares and Brick released his grip of his brother's shoulder.

"Get off my case Brick."

"Butch you little..."

"About time you're back. Dinner's gonna be up in a few minutes." Boomer informed his brother, and at the same time diffusing the tension between his two brothers but the sapphire-eyed teenager noticed that his dark-haired brother's expression is utterly darker than the dark side of the moon. Butch walked past his brothers and entered into his room, leaving the other two Rowdyruff Boys puzzled.

"What the hell is his problem?" Brick asked.

"Hell if I know. He'll join us if he is hungry." Boomer shrugged and continued on playing with his mobile game.

As Butch closes the door of his room, he leans is back on the door and slides down until he is sitting down on the ground. Butch closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, not believing the situation that the Rowdyruff Boys are being hurled into, and it seems that they are hurled into Him's grand machinations. Butch is now the first among his brothers to be asked by Him, and his brothers will soon even more disturbing that anything else is the word that Him asked him to remember. What does it all mean? How will it fit into his plans? Why Butch?

Why Poseidon?

* * *

[Fennec's Residence, Downtown Townsville:9.30pm]

Fennec just got out from the showers and dressed herself in just a t-shirt and panties when she heard a doorbell ringing on her door. Based on the way the doorbell was pressed, her guess is perhaps the most annoying guest that she could expect given the situation. The brunette sighed before she ties the towel around her torso to cover her body before she walks out towards the door. With her sky blue eyes, she recognized her guest and she immediately open the door. Him's right cheek is swelling and bruised, but the demon is in a particularly good mood and is smiling nefariously. The demon barged in and Fennec closed the door behind Him before trailing Him. Him finally takes a seat on her sofa and rubbing its cheek to soothe it. A few moments later, Fennec came back with a bag of ice and passes it to Him.

"Him...what are you doing here at this ungodly hour? And what is with the bruise?" Fennec wants answers, and she want it now. Him takes the ice bag from her hands and puts it on the swelling cheek.

" _Everything is according to plan, Poseidon is in place._ "

"So, you've met Butch." Fennec takes a seat beside the demon, her expression solemn.

" _Thanks to your little_ Petit Verde _, I know of their development. His mind is so easy to read. Butch may be the late one, but I had just given him something in return to expedite his development. He is never the one to think, he is always the one to act. I gave him just that little push and that ought to do it. He'll need to figure out the rest by himself._ " Him chuckled as it rested the ice bag on his wound and savoring the coolness of the ice on the wounded cheek.

"So it seems." Fennec said as she points at Him's swollen cheek.

" _When the girls and boys are younger, I was much weaker and man do the Powerpuff Girls gave me a good beating and I got injuries all the time. But ever since the world had turned into a much darker and corrupt place, I find myself becoming more invulnerable. This is a good feeling that I need to experience again to remind myself that everything can and will turn against you if you are not careful, even if you intentionally make it happen._ " Him reflected as it takes the television remote and turned on the television. Fennec sighed as she saw the demon clicking on her Netflix account and clicked on the show 'House of Cards'.

"You want me to make some popcorn?" Fennec sighed once more, knowing that the demon will most likely binge-watch all the episodes in one sitting.

" _Yes please. This is something I need to reward myself with._ " Him answered coyly.


	36. Chapter 36: Unexpected Results

Chapter 36: Unexpected Results

[Utonium Residence, Townsville, 12.00am]

"What am I missing here?"

Professor Utonium is frustrated as he is not getting the results that he wanted. He had made his home into a large hadron collider occupying all the possible space in his home,with the exception of the Powerpuff Girls' room. His experiments to make a new element has so far ended in failure due to many different factors, from not getting the composition right to nearly creating a black hole that would engulf the world. But this time, this time he hope that his efforts to make the new element that will be the basis of his new technology. Nonetheless he is struggling to find the particular thing that he had overlooked while preparing for his four thousand and fifty-third attempt. The home computing system displayed a few panels in front of Professor Utonium as he puts the pipe wrench on the reflecting surface for him to reflect the beam into a rig with several reflecting surfaces surrounding a white semi-solid matter suspended in the center of the hadron collider. Professor Utonium hoped that with this, he could create a previously theoretical method of forming a new element into reality using the fusion of the chemicals within the semi-solid matter along with the fusion and fission reactions of matter and antimatter. In order to monitor the process better,the section is visible for the professor to see.

"Initializing prismatic accelerator." The home computing system announced. The sirens are soon blaring within the laboratory, and soon enough the loud humming sound of a particle beam being formed within the hadron collider. The beam immediately hit the reflecting surface and with all his might,Professor Utonium pulled on the pipe wrench as hard as he could to divert the beam in exactly the right angle to create the reaction.

"Approaching maximum power sir."The home computing system warned as the whole hadron collider is now shaking violently. The professor struggles to move the beam to its proper location, for the force of the beam and also the tightness and weight of the reflecting unit is a challenge for Professor Utonium to divert with his strength. The beam was slowly aimed towards the first reflecting surface and once it hits it, the beam immediately scattered throughout the reflecting surface structure within the hadron collider and soon the beams bounced to such an extent that the beam had solidly covered the entire white substance at every angle. The white material soon started to glow brightly and Professor Utonium watched at the semi-solid object slowly changed color.

Suddenly, Professor Utonium's arm goes into a spasm, forcing an involuntary jerk to such an extent that he accidentally let go of his pipe wrench,causing it to fall on his the pain registered in his brain, he started hopping around in pain but soon stepped on one of his shoelace. He tripped and he accidentally fall on one of the chemical and somehow managed to launch one chemical upwards to the sky. He saw the label amd immediately voiced out what he read.

"Chemical X!" As the professor registered what chemical is in the air, he immediately tried to get up and grab the vial but instead he tripped on his shoelace again and his elbow crushed the glass panel that allow him to see the rig within the hadron collider. The chemical entered into the gap and immediately poured into the semi-solid material while synthesizing and suddenly the whole laboratory is covered in a blinding white professor was blown backwards towards his racks and he broke into one of the racks,causing several books to fall down on his head and hitting him unconscious.

As he woke up,he noticed that his labpatory is now in a big mess and his eyes noticed three floating white cubes above the hadron collider. As he walked up towards he cube, he realized that something is amiss about these objects. He then realized that he did not design them to float to begin with. The familiar British male voice of his home computing system greeted Professor Utonium just as he was three paces away from the three objects.

"Congratulations sir,you have made a new element. However... " Professor Utonium noticed the home computing system's hesitation, and that raised another flag within his mind about the unusual object. Indeed, Professor Utonium's mind is already racing to connect the dots between the forging of a new element and also the accidental dose of Chemical X into the concoction. And whenever there is Chemical X, there is always trouble. The professor is expecting the worse.

"However?" Professor Utonium asked his system once he more. However, something else replied him instead.

"About time you are awake,man of science." A disemboweled polished regal middle-aged man's voice answered the professor, causing Professor Utonium to look around to see where the voice is coming from.

"Um...hello? We are right here?" Another much younger man's voice with aristocratic bearings called the professor. Realizing where the voice is coming from, Professor Utonium turned towards the three floating objects and he stared at them flabbergasted. The cube in the center started to speak once more, and Professor Utonium fell down on his knee. Those elements, those cubes...they are talking to him.

"I must say my brothers, this man is very unbecoming. Not only did he not face us, but he did not even know what to make of us." The third man's voice, the oldest among the three voices coming out from the cube floating above his right informed the other cube. Very quickly, Professor recognize the owners of the voices. The first cube that answered him is the one in the center, while the second voice belongs to the cube on the left. As they started chattering away, Professor Utonium's expression is that of excited disbelief.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-" Professor Utonium started stuttering, as he could not contain his excited disbelief.

"Sir, apparently you had outdid yourself this time. You had created the world's first sentient element." J.E.E.V.E.S finally answered the professor, and the professor is now putting both his hand in front of him to support himself from falling down on the ground face first. He could not believe his eyes, and the moments from all those years ago when he first created the Powerpuff Girls flowed back into his being.

"This...is...so...cool." Professor Utonium mutters his words out, and the cubes realized that he is now sound of mind once more. However the cubes are greeted by Professor Utonium with eyes glowing with excitement.

"Hey, it is rather rude to stare you know?" The 'young' cube at his right is apparently annoyed that the professor is staring at it.

"I am sorry gentlemen, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Professor Utonium, and I am your creator. What is your names?"

"Well now, you made us...so shouldn't you also name us?" The middle-aged baritone voice of the cube in the center answered. Professor Utonium's mind recalled that this is the exact same line as what Blossom asked him when he first met the Powerpuff Girls. But this time, he is not really sure how to name them as they are literally cubes of a new elemental alloy he had just created. He is utterly clueless about their nature, let alone what would happen if he even touched them.

"Sir, I will begin running diagnostics just to make sure that you can touch them to begin with." J.E.E.V.E.S commented, and immediately a wall of holographic screens appeared between the cubes and the professor. Fortunately for Professor Utonium, the first results are already in and the three cubes are at least not radioactive or else he would be suffering a very painful death.

"That's rude! You do not touch people without their permission!" The young voice protested, clearly displeased of the way they are treated or was about to be treated.

"Calm down, brother. But my brother cube is right; It is rather it is rather odd that you do not know what our properties are?" The cube with the voice of an old man demand an answer from the professor. However the professor looked at the cube with a deadpan expression and answered the cube in the best and most simplest way possible.

"Well for one, you aren't suppose to talk and hover." Professor Utonium retorted. The cubes are silent for a moment and somehow the professor felt as if the cubes are looking at each other.

"That's a sound point brothers. He's right." The old cube stated with a hint of mild acknowledgement of Professor Utonium's logic and the professor swore that he saw the cube shrugged.

"Sir, it is safe for you to touch the cubes. The cubes are not radioactive in any way, but I would suggest that I take the samples from them instead of you. If it is possible cubes, may I take a sample from each of you?" The home computing system informed the professor and also the cubes. Seeing that the cubes are not protesting, several drones moved towards the cubes and gently sliced off one part of the cube angles. Surprisingly the sample taking is relatively peaceful and soon enough, the drones hovered away towards another section of the lab to proceed with the testing.

"Anyway J.E.E.V.E.S, please proceed with the restoration of the home back to normal. Also please file the creation of these cubes into the grand archive system." Professor Utonium informed J.E.E.V.E.S, knowing that the process used to create the sentient cubes need to be kept for future references.

"Yes sir, everything will be as you wish. Perhaps you could visit Patterson Air Force Base." J.E.E.V.E.S suggested to the professor, who is visibly surprised by the location that the home computing system suggested.

"Patterson Air Force base? Why?"

"The Powerpuff Girls are currently living there. They are in the residence of a Major Charlie Nash Bradshaw of the US Air Force." Immediately Professor Utonium's father instinct was triggered.

"A MAN'S HOUSE?!" Professor Utonium's face is red with fury, but the home computing system continued on with its explanation.

"May I add that Major Bradshaw is living with his wife, a Miss Julia Bradshaw. Also based upon the database, Major Bradshaw is currently the third practitioner of the Bradshaw Jetstream Martial Arts style, and his combat style and PPG-03's energy projectile style are exactly identical. It appears that perhaps this is PPG-03's instructor. Also, may I add that Buttercup did inform you that the Powerpuff Girls will be visiting her martial arts instructor and living there for the ten days? The trip to the airbase would take you a day and a half to drive by car and wouldn't it be nice to pic the girls up and bring them home?" J.E.E.V.E.S informed the professor with a demeanor that can best be described as a butler reminding his absent-minded lord of his family's arrangements.

"Oh...Okay." Professor Utonium's red face of fury is turned into a red face of embarassment, before he laughed meekly.

"What about us?" The cube with the middle-aged man's voice asked. Professor Utonium felt the sensation of being stared upon by the three cubes and Professor Utonium. Usually he would leave them under the care of J.E.E.V.E.S, but for some reason Professor Utonium is worried that the results require his immediate attention. As if knowing what the professor is planning to do, the home computing system suggested an idea to the professor.

"Sir, perhaps you could bring the cubes along with you to Patterson Air Force Base? After all the testing of how they work with the girls would be a good testing ground as well. At the meantime I will travel with you as well to show the results of the testing in the lab." The professor ponders for a moment after hearing the suggesting, before he speaks his verdict.

"Alright cubes, let-!"

"I dislike being called a cube!" The cube with the young man's voice cutsthe professor, vocally annoyed being called a cube.

"Hm...you are right. Hm...based on your voices,it sounds like the cube in the center in middle-aged, the cube on the left is young and the cube on the right is old. You really remind me of the three biblical magi."

"Well let's see. Cube in the center,due to your royal-like bearings and the age of your voice,I will call you Balthazar."

"That is a strong and regal name worthy of my own. Henceforth I shall be known as Balthazar." The cube in the center acknowledges the name.

"As for the cube on the right, due to your rather hot-headed nature and the youthfulness of your voice,I will call you Caspar."

"That's sounds really good. That's fine by me." The cube on the left answered.

"Last but not least, due to your level-headedness and also age of your voice, I will call you Melchior."

"Melchior it shall be forever more. Still,Professor Utonium why are we created in the first place?" The cube on the right asked.

"Oh um...well how do I put this..." Professor Utonium tried to explain the best way he could without using the word destruction or reform.

"Stop dilly-dallying and just tell us!" Caspar shouted.

"Alright! You were created as elements to make the new defensive and offensive systems for my girls,the Powerpuff Girls."

"Powerpuff Girls? Hm...I am very interested to meet these fair maiden. What say you brothers?" The cube in the center said in a chivalrous manner.

"Sure,let's go and meet them!" Caspar answered excitedly.

"Well now, let's be on our way. Though to be fair, I must ask if we would have any entertainment while we are travelling to this PattersonAir Force Base. " Melchior said in a hushed but excited voice.

"Sir the intial test results are already in. Would you like to read them?" Professor Utonium is met with a display as as Professor Utonium read on the report, Professor Utonium realized that this is perhaps the weirdest ever thing he had created in the confines of his laboratory.

* * *

[Bradshaw Residence, Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. 12.30pm]

Ever since the incident in the two days ago in the forest, Blossom had been trying to control her ice breath to allow her body to internalize the ice powers within. As much as she does not want to hurt her sisters, she recognized the potential of the power as both an offensive and defensive system that would give her the edge in combat. So far she had found out that this particular implementation of her power once controlled and tempered is perhaps the most destructive form of her power for her temperature is so low that her body is in a state of absolute zero.

However with such great power comes great responsibility and control. This form will only allow her the smallest margin of error for the slightest miscalculation would be catastrophic and disastrous for her surroundings and also herself. Also as of this moment,her powers in this form would last only two minutes at most, and anytime she over exerted herself her body would crack. Lastly she needs to thaw her body in a precise manner less it breaks her body apart. Unfortunately this level of self-control means that she must always be in control of her own emotions. Due to these unforgiving traits, ruthless destructive powers and also her need to always control her emotions, Blossom had christened this power 'Ice Queen'.

"Be deliberate, never be reckless." Blossom is now hovering cross-legged just a few feet from the ground and being entirely almost a paler shade than her normal coloring. Blossom's appearance is now almost pastel-like in color.

"She's is gonna pass her two minute mark." Bubbles called out to Buttercup asshe juggled her _Blumenkranz_. Bubbles managed to reduce their size down to the size of oranges and she started to juggle them.

"Well leave her at that." Buttercup said as she just came out from the shower. She looked at both her sisters and sawthat they are both much more leaner and also toned than before they came over to Patterson Air Base.

"Girls? Someone is here to see you!" The voice of Julia Bradshaw is heard by all the sisters. Blossom opened her eyes slowly and she slowly turned back to her normal and brighter colors. As the girls came downthe stairs,they saw a familiar face and their faces lit up. A square-jawed man with black slick hair wearing a a white polo shirt and black pants looks up to them from the hallway of the entrance.

"Hello girls!"

"Professor!" The three girls called out and immediately rushed towards the man and jumping on him. The Utoniums hugged each other and a baritone voice soon break through their reunion. A blonde brush-haired man in a military uniform appeared behind them, and immediately the Powerpuff Girls got off Professor Utonium. Professor Utonium turned around and smiled.

"Greetings, I'm Professor Utonium. So you're the one that's housing my girls for the past two weeks? Thank you." The professor greeted the man with an extended arm,and soon enough he regreted the choice as the air force major grabbed his hand in a vice-like grip and shake his hand.

"Pleasure's all mine. Always good to see families the way, I'm Major Bradshaw,but you can call me Charlie." Major Bradshaw smiled as he tightens his grip. Professor Utonium's face turned pale but he tried to give the major his best polite smile.

"Yes...very nice to meet you." Professor Utonium answered and Major Bradshaw lets go of of his handshake with the professor.

"I would assume that this is your father girls?" Major Bradshaw asked and the Powerpufd Girls,and the three girls nodded excitedly. A woman immediately comes up to them and smiled at them before leading them towards the living room. As the Utoniums take a seat, the womoan returned with a jug of iced lemon tea and started to pour everyone a glass of the beverage. Major Bradshaw takes a few seats from the dining room and place them facing towards the living room table.

"That's my wife Julia. She'll join us shortly once she's done with some matters."

"Thank you for your hospitality Major." Professor Utonium expresses his gratitude.

"Professor how'd you get to the base?" Bubbles asked,surprised that they let Professor Utonium into the base.

"To be fair, I do have high-level clearance for all facilities in the U.S so they can't stop me even if they try. Not even the U.S president can stop me. It does help that I can identify myself as the creator of my three little girls." Professor Utonium takes out his wallet and reveals a black pass with a symbol of a bald eagle on a chemical vial at the center of a globe.

"Is that a...'Special'?" Major Bradshaw recognized the symbol on the pass and Professor Utonium chuckled.

"Yes, it is. It's the 'Special'." Professor Utonium winked and Major Bradshaw nods.

"Never though I would see someone having that in my lifetime." Major Bradshaw said in awe. The Powerpuff Girls are visibly confused over the significance of the pass, but there are more urgent things to ask the professor. Blossom decided that she would be the one who will pop the question for Professor Utonium.

"What brings you here today Professor? I thought you were still making that special element or something." Blossom asked her parental figure.

"Well for one I wanted to see my girls and also to take you girls back after your ten-day stay here. More importantly,I'm here precisely because of the element. I would like to introduce you to 'them'." Professor Utonium takes out a briefcase and put it on the living room table.

"Them?" The Powerpuff Girls said in unison.

As Professor Utonium opens the briefcase,three cubes immedimmediately floated ftom the vox and hover in mid-air. Major Bradshaw and Julia are now looking at this particular white cubes with a great amount of interest,while the Powerpuff Girls looked at the cubes for a short moment before they turn their attention to the professor.

"Okay...those are three cubes. That's cute." Buttercup said in a mocking voice.

"Who are you calling cute, sugar!" The cube closest to Buttercup called out in anger,slighted by Buttercup's response. Silence fell before everyone but the professor else started screaming.

"Holy hell that box just talk!" Buttercup screamed out in surprise, not expecting the object to talk.

"What the hell?! Professor!" Blossom cried out,asking for the professor for confirmation as to the nature of the object. Blossom's mind is already racing to see what she can do to destroy the cubes if they decided to harm them.

"Eeeeekkk!" Bubbles grabbed on the arm of the professor while screaming.

"Holy shit!" The Bradshaw screamed at the same time,and surprisingly it is the major that had the highest-pitched screaming voice among all of them. The major's wife immediately entered into the living room wondering what is going on.

"Caspar, you are scaring them." The cube floating closest to Blossom speaks in an elderly voice. However contrary to the cube's intention,the cube with the elderly voice only served to make the screams of the other people more incoherent. Julia joined in the screaming as well, and the situation had turned into a riot of noises and chaos. Only Professor Utonium is unfazed by the situation and he did nothing to calm them down. Trying to cut through the panic is tantamount to talking to a brick wall with his lack of charisma. However the professor need not worry about how to do so.

"SILENCE!" The cube in the center shouted much louder than the screaming,silencing the screaming once and for all. It took a few minutes before Blossom opened her mouth.

"You made talking sentient cubes." Blossom said in a stunned manner.

"Anyway, it is perhaps time to introduce yourselves." The professor informed the cubes.

"I am Balthazar. I am truly sorry for the shouting just now, but it must be done to stop the cacophonous voices." The cube in the center introduced itself with a middle-aged voice speaking in a regal manner.

"I'm Caspar, nice to meet ya." The cube that first started speaking introduced itself, its youthful voice a stark contrast with the first cube.

"I am Melchior, the last member of this group. How do you do?" The last cube introduced itself,its much aged voice and polite mannerism sets it out from its fellow cube.

"Okay...what are they exactly?" It is now Buttercup's turn to ask the Professor a question.

"These element that I had created is the world's first sentient element and it has a psycho-active structure that provide not only the structure and armour for the things built of it, but also the power distribution and communications systems the way a wire or fiber optic cable carries electricity or photons. The plasticity of the element allow for a l material that is highly resilient to damage that possesses the extraordinary ability to regenerate almost all damage instantaneously, "flowing" back together. In addition, due to its self-intelligence it is able to learn and adapt to its surroundings and environments and continuously repair and improve itself."

"Okay...so you're saying that it can't be forged by normal means since it will just return back to its original state. How are you going about forging it?" Blossom asked.

"Well this is the next part I need to get into. We _can't_ forge it. But you need to befriend it to 'forge' it. From there it will adapt to all your present and future powers based on your genetic materials. That's the best way I can put it." Professor Utonium explained but noticed that his explanation is not the best explanation.

"I heard three very fine and fair ladies in this room and I must say, they are truly ripe of age for child-bearing." Melchior said, causing the every human being to have a chill down their spines.

"Professor, why are your inventions slowly turning weirder and weider..." Bubbles said out loud, her face pale as she covered her body as she looked at the cubes. Blossom and Buttercup also instinctively covered their bodies as if the cube had just seen them naked.

"So how do we know if they even react to us?" Buttercup asked ,not daring to take her eyes off the cubes.

"Well,they will definitely react to you. After all, you all have Chemical X in your composition." The Powerpuff Girls immediately looked at the professor with a glare that said 'Is this another accident with Chemical X?' look.

"I sense a fair maiden with the power of winter in this room. What is your name?" The cube known as Balthazar asked, surprising everyone in the room.

"Professor, did you tell them about our powers?" Blossom whispered to the professor, feeling very insecure at the fact that somehow this eyeless cubes are able to see her and also found her powers out. The other Powerpuff Girls are also looking at the professor for an explanation.

"Girls, I didn't tell them anything. I didn't even know they have eyes let alone a way to detect your talents." Professor Utonium said, his expression of surprise is just as genuine as those shown by Blossom. Realizing that Professor Utonium have no reason to lie to them about the cubes, Blossom faces the cube and answered it.

"Blossom."

"Such a beautiful name for a maiden with such a cold and harsh gift. What about your name, the husky-voiced maiden with the power of storms? I am sorry if my brother Caspar scare you after your comment." The middle cube speak once more.

"Buttercup's the name." The raven-haired girl answered, wondering how is the cube deducing their powers.

"A flower with a venomous touch. A strong name indeed. Last but not least, the adorably-voiced maiden with the adorable voice with the with the power of lightning and thunder. What will be your name?"

"B-Bubbles." The blonde Powerpuff girl answered, clearly not comfortable with the fact that the cubes are able to read them like a book.

"This feels like an acid trip." Major Bradshaw could not help but to voice out the absurdity of the situation happening in his home as floating, talking sentient cubes had just introduced themselves to everyone in the living room. Julia slaps his arm and looked at her husband with disapproving eyes,knowing that this awkward situation should not go down in an even more awkward direction.

"So...Professor...How do we um...know what to do with the...um...cubes...to...um...see what happen...I think?" Bubbles asked the professor, hesitating a lot as she delivered her question. Professor Utonium looks at Buttercup with a very nervous smile, and gulps down his nervousness. Blossom and Bubbles are now looking at each other, visibly uncomfortable by this situation.

"You really have no idea how it reacts with us to see how it reacts with us?" Buttercup is clearly not pleased by the professor's idea of testing out his object without knowing what would happen to them. The Professor takes the glass of ice lemon tea and takes a sip out of it, knowing that the window to testing out the interaction is closing. He know that his girls are not stupid, and thus they would not take too kindly to being test subjects. Also he could not bear to tell the girls that he can only make these things once, and only once. Looks like he would need to go for extremely drastic actions to let them interact with the cubes. That is why he never even touch the cubes even once, as he have no clue how it would react to living matter.

"Well, this is getting awkward." Caspar voiced his annoyance,

"Hush brother, it is only reasonable that they worry. The reaction between our interactions are an unknown factor." Melchior advised Caspar. It was then than Blossom rise from the sofa and face the cubes. She looked at all the white, marble-like cubes and frown. The cubes are clearly unable to see them at all, but are able to speak, hear and make sense of their surroundings and themselves. Blossom wondered if this action she was about to take a stupid one.

"Alright, cubes. What do you see in me?" Blossom asked the cubes, knowing that this is a really abstract question to ask the cubes. One of the cubes asked Blossom in return.

"What exactly do you want us to see in you?" Melchior asked, wanting to understand the crux of the matter behind the Powerpuff Girl's question. Blossom breathed in deeply and exhaled before she answered the cubes.

"I'm not asking in terms of your sense. I am asking you of what you think about me. So let me ask you once more; what do you see in me?" Blossom asked the question, and the cubes are quiet for a while. The silence is finally broken by the center cube called Balthazar, and the middle-aged chivalrous voice answered the Powerpuff Girl.

"My fair maiden, I sense fear. I sense that this fear had bred into anger, which fueled your hate. This is why you are suffering right now for you do not know how to face the fear within you." Balthazar answered, making Blossom flinched involuntarily for a moment as it pierced into the deepest part of her insecurities. However this is the exact answer she needs to hear.

"Would you give me courage to face this fear then, Balthazar?" Blossom asked, clenching her fist.

"Courage is not given. It is earned. I will help you cultivate that courage and show you the light." Balthazar answered in a calm manner but filled with conviction to his cause. Blossom is quiet, but she knew that the question within her heart is answered by the sincerity of the cube. Without even a hint of hesitation, Blossom grabs the cube and suddenly the cube shine with a light so bright that it engulfed the whole living room. As the light begins to subside, the glowing cube is no longer existent. Instead a silver necklace with an amarathine pink sun caged inside a pendant appeared around her neck.

"Standby mode complete." The middle-aged man's voice resonated in the air, and the crystal in the necklace glowed for a moment.

"Standby mode?" Professor Utonium could not help but to voice out his perplexity, before a holographic screen appear before Professor Utonium. The British-voice of J.E.E.V.E.S immediately answered the professor.

"Sir, it appears that the element had synchronized with PPG-01, and had materialized into a shape acknowledging the synchronicity between the wearer and the element."

"But what does it do?" Bubbles asked as she finally muster the courage to pick up Blossom's new necklace. Fortunately, the necklace did not shine in such a blinding light when bubbles touch it.

"Heck if I know. Why don't we ask the necklace?" Buttercup points at the necklace.

"Balthazar, are you alright?" Caspar the cude asked.

"I am alright my dear brothers. I had changed into a higher existence...and might I say, I look downright fabulous!" The sudden girlish-like crack of his voice at the end surprised everyone else.

"So...what are you supposed to be?" Blossom asked Balthazar.

"That is for you to find out." Balthazar answered, however before Blossom could even attempt anything, Major Bradshaw immediately rises up and voiced out his concerns towards the Utoniums and the cubes.

"Hold on a second! Before you do anything, please step out of my home! I don't want my home to explode!"

* * *

A few minutes later, The Utoniums, the Bradshaws and the remaining two cubes are outside the Bradshaw home. Somehow with the help of two food tongs,the cubes are taken outside of the home and they now hover next to the others. For the safety of everyone,Blossom is now floating above them.

"Think of a trigger for you to activate me." Balthazar informed the copper-haired girl.

Blossom thought of the word 'transform' and suddenly she saw several pieces of something coming out from nowhere and enveloping her. A bright light shines once more and everyone shielded their eyes. As the light dissapears, everyone is now looking at Blossom with a sense of a shock and awe.

Her outfit is now replaced by what appeared to be a dress going down to her thighs with a black stripe across the middle. However instead of being made out of cloth, it consist of several fabric-like armor casing that envelops her body like a second skin. Indeed, the black appears more like a corset-like armor that protected her midsection while blending in seamlessly with her pink body-suit like sleeveless pink short skirt protecting her thigh, which in turn are encased in a white legging like armor. Her lower legs are encased in black boot-like structures that looked like it merged her feet and heels into an smooth angular pointed-peg like structure,similar to the pre-pubescent form of the girls' legs before they matured. Her arms are encased in form-fitting full-length pink glove gauntlets, while her shoulders are covered with white fabric -like armor. Completing the image is a clear helmet with a sharp ribbon-like structure protruding from behind her head, holding her long flowing copper hair.

"Buttercup! That armor look like our first ever outfit!" Bubbles squealed as she noticed how the new system pay homage to their first ever Powerpuff Girl dress.

"Blossom how does it feel?" Professor Utonium called out. Blossom does not look so well, and her face started to turn green. Professor Utonium is now fearing the worst, as perhaps the Chemical X composition of the Powerpuff Girl is reacting with the cubes in an unexpected way.

Blossom is feeling very uncomfortable with the sudden influx of sensory overload that are much more than her superhuman senses could even take. Her eyes are now able to take in all visual images at once, while her hearing is able to hear all the spectrum of hearing layered like a sandwich. Her senses are picking up the the most minute of air pressures and sensations and her sense of taste could even taste mysterious sensations that she never know existed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Too...much...sensation."

"What do you mean too much stimulation?" Professor Utonium asked.

"I'm feeling things...I never knew...existed." Blossom's cheek starts to puff and Buttercup and Bubbles know that it will not be in for long, and they soon dart away from under Blossom.

"Sorry Profess-HURGH!" Blossom's vomit shot out from her mouth and even Major Bradshaw had to duck for cover, pulling his wife away. Fortunately for Professor Utonium managed to do an amazing backflip to avoid rain of Blossom's vomit before landing on his feet. However he soon felt the pain from his legs..

"This...needs...more...research." Professor Utonium winced as he mutter the words.

"Sorry Professsor!" Blossom apologized for her actions. However Professor UtoniumUtonium's concern is elsewhere.

"Blossom, can you come down?" Professor Utonium asked the rose-colored eyed girl to come down. She slowly hovered down until her feet touched the ground.

"Hm, very interesting." Professor Utonium noticed that the outfit is glowing faintly with pale pink light pulsing round the armor and encompassing the whole suit like arteries pumping blood around the body. The armor is surprisingly form-fitting and provide superior protection to even his previous suit of armor. As Blossom moved her body around Professor Utonium noticed that Blossom is instinctively more comfortable with this suit than her O.U.T.F.I.T for it appears to be much lighter and also more comfortable. Bubbles and Buttercup appear right beside the professor as they look at their sister.

"So...Buttercup...do you think we should even touch those cubes?" Bubbles looked at her sister and asked.

"Ur..." Buttercup answered with a verbal pause Buttercup is hesitant about touching the cubes, seeing their sister reacting in such a manner is uncomfortable to say the least. However after her first bout of vomiting, it seems that their sister is back to her normal self. Another concern is that she finds the talking cubes a veryy uncomfortable thing.

"Balthazar, are you there?"

"Yes, it appears that I am still intact." The middle-aged man's voice answered. Professor Utonium looks with great interest at the current interaction with the suit.

"Professor?" Blossom asked,unsure of what Professor Utoniun is thinking as he looked at her.

"Buttercup...punch your sister as hard as possible in the gut." Blossom's and Buttercup's eyes immediately opened wide. Buttercup immediately lets out a wicked smile, and Blossom realized that Buttercup will punch her with all her might.

"Wai-" Blossom wanted to protest, but the sudden gust of wind emanating from Buttercup and Blossom immediately felt the blow of Buttercup's straight punch towards Blossom's solar plexus. Blossom's body bend over, confirming that the hit connected. However Blossom's and Buttercup's expression are that of surprise, and Bubbles also noticed that something is very peculiar with the body blow.

"I don't... feel my hit. You should be flying right about now..."

"I'm not flying in the air...but man that hurts..." Blossom looked down upon her solar plexus and she was surprised by the sight of a faint pink-like concentric octagonal lines between her body and Buttercup's punch. Buttercup pulled her punch back and the field dissipates.

"Interesting! A force field that absorbs solid impacts by... _eighty per cent_!? We definitely need more testing!" Professor Utonium's eyes lit up as the readings appear before him. Buttercup looks at her fist and she walks away from Blossom and Professor Utonium, who are now talking to each other about further testing. Bubbles noticed that Buttercup's frown is now deeper than before and she wanted to console her sister. It was then than Buttercup walks up to the cubes and look at them.

"Is there any difference between all you cubes?"

"Not that I am aware off. Right Caspar?" Melchior asked his fellow cube.

"Maybe there would be a variance between the host body synchronizing with us, but otherwise we are alike I believe." Caspar answered.

"Answer me this; What is worth protecting?" Buttercup's questionis a peculiar one for the cubes, but the elder of the cubes answered Buttercup.

"The smile of those that know that there is a tomorrow for them."

Buttercup immediately grabbed the cube that answered her and another flash of light engulfed both Buttercup and Melchior causing everyone to shield their eyes. As the light dissipates,Buttercup's hands have two silver crescent bangle with a small cage surrounding a lime emerald crescent at the heart of the bangle surrounding her wrist.

"Standy mode complete." The voice of Melchior confirmed that the process is completed. Buttercup hand hold the bangles and feel the sensation of her new accessory on her.

"I guess you and I are left. This is a beginning of a new friendship isn't it Caspar?" Bubbles said as she walk up to the last of the cubes and smiled at the cube, uncertain if the cube even knows if she is smiling.

"Well, guess so Bubbles. Let's do this." Bubbles takes the cube in her arms and another white flash blasted through before the light dissipated to reveal two silver earings with a caged five-pointed aquamarine star dangling down from Bubble's earlobes. It was then that Professor Utonium made a mental note to make sure that he wear at least some protective eye gear or at least sunglasses when he is testing out any future testing. He is half-blind right about now, and he hope that this is a temporary effect to his eyes.

"Standby mode complete." Caspar's voice ascertained the completion of the synchronization process between the cube and Bubbles.

"Well?" Major Bradshaw asked Bubbles and Buttercup, and both the girls know what he is asking about. Bubbles and Buttercup smiled at each other. Both of them are soon enveloped in a bright light and as the light subsides the others are now able to see that the two girls are now wearing a similar short-skirt dress like those of upon closer inspection the suits are quite distinct from each other. For one, the first apparent difference is that of color. Instead of the pink present in Blossom's outfit, Buttercup's outfit replaces the color with lime green while Bubbles' outfit replaces the pink with light blue.

"Girls?" Blossom said in awe as she looked at them.

Buttercup's outfit is a much more angular version of Blossom's outfit without the a bow-like attachment behind her head, with the presence of several angular vents and triangular thrusters around her forearms, back ,legs and skirt. Buttercup's forearm are clad in a heavily armored gauntlet with spikes at the wrist, forearm guard and also the knuckles. Spikes are also present around her ankles, knees and sabatons, giving the suit a much more edgier and menacing look.

"Pretty edgy." Professor Utonium noticed the aggressiveness of Buttercup's suit. Buttercup immediately manifested her Bomber arts and to her surprise, the ignition of the flames are more efficient and the rotation of the winds and the flames are more intense.

"Very nice." Buttercup said with a smile on her face. She turned to Bubbles and she saw her blonde sister looking at her outfit with glee. In contrast to her sisters' outfit, Bubbles' outlook appears to be much more smoother and rounder of Blossom's outfit but with two teardrop-shaped attachments to the side of her head instead of the Bubbles' back is a floating white ring disc with several nodes in them. Bubbles materializes her energy orbs behind her and to her surprise, she is forming even more orbs than before.

"Wow! We need to take a picture of us in this suits!" Bubbles squealed.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at each other before they smiled, knowing that this moment is worth the three girls try to take a selfie, Professor Utonium smiled, knowing that the Magi will give his girls the edge they need, and also the city of Townsville and the world a fighting chance against the evils that is now enveloping the world.


	37. Chapter 37: Home Is Where The Heart Is

Chapter 37: Home Is Where The Heart Is

Brick, Butch and Boomer are now looking towards the direction of the caldera from the helipad overlooking the volcanic caldera. Today is the day they will be flying back to Townsville, for Mojo Jojo had completed the request of the Rowdyruff Boys. It took the simian scientist a while to make the necessary gears that the boys would need for the future to come, but the device is completed just in time. The delay is due to Mojo Jojo needing to finetune Butch's gear based on his personal specifications, and obviously the mutated chimpanzee finds it a hassle. The three boys looked into their palm before clenching it into a fist.

"The gear have synchonized itself with a biometric and also neuroelectrical read to identify you as its owner. It will only activate with your biometric and if you willed it. I am just making sure that just in case if someone detached your arm, as it is a -"

"Yeah we get it." The three Rowdyruff Boys chorused.

"Alright boys, safe trip. It was nice of you boys to come over, as brief as it can be." This words surprised the teenagers, and they looked at each other before they

"Yeah, it was nice to see that you're well Mojo." Boomer said with a smile.

"Now I need to go and do my science. Now if you excuse me." Mojo Jojo said as he turned around.

"We'll come back and visit again!" Boomer cried out, and the simian paused before he disappeared behind the closing blast doors. The three boys looked at each other before they shrugged. They all knew that Mojo Jojo rarely talked about his feelings and all, and the boys knew that that is the best emotional response they will ever get from the simian. The three Rowdyruff Boys soon flew off towards the skyy in three bolts of lightning that corresponded to their colors.

As the three bolts of crimson red, forest green and cobalt blue streaks through the azure blue skies, Mojo Jojo watches with a kind gentle smile beside a very attractive Asian woman in a very stylized kimono, her black hair pinned in a bun, light brown eyes, and a small beauty mark under the left side of her lower lip.

"You really like them don't you...your Evilness?" The Japanese female servant asked simian scientist.

"Yes I do Nagase, and I hope for the best for them. They are my sons after all."

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Townsville 12.30pm]

"Hmmmmmmmm-It's so good to be home!" Bubbles cried out as she steps out from the car and stretches.

The Powerpuff Girls are back in Townsville and all of them are glad that they are home as well. Even though it had been just ten days since they last left Townsville, but it felt like an age for the Powerpuff Girls. Fortunately for them, they noticed that the town at least is not in any obvious destruction since they left, though the Powerpuff Girls had heard from Professor Utonium that the Downtown Townsville is essentially locked down. The other parts of the city is still functioning, and coincidentally Townsville High will be opened back three days from now. The girls could not wait to get back to a semblance of normal life, or at least as normal as it comes for the Powerpuff Girls at least.

"Well, I think this would be the beginning of a nice day isn't it?" Caspar speaks out, causing Bubbles to jump a little. Bubbles is still not used to the sentient ear rings to speak out to her and the distance between her ears and Caspar is too close for comfort.

"Hope it stays this way for at least a day or so." Buttercup answered Caspar, and Buttercup is now stretching her arms to get the blood circulating once more. Buttercup is not a person who wears accessories, and she is still trying to get used to Melchior around her arms. Somehow the bangles made her a little more conscious about her appearance than before but she is not complaining as Melchior had made itself into a rather stylish bangle.

"Don't jinx it." Blossom said as she opened the car door and stretched her shapely legs while sitting in the car seat.

"If you girls don't mind, can you get your baggage out of the car?" Professor Utonium called out to his daughters. J.E.E.V.E.S is right that the road trip would help. The professor and the Powerpuff Girls manages to bond even more as they travelled back from Dayton back to Townsville. Also the professor and the girls get to know the Magi even more, and knowing their limits.

Suddenly the air cracked with the sound of three sonic booms and Professor Utonoum and the Powerpuff Girls saw three streaks of lightning darts across the skies above, colored in cobalt blue, forest green and crimson red respectively. The Powerpuff Girls knew who they are, and they wondered whether the town is not in flames thanks to them.

"Ah,so the Rowdyruff Boys are coming back today as well." Professor Utonium voiced out his thoughts and the three Powerpuff Girls immediately turned towards the professor.

"Wait...you mean that they are also out of town when we were out of town?" Blossom questioned the professor.

"Yes,in fact you girls were gone a day before they went out. They wanted to tell you girls that they're going to be out of town for a few days but you girls already left when they wanted to tell you." Professor Utonium said without skipping a beat as he opens the boot of his cart to take out his luggage.

"Well at least they tried to tell us that they are off for a few days. Now I feel like a douche for not telling them first." Blossom said out loud as she reluctantly acknowledged that the boys are more courteous than them when it comes to that particular pleasantries.

"Where on earth would they go to anyway?" Buttercup asked as she is unable to imagine a place that they will be visiting at this given time.

"Doesn't matter. At least they're back." Bubbles smiled as she watches the crimson lightning streaks ahead in the azure blue skies above them.

The Rowdyruff Boys' trip to Mojo Jojo's had been fruitful and with Mojo Jojo's help,they are at least better equipped to face off against Him's lackeys. However they are still worries that Him has something up his sleeve. Butch in particular had been approached by Him for the task, but Butch had prevented Him from informing what the task that requires the dark-haired teenager's skills and talents. Butch did not tell his brothers about Him's attempt, but he did eventually divulged his particular new ability that he learned to his brothers. Nonetheless thanks to Him, Butch found out a particular way in which he could use his abilities. The simian scientist proceed to make them their particular gear. Suffice to say, the Rowdyruff Boys are particularly confident over their new gear.

"Well bye bye tropical island and back to this stinking city." Butch said as he lands in front of the Morningstar residence.

"Yeah, honestly I've grown very attached to that volcanic hot spring bath at Mojo's place." Boomer's voice is tinted with the longing for the comforts that was afforded to them when they were at Mojo Jojo's island lair.

"Well, let's open the door and get in. We're back here now. Nothing to look forward here." Brick said as he took the keys out of his pockets. Honestly deep down,Brick wished that Lilith would be back home to greet them. Given her heavy duties as the district attorney of Townsville,it is highly unlikely that she will be home to greet them. Living with Lilith for a month really made Brick a little more appreciative of normal life, as he enjoyed the greeting that Lilith always gives them when they returned. As he was about to insert the key into the keyhole, the door pulled back and to Brick's surprise he saw a fair lady with a dark, pixie haircut and glasses looking back at him with gray eyes.

"Miss? I didn't..." Brick's voice is caught up in his throat as this came as a surprise for him. What comes as a bigger surprise is that this is the first time he saw her in casual clothing. For some reason, a pair of yoga pants and a dark blue t-shirt really suited her well if not more so than her usual office outfit.

"Took a day off or to be exact, _forced_ to take a few days off. The mayor forced me to take a week off starting from two days ago to recuperate." Lilith answered the carnelian-haired teenager with a sad smile. Brick noticed that she is a little more haggard than before, and he could not blame that buffoon for forcing Lilith to take a week off. But at least she is well enough that she looks beautiful even without her makeup and stylish office clothing.

"That's surprisingly convenie...I smelled tuna. Also I smelled peas, corn, some cheddar...and some cream of mushroom and chopped onions and some breadcrumbs." Boomer pointed out as he realized the smell of food. The aroma of the food soon escaped from the opened door and immediately Brick and Butch could not help but to salivate from the aroma despite their preference for meats in general.

"Knew you boys be coming home today. Decided to make some tuna casserole if you don't mind along with some Caesar salad and some fruits. Not fancy and hones-"

"I'm starved!" Butch interrupted the woman as he realized that there is some food waiting for them. Boomer grin cheekily, while Brick gives a small smile.

"Heh... we're back." Brick said as he pulls his cap down in embarrassment. Noticing Brick's bashfulness, Lilith smiled and gives him a hug. The hug catches the teenager by surprise, and the other Rowdyruff Boys looked at them with surprise. Butch and Boomer were initially hesitant, but then she beckons them to come with her fingers. They took small steps, but those small steps are heading towards Brick and Lilith. When the two teenagers are close enough, she took them into her embrace. Brick, Butch and Boomer surprisingly find this embrace particularly nice and warm.

"Welcome home boys."

* * *

[The Next Day, Townsville High, Townsville, 9.00am]

Blossom entered into her class and she noticed that more eyes are now upon her. She looked at herself wondering what it going on for all she did is to wear a single piece pink sleeveless dress and Balthazar and surely a person's limbs is nothing special. However Blossom being as clueless as she is failed to realized one thing; it is precisely those exposed parts that are now the focus of the boys and some of the girls in the class. Blossom failed to realized that her greatest assets are her slender arms and legs, and thanks to Major Bradshaw's boot camp, they had turned even more shapely than before and many men would want to die being held in submission by those arms or stepped upon by those legs.

"Pinkie, you're in the way." Blossom picks upon a familiar voice and she turned around to see Brick looking back at her. Brick is wearing a black turtleneck with dark red pants, and Blossom noticed that his figure is a little more defined this time round. Brick's eyes scanned her for a moment before he closes his eyes and walk pass her.

"Hey! At least say good morning you twerp!" Slighted that Brick did not greet her properly, Blossom called him out.

"Fine. Good morning Pinkie. " Brick said calmly and Blossom noticed that Brick is less edgy than before. The sudden politeness also caught her off-guard and Blossom is forced to respond politely.

"Oh...Good morning Brick." Blossom said meekly. Brick is surprised that Blossom is less prissy than before and it appears that she had found something in her to be more accepting. Brick chuckled a little, as it felt like Blossom's own improvement is very similar to his own emotional state with the entity within him. Brick smiled at her, knowing well that it is always hard to take on their inner issues and fix it.

"What's so funny?" Blossom asked the teenager as Brick walked for nine paces before he turned around to Blossom.

"This is gonna sound corny but...Nice necklace you got there. Suits your eyes well." Blossom blushed a little as Brick walks to his seat. Blossom clearly did not expect Brick to complement her in any way.

Brick smiled once more, and for once in his school life he like how things are going about.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville 3.00pm]

Buttercup is glad to be back in the Mixed Martial Arts club once more, and she is excited to go back to her routines and train before the rest of her club members arrived. As she open the doors to her clubroom, she is greeted by a sudden gust of wind blowing out from the room forcing her to shield her eyes. As she unshields her eyes, she sees that someone is already there before her. The figure before her is already shadow boxing, but a gust of wind launches itself from the figure's arms with every punch. Buttercup observe the figure's footwork and is very impressed by the complexity of the footwork and also the weaving of the figure's body as it maximizes speed, strength, and balance with every move. Buttercup claps her hands, causing the figure to snap out from his training trance and turn towards her.

"Not bad Butch. Not bad at all." Buttercup said as she takes out her leather jacket to reveal her black halterneck.

"Ah Butters, long time no see. Heard you went out of town." The green-eyed mountain of sweating lean muscle walks towards Buttercup with a grin. Buttercup admits that somehow Butch had become even more toned than before, and Buttercup can see that his musculature is now a little more balanced than before. The girls would go crazy over his body, but she is not like the other girls.

"Yeah, I did. Heard that you boys went out of town as well. Training?" Buttercup crosses her arms as she takes a closer look at Butch.

"Yeap, and I would assume you girls went out for training as well. You look good." Butch scans Buttercup and noticed that her form is even more wiry than before and her form is much more solid than before. Butch is impressed that somehow Buttercup managed to remain slender while being more toned than before. And somehow those bangles that Buttercup is now spotting really fitted her very well. As Buttercup turned around, Butch is treated to the full view of her bare and beautiful back, and her pants really accentuate her posterior. Butch bit his lip as he enjoyed the view and suddenly he was caught off-guard as Buttercup bent down to put her jacket on the floor.

"Looks like the rest ain't here yet. You want to go for a round with me?" Buttercup turned her head to his direction from her bent position, and Butch wondered how on earth is this heavenly sight possible. Butch seriously need to reevaluate his issues with all the Powerpuff Girls, as they hit all the right buttons at the right time.

"Yeah sure. Let's see what you've got Butters." Buttercup looks at her watch and noticed that there is going to be another three more minutes before the rest of the MMA club members come over for their weekly club activities. Seeing from the time and also Butch's somewhat perverted look, she will try to make this quick less he does something he would regret.

"Well, let's do it as a one-touch match. First one to bring down in one blow in three minutes wins?" Buttercup challenged Butch, and Butch gives Buttercup a thumbs up. Buttercup flips herself into the MMA cage, and Butch followed soon after.

"No holds barred?" Butch clarified, as he looked at Buttercup stretching her limbs. Needing to disguise his sight of checking her butt out, Butch stretches his neck. However Buttercup knew that he is checking her out. Somehow, she honestly felt happy that she is attractive enough for a guy to check her out but at the same time she wished it was someone she is more attracted to to check her out. For that, she would try to bring Butch down for his insolence.

"Why not..Let's do this."

Butch and Buttercup immediately went into their combat stance and both are now jockeying for an advantageous position. Butch and Buttercup could appreciate this game of cat and mouse as both seek to deceive the other to land a counter. Both teenagers are disciplined enough to hold their ground as they let out some jabs and straight kicks to force the other to react. Some weaving here and there and some footwork here and there. Both are particularly surprised that the other person had the discipline in them to hold their ground. Both their superhuman hearing can hear the other's heartbeat and in a way their state of mind. Both are as calm as a tranquil forest, but they both knew that any action they do would light up the fire within them.

It turns out that Buttercup is the less patient of the two.

Buttercup immediately focused her energy behind her back and the winds soon started gathering around Buttercup. Realizing that Buttercup is planning on something, Butch decided that he would also try out his new skill that he got. His wrists started to have a glowing ring around it, and soon enough his body is enveloped in a green glow. Buttercup disappeared within a split second, and Butch immediately ducked low. Buttercup is surprised that he managed to dodge her, and he tried to throw an uppercut at her. However, she launches a kick at his ribs and she thought she had connected her blow. To her surprise, her blow is being repelled by a significantly greater opposing force and she was forced back to such an extent that she was flipping through the air. Fortunately for her, that is the force that she needs to flip backwards to avoid the uppercut. She was careful enough to make her movement in mid-air to avoid an aerial counter and she distanced herself from Butch with one of her arms on the ground and her legs spread out to stabilize herself.

"That's new." Buttercup voiced her surprise.

"Likewise." Butch replied before he aims his hand with his thumb holding on his fingers and then flicking his fingers. Buttercup realized that something is very wrong and immediately rolled to the side without hesitation when she saw a faint green glow and felt a gust of wind went past her. The cage panel immediately blasts off towards the wall and hits it with a resounding bang. As the dust settles, Buttercup realize that this match is going to be very interesting indeed. But just as she start to gather the vortex around her arms, the doors to the club room opens up and several of the students enters into the club room. The students are soon greeted by the sight of the two superhumans and a panel of the cage at the wall. Buttercup looked at her watch and gives Butch a smirk.

"Well Butch, times up. It's a tie."

"Heh, you lucked out Butters."

"Holy shit, is that one of the cage on the wall?"

Buttercup smiled as she walks out from the MMA ring through the opening that Butch caused. As Buttercup calmly walks away from Butch, she understand that Butch is right about how luck is on her side today. Her leg is currently suffering from a temporary numbness due to her attempt to kick his ribs while he is down. Somehow the blow appears to reflect back to her feet with such a force that it causes a rippling effect in her leg. Buttercup is mustering what she can to walk normally and once she hops down on the ground, she loses her balance for a moment. Fortunately she can fault it on her bad landing and it seems that Butch did not catch her tripping. She is glad that the students came in at the exact moment and she seamlessly blended in with the other club members to hide her leg's numbness.

 _Damn, that's some amazing defense he got there._

Butch is impressed that she managed to take on his Body Reflector as he touches his ribs. Butch winced for a moment, as the area around his ribs are now sore from the blow. Butch had underestimated Buttercup's kick, and had failed to allocate enough of the Body Reflector to dampen the blow and take her out with her own blow. If Butch did not duck the way he did, her punch would had taken him down despite the Body Reflector. His low stance also contributed to his stability as he went low that he did not fall from the kick to his ribs. Equally impressive is her ability to dodge what he calls his Flicker Reflectors, as those even took Him a little by surprise. But it is precisely because he know what Buttercup can be capable off that he powered down the Flicker Reflectors. With only two per cent of his force, a panel of the cage was propelled forty feet away and slammed into the wall.

"Butters never disappoint." Butch smiled, knowing that there will be another time for them to see who truly won the test of strength between them.

* * *

[Townsville High Auditorium, Townsville High, Townsville: 4.30pm]

Bubbles and Boomer are now the last two souls in the Glee club.

They are now together because the president of the club forced them together to plan for the annual Winter Ball for Townsville High. Both teenagers had never really been left alone to interact with each other before, and both are particularly quiet as they sat beside each other figuring out what to do. Bubbles in particular do not have any fond memories of interacting with Boomer as it somehow always ended up in a rather obscene manner. Conversely, Boomer knew that he had caused no certain amount of trouble for his counterpart, and he had always wanted to make amends somewhat. But their awkwardness around each other is preventing them from having a proper interaction.

"So...how's your trip Bubbs? Heard you and your sisters went out of town for a few days." Boomer decided that starting the conversation is a correct move to make given the situation.

"It's...interesting so to speak. But a fruitful one." Bubbles hesitate a little, but she did not lie to the blue-eyed boy.

"I see. That's good to hear."

"I heard you boys also went out of town right after us. How's things with that one?" Bubbles asked back, knowing that perhaps Boomer would divulged the details of what happened during their absence.

"Well, it is a weird trip. Never thought I would see so many weird things to be honest. But yeah, it is fruitful." Boomer did not lie. But neither is he comfortable in divulging the details of what happened during the trip.

"Oh...ok." Bubbles said meekly, thinking that it is fair enough that the blue-eyed boy is also reluctant to tell Bubbles of his trip.

Both Bubbles and Boomer are now quiet once more, and the situation is now even more awkward than before. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that they need to communicate in order to get things done. Boomer and Bubbles inhaled in deep before exhaling out. Both of them noticed that they are both doing the same thing at the same time. This in turn sparked a giggle from Bubbles and a chuckle from Boomer.

"Seriously." Boomer speaks out once more, his tone solemn and utterly at odds with his usual cheerful self.

"Huh?" Bubbles was taken aback by the sudden seriousness of his tone.

"Seriously Bubbles...the fact that we are in the same room is something I'll never expect."

"I don't follow Boomer."

"We used to be enemies, and now we are allies or something. We're created to kick your ass, but we helped your girls a while back for no apparent reason nor reward."

"Yeah, that's something alright. Personally I think it is a good thing that we got more friends than enemies." Bubbles voice is clear and sweet, and Boomer immediately felt Bubbles' palm resting on the top of his hand. Boomer turns his head around to see Bubbles looking up to the ceiling with a smile on her face.

"But don't you think we're messed up or something? I mean...how could you be so positive about us so quickly like that? Aren't you a little too trusting or something? Naive even?" Boomer's sapphire eyes are now clouded by a veil of darkness within his heart, and he know that he should not have spoken out like this to Bubbles. But somehow, it came out quite cleanly from Boomer's lips.

"That's reason enough for me to trust you boys." Boomer felt a sense of relief within, however he suddenly felt a sudden pain from the back of his hand and he looked down to see Bubbles' nails digging a little deep into his skin. He looked up and saw Bubbles smiling, but this smile is enveloped with annoyance and anger. Boomer then noticed that his legs are wrapped by several smaller chains of electrical orbs. Boomer tried to escape, but he realized that Bubbles is somehow holding him down.

"That does not mean I forgive you for all the obscene things you did to me." Bubbles immediately stood up and faced the teenager as even more chain of orbs bound him to his seat. Her eyes are royally pissed, and Boomer watches as several electrical orbs formed around her and a ring of pure electrical energy forms behind her. Boomer then realized that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when said woman is a superhuman being.

"Wait Bubbles...where did that trust went?" Boomer said with a whimper, trying his best to get on Bubble's good side, but knows that he is failing very badly with every moment.

"Trust is not the same as forgiveness. Now's the time for my payback." Bubbles said in an uncharacteristically chilling voice which even send shivers down Boomer's spine. As he struggles to get out from Bubbles' new ability, he was shocked by the orbs. Not even his newly acquired ability would get him out from this situation.

"Bubbles...Bubbles...please...we can talk about this..." Boomer said, his voice trailing as he struggles to get out form his bindings.

"Any last words?" Bubbles said in a cold and chilling voice. As the orbs around her slowly merges and form into a large electrical orb, Boomer realizes that this is it. He knew that he should not have done what he did in the Glee club the last time they met.

"Karma's a bitch." Boomer's face turned pale as he realized that this is how he would get his ass kicked so bad that he might go back to Hell.

"Rest in peace, Boomer."

"BUBBLESSSSORRIEEEE PLEAASEEEEDOONTTTKIILLLMMEEEE!" Boomer screamed while he closed his eyes, expecting the worst. Boomer could not hear anything anymore and Boomer knew that that would be the last thing he heard; him begging for his life in such a pathetic state. Suddenly a loud hysterical guffaw can be heard.

Boomer opens his eyes and he sees Bubbles holding her stomach as she lets out a boisterous laugh while her other arm is holding her phone. She then noticed that Boomer is looking at her with a confounded look and she turned the screen of her phone around and pressed her display. The video of Boomer's talk and how he realized that he is trapped by Bubbles is apparent, and he soon realized that the entire scene was recorded without him even realizing it. He then realized why Bubbles materialized the orbs; it is to distract him from the phone.

"That's for all the time you made me feel bad! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bubbles laughed out loud, and Boomer could not help but to feel rather bad about the whole thing. As the laughter died down, Bubbles leans down and gives Boomer a hug, which caught him a little off-guard. As her breast presses on his chest, Boomer realizes that Bubbles is a very big girl now, and he honestly try to control his bodily urges. He could smell her, and somehow she have this very nice lavender smell on her. Suddenly his left ear felt the sensation of her breathing, and that made his heart pump.

"What I said before...about trusting you boys...it's the truth." Bubbles whispered to Boomer's ear.

"Huh?"

"You guys could have left us alone, but yet you guys helped us. You guys saved us. If you hadn't been there, the day wouldn't be saved."

"Bubbles? What's..."

"Many heroes said that their bodies moved before they could even had the chance to think. That's what happened to you back then... right?" Bubbles' words pierced through his heart, and shocked him to his core. No one had ever compared him to a hero before, and he felt a shiver down his body. He finds it hard to breathe, and somehow he is touched by her words. He had always been called a villain in his life, second only to being called an idiot. But this time is different. This is something else entirely.

"I'm no..." Boomer tried to protest but before he could even finish his line, Bubbles completed his line.

"Hero? You moved before you could think. You acted before you could move. You put your life on the line to save someone. And to those people, you're their hero. Never forget that." Bubbles said softly as she lets go of him and backs away. Boomer noticed that Bubbles' smile is a little sad and hopeful at the same time, and in Boomer's mind she look like a saint or even an angel. Boomer was about to say something when Bubbles slapped him in the arm, snapping him out from the sudden solemnity of the situation.

"Anyway! I guess we ought to get back home! I'll just inform the committee tomorrow that there's nothing in our noodles for today! Anyway, more heads are better when it comes to solving a problem! See ya Boomer! Don't forget to lock up!" Bubbles exclaimed before she made her move. Boomer wanted to stop her, but the blue Powerpuff Girl disappeared in a streak of light blue light.

 _But if you are listening Boomer; you better reflect on what you are, you douchebag buttwipe prick who stands for nothing at all._

Boomer's mind suddenly recalled Buttercup's hurtful remark. His mind could not help but to make the mental comparison between the two Powerpuff Girls' words and how he had changed over the past few weeks. Perhaps helping others really does make a difference.

* * *

[Unknown location]

Unbeknownst to the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls, the nefarious figure known as Him is watching all of them with a big malicious grin on its face and in its pincers are several more orbs corresponding to the colors of the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls. As Him waves its arms, the orbs disappeared away in thin air. Him gets up from his couch and touches the screens showing the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. Him smiled as it looked at the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys interacted with each other. From the courtesy afforded by both Blossom and Brick, the friendly rivalry between Butch and Buttercup and the touching moment between Bubbles and Boomer, Him is ecstatic that their emotions are slowly blossoming in such a beautiful manner.

" _Welcome home, children._ " Him's cacophonous voice soon gives out to a high-pitched chuckle before becoming a sinister baritone growling laughter.


	38. Chapter 38: Adoption

Chapter 38: Adoption

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 11.30am]

"Man...she's late?" Boomer wonders as he waits for Buttercup near the Little Tokyo subway Little Moscow, Little Italy, the Jewish Quarter and Irish Quarter, Little Tokyo is one of the few enclaves in Downtown Townsville that were not cordoned off by the US Military, and that in itself is a boon for the citizens. However, Boomer spotted several military personnel patrolling the streets of Little Tokyo and Boomer reminded himself that the town is still under a low-intensity conflict with the Lunatics. So far only those areas, whom the townsfolk have started to call the 'Ghetto' are under heavy patrol and conflict with the US military. Nonetheless the entire city of Townsville is under curfew and it is precisely because of the curfew that Boomer is concerned that Buttercup will be late. Every minute wasted is another minute closer towards curfew hours.

Buttercup had informed Boomer to meet her at the station in disguise in order for them to visit Father Maxwell and the orphans at the new orphanage location at the more upscale side of Townsville. Thanks to the attack by one of Him's Lunatics, the Mayor and the townsfolk had given the priest and his charges a new home. However due to the area where the new orphanage is located, Buttercup, and Boomer to a lesser degree, could not just fly into the neighborhood without arousing suspicion.

For that purpose, Boomer had opted to wear a dress instead and eliminate the chances of people noticing a Rowdyruff Boy entering into Uptown Townsville. He is wearing a dark blue jacket over a black dress and dark blue jeans, and he hope that it is girlish enough for people to not notice that he is a guy. In addition , Boomer had made sure that his spiky hair is styled to a way that looks much more feminine. To complete the look, Boomer put on some makeup and also curled his eyelashes. He had done many infiltration missions before, and he had dressed up as a woman before. But he often did it for a reconnaissance sighed, knowing that somehow this feels like a plan Butch would come up with. So how did he convinced himself to dress up like this for Buttercup's sake?

* * *

 _[Two days before, Townsville High, Townsville, 3.00pm]_

 _"Yo Boomer, need to talk to you for a moment." Boomer finds it odd that Buttercup is speaking to him during school hours, and people's eyes are already looking at the two most unlikeliest Powerpuff Girl and Rowdyruff Boy pairing. But Buttercup is now the one that initiated contact, and that means something._

 _"Maxwell?" Boomer deduced. Other than their common ground of the orphans, the two have nothing much in common._

 _"Yeap." Buttercup moved her eyes,beckoning Boomer to come along with her. Seeing that there is no reason to go up against Buttercup, Boomer followed her lead._

 _After a few minutes, they managed to get into an empty classroom of Townsville High to continue on with their conversation regarding Maxwell Orphanage. Boomer leans on the wall and puts his arms into the pockets of his hoodie._

 _"What's up? Something happened to Father Maxwell and the kids?" Boomer noticed that Buttercup is a little hesitant to speak up,and honestly Buttercup acting bashful is quite adorable. However,Boomer know that pissing her off is not in his best interest and let her compise herself._

 _"Well, I want to pay Father Maxwell and the orphans a visit. I heard from the professor that they are now housed in an area in Uptown Townsville." Buttercup revealed._

 _"Okay...and how will I fit into the picture?" Boomer asked. In retrospect, he figured out what she wanted to say but it is best to play a little dumb. Boomer learned that people reveal things when they are asked._

 _"Well, I thought that it would be nice for the orphans to see another familiar face when I drop by to visit them."_

 _"Okay, that make sense. But..." Boomer noticed that there is something else Buttercup is not telling him._

 _"We can't fly there. We need to take the subway. But I don't feel comfortable riding the subway by myself." Buttercup's explanation surprises Boomer, as he expected someone like Bubbles or even Blossom to be uncomfortable with subways._

 _"You? Uncomfortable with the subway? That's a surprise."_

 _"Let's just say that I find it very inefficient and I dislike sitting in a subway alone." Buttercup said and looked away from him while holding her arm. Buttercup recalled tthe time when she rode on the subway to solve one of Him's riddles and that made her very uncomfortable._

 _"Sure..." Boomer find Buttercup's posture and also demeanor particularly cute. This is a side that people rarely see out of the toughest fighter of the Powerpuff Girl. But then Boomer realized something._

 _"Wait...isn't this Maxwell thing supposed to be your secret or something?" Boomer asked, knowing that something is amiss amidst the dots to complete the picture._

 _"That's why I plan to go there in a disguise." Buttercup explained, and Boomer's mind immediately shuts down for a moment._

 _"Huh?" Disguise and Buttercup do not fit into the sentence,and Boomer wonder how the most blunt and straightforward member of the Powerpuff Girl plans to even disguise herself._

 _"Well...I'm a Powerpuff Girl and my relationship to the orphans are supposed to be a secret. It is fortunate that that stupid Lunatic attacked that allowed me to come in and save them." Buttercup figures that she needs to explain the sequence of events once more to allow Boomer to digest the situation._

 _"With my help." Fortunately,Boomer managed to recompose himself and correct Buttercup about the proper sequence of events that had happened before._

 _"Fine...with your help Boomer.. Also thanks to them being sent over to our home first, Father Maxwell was able to drill the kids to pretend that I don't know them prior to the incident."_

 _"Fine little actors aren't they Buttercup?" Boomer joked,but Buttercup ignored it and continued one._

 _"Anyway...I can't just waltz into Uptown Townsville without causing 'problems'. So I need to get there in a disguise." Buttercup reinforces the point once more,and Boomer nods his head._

 _Suddenly Boomer noticed the odd moment of silence between both of them and Buttetcup is looking at Boomer in a certain way that begs Boomer to understand what is the next sequence of this particular conversation. For some reason,Buttercup is expecting something to come out from him, or to be exact some idea to come out from his lips. It was then that Boomer put two and two together and realized Buttercup is requesting something very particular from Boomer._

 _"Wait...you are expecting me to come with you." Boomer voiced his thoughts out loud._

 _"You came in to save the kids too as well y'know! You cared about them too right?!" Buttercup raised her voice with Boomer. Boomer's head hurt for some reason and he holds one part of his head with his hand and closes his eyes to concentrate._

 _"I mean...I like Father Maxwell and the kids but coming along with you? Seriously you don't need me..."_

 _It was then that Boomer noticed that Buttercup had a particular expression on her face that is not her normal frown or cheekiness. It is something much more burdensome for Boomer to experience, and it is something that he sees often when he screwed up something that Brick tasked him to do; dissapointment. Boomer realized that those words also hurt Buttercup in a way that he did not expect as Buttercup bit her lips and her frown now is not her usual angry frown. This,Boomer said to himself, is a sad frown. Buttercup's lime green eyes are looking at Boomer as if he had betrayed her expectations of him in this situation. For some reason,that expression on Buttercup's face pierced Boomer's heart in a way he never knew someone could hurt him._

 _"Fine." Buttercup said curtly with a quivering voice before turning around._

 _"Wait..." Boomer said to Buttercup, but she ignore him and walked past the sand-blonde teenager._

 _As she walk towards the door,something in Boomer said that things will worsen if he leave it be and he would destroy everything he had build with Buttercup at that point. Yet, everything would be as it is if he do not act. But if he act, it will become something else entirely. They will not be as they were, as doing so will make their relationship become something more than a situational convenience. It will become something more. Boomer's mind raced as he wondered which one of these options is the one he will pick,however Buttercup is forcing the issue by reaching for the Buttercup turns the door handle,Boomer realized that he is screwed either way, and he chose the uncharted path._

 _"God damn it."Boomer said out loud before grabbing her arm. Buttercup turns around and Boomer see that Buttercup's lime green eyes are turning a slight hint of pink and she is breathing in deeply to contain her anger._

 _"Fine. I'll come with you." Boomer said, his face a complex combination of frustration, embarrassment and submission. Seriously, Boomer wondered why he did the things he did._

 _"Really?" Buttercup's voice cracked as her frown turned itself upside down. Buttercup's change of expression is all Boomer need to know that he made the right choice, even if it makes things a little complicated from here on out._

* * *

"Oh yeah,this is why I'm here. But that does not explain why I'm dressed up as a chick." Boomer remembered the reason, and he honestly still unable to reconcile the foolishness of his action. Buttercup is very similar to Butch in many ways, as they are both particularly emotional. Linking the two toughest fighters of their group further in Boomer's mind is how Boomer is reminded that he is always Butch's accomplice when it comes to sneaky things. But this time, he is Buttercup's accomplice.

"Yo." A husky voice called and Boomer knew that the husky tone marks her out as Buttercup among the crowd. He had told her what to do and he hoped that Buttercup in all her wisdom is able to come up with at least a decent disguise.

"Took you long enou-" Boomer turned around to answer the reply to Buttercup's codeword when he is stunned to silence at the sight of Buttercup. Buttercup is wearing a waist-length black wig, and her lime green eyes are framed by square spectacles which enhances the beauty of her eyes. To complete the look, Buttercup is wearing a single-piece white dress and a blue blouse over her dress. With some light make-up, she is utterly stunning.

"What's wrong?" Buttercup asked the teenage boy.

"I'm sorry, it is just that you look gorgeous and I never knew you could be so feminine in your lifetime." Boomer did not even filter his words,but truth to be told it really suited her.

"Flirt." Buttercup responds by slapping Boomer in the back with her hand, causing the blonde-haired teenager to bend forward from the blow. As Boomer rubs his back from the blow, he fail to notice Buttercup's brief blushing from his complement.

"Not flirting if what I'm saying is the truth." Boomer said to Buttercup, not realizing that he had said a very smooth line to Buttercup. Suddenly, Buttercup pulls Boomer's arm and Boomer moves along with Buttercup down to the subway. Boomer is not complaining at all about this string of events. Buttercup is smiling as she walked down the they lined up to get the tickets for the train, Boomer could not help but to look at Buttercup and how elegant she is in the dress and also with her long hair. With every move, Buttercup is exuding femininity in a way that Boomer had never seen Buttercup did before. With a pull of an arm once more, Boomer is dragged by Buttercup all the way to the terminal where they will board the train. All the time while he was dragged along, several commuters were looking at them. Some of them are looking at them and Boomer can catch them calling them a cute pair of friends or couple. Others are just checking them out, and Boomer is disturbed that one of the onlookers find his ass 'tight'.

Before he even knew it, they are already inside the train and two superhumans in disguise take a seat on the subway train heading towards Uptown Townsville. So far only Buttercup know which station to get off to in order for them to visit Father Maxwell and the children, and Boomer leave that particular task to the green-eyed girl. Based on Buttercup's estimates,it will take them a good thirty minutes to reach the station. With that in mind,Boomer figured that it would be the best time to ask Buttercup the question that best make sense given the situation.

"Hey Butters?"

"Yeah Boomer?"

"So, I was thinking for a while now...how'd you meet Father Maxwell?"

"Well, he saved me once."

"Wait...he saved you? How? He's not a superhero isn't he?" Boomer's inquiry is soon met with a backhand by Buttercup to his face. Boomer groaned in pain and held his nose.

"He saved my soul. He helped me remember what I'm fighting for." Buttercup answered as Boomer lets go of his nose.

"Sounds deep. Mind indulging me with your tale?" Boomer ask politely, knowing that if Buttercup keeps on backhanding his nose or bashing him up, he will not make it to the orphanage in one piece.

"Once upon a time in a land far, far away..." Buttercup tried her best impersonation of being a snotty British-accented fairy tale narrator, and Boomer choked. Buttercup stopped for a moment before Boomer responded to her.

"Seriously Buttercup? You're keeping this accent for the rest of the story?" Boomer tried to act composed, but he is still reeling from the choke he had earlier. Buttercup blows a raspberry at Boomer, and for some reason the way she did it is particularly adorable.

"Anyway, there was a time a few years back where I was a little out of the blue of this saving people crap."

"That's...new. Thought you guys are the flawless good guys." Boomer's attention is now on the green-eyed girl.

"Yeah, we Powerpuff Girls do get sick and tired of saving people from time to time y'know. It happened once before, but I really got the worst of it. I fought with my sisters because of it, and honestly...I just want to do something else. So here I am, wondering what should I do, and somehow of all the things that could happen, I ran away from home."

"I know right? I packed up my bag, I ran, and then I flew. I flew and I flew on. Before I knew it, I am flying over the Atlantic Ocean and I ended up in some place. I don't remember where it is anymore, but I think that it is some African nation of some kind. The land is a little bare and dusty, and the place really feels kinda crappy. But somehow, it is peaceful enough for me to just take a rest next to a big tree."

"And trouble struck?"

"You know the drill. Then I stood up and..." As Buttercup continued on with her story, Boomer is now a witness to a part of Buttercup that he never thought he would see. The way she articulated her story, the way she moved her body to show her actions during that time, and the emotions that flowed through each of the words escaping her lips is something precious for Boomer to experience. Boomer is now immersed in her story, and although he is just listening to the story he felt like he is now there with Buttercup as she narrates her tale. In many ways, Boomer finds himself honored with the privilege to be part of her personal is a window to her life, a Buttercup that is not just a tomboy, not just the toughest fighter, not just a Powerpuff Girl. This is Buttercup at her most honest. This is Buttercup at her purest. This is Buttercup at her finest.

 _This is Buttercup._

* * *

"Glad you children could drop by."

Father Maxwell had been informed regarding their disguise, but even he was caught by surprise over the disguise that Boomer and Buttercup took to come to hus humble wanted to explain but the priest stopped hi

"Don't tell me, I don't really want to know Boomer. However Buttercup...you ought to dress up in a dress more."

"I'm wearing a dress now precisely because I don't wear them often. Boomer's got the right idea about how to not stand out." Buttercup takes off her wig and immediately Boomer realized that she looks much better in the dress with her short hair for some reason.

"Big sis!" A young girl's voice calls out to Buttercup, causing both Boomer and Buttercup to turn towards the direction of the voice. A little girl with brown hair braided into a long ponytail and bright blue eyes is now rushing towards them.

"Annabelle!" Buttercup squeals as she kneels down for the little girl to hug her.

"Big Bro's here too!"

"Heya kiddo."Boomer waved back to her.

"Wait...Why's Big Bro wearing a dress? The little girl asked about Boomer's particular appearance.

"Ur...I guess because I'm bored?" Boomer said unconvincingly.

"Hm...but Big Sis,this is the first time I see you in a dress and you looks really pretty."

"Thanks Annabelle." Buttercup smiled. As Annabelle was led away by Buttercup, Boomer took out his dress and wiped his makeup off. Boomer look around and noticed that something is particularly off about this new place. It dawned on Boomer on what is missing from this building.

"Where are the other orphans?" Boomer asked as he noticed the absence of the other children. Father Maxwell gives Boomer a sad smile before replying to the sapphire-eyed teenager.

"With the exception of Annabelle here,all of them are adopted almost immediately after the attackes. I'm not sure if I should say if the villain did a good deed, but by trying to kill the children, the fiend created enough publicity for the children to finally be noticed."

"That's a good thing right?" Boomer hesitated, for the mixed emotions in the priest's voice is thinly veiled.

"The old orphans may have left, but new ones are already entering in. The next intake will be next month. Ever since the cordon of the Ghetto by the military, there are constant battles there every day, making more orphans, widows and widowers." Father Maxwell said with a heavy heart, and Boomer can see Father Maxwell world-weariness .The conflicts and intrigues of the world will affect individuals in ways they are not aware of. Boomer and his brothers had experienced such a burden before,and they all adapted to it in their own unique way. For Boomer's case,he just shut it out.

They suddenly heard Buttercup screaming. Buttercup never screams for anything other than rage and anger. Fearing the worst, Boomer immediately turns around and instinctively using his body as a shield for Father Maxwell. But to his surprise, he is greeted by a very familiar sight from what seem like ages ago. A middle-aged man with brown hair and gray eyes is looking at Buttercup shielding Annabelle with a visibly surprised look. The man is using a crutch to walk, his leg apparently injured. Beside him is a dark-haired woman with similar gray eyes, apparently helping the man to walk.

"Officer...MacCarthy?" Boomer said out loud. The man turns towards Boomer's direction and he squints his eyes for a moment before the man's face contorts into a sudden realization of Boomer's identity. Boomer and Father Maxwell walk towards the couple, while Buttercup eases up. Annabelle is clinging on Buttercup's dress, not sure what is currently going on. As Boomer stops before the couple, the man extends his hand.

"Hello there young man." The man answered Boomer.

"It's been a while." Boomer smiled, and extends his own hand to shake Officer MacCarthy's hand.

"Wait...you know this guy?" Buttercup asked the sand-blonde teenager.

"Yeah, I saved him at the pier when I'm fighting the Bat guy." Boomer replied. However Buttercup is still in a state of panic, and Boomer realized that Buttercup is essentially spotted red-handed by the two couple in the orphanage and in a dress no 's frequent visits to the Maxwell orphanage is supposed to be a fiercely guarded secret, and there are dire consequences if people found out about it.

"So, you're Mr. and Mrs. MacCarthy?" Father Maxwell asked the man, his inquiry snapped Buttercup and Boomer out of their distress and cluelessness respectively. Father Maxwell's expression is that of someone whose wait for something is finally over.

Boomer is perplexed about why Father Maxwell would have such an expression and he was about to ask Buttercup and he noticed that her expression is much more complicated expression. It seems that Buttercup knows something he knows nothing about. Boomer leans towards Buttercup and whispered to her.

"Psst...Butters, what's going on?" Boomer's question goes unanswered.

"Yes, yes we are." The couple answered Father Maxwell.

"Alright, if you would come along with me. Just need some signatures and everything will be fine." Father Maxwell beckons the couple to come with him. The couple nod and they went along with Father Maxwell into the orphanage, leaving the two teenagers with Annabelle.

Buttercup kneels down and once more hugs the little girl. The little girl hugged Buttercup back, but Boomer noticed that Buttercup's demeanor is much different than before. The thought soon dawned on Boomer of what is transpiring today at the orphanage.

 _Little Annabelle is getting adopted today_ , Boomer thought.

"Alright Annabelle, what do you want to do today?" Buttercup said cheerfully, but she is not fooling Boomer. Boomer can see that Buttercup's face is trying to hold back the welling emotions within her. Boomer decided that Buttercup should not shoulder this whole thing alone.

"Yeah, kiddo. What do you wanna do?" Boomer piped in, and the little girl turns around as Buttercup lets go of her. The little girl's cheerful smile and innocence is apparent for all to see as she speaks to Boomer.

"I want to play with the Elekitty!"

"Alright kiddo, you got it!" Boomer muster his powers and forms an kitten made out from bio-electricity for her to play with. He made sure that the construct has a thin electrical current flowing from his finger. As he lets the construct run around, the little girl chased after the electrical apparition. Boomer made sure that the electrical construct moved a distance away from both Boomer and Buttercup before he asked the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"So...Annabelle's getting adopted?"

"Yeah." Boomer sensed Buttercup's underlying fragile emotions under her usually strong voice.

"That's good isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"In this time of fear when prayers proved to be in vain and hope just swiftly flown away, they need to know that there can be miracles when they believe. They need to know that though hope is frail, it's hard to kill. Who knows what miracles they can achieve when they believe." Buttercup looks at Boomer with surprise.

"Smooth." The phrase is not lost on Buttercup,for she said the exact same thing to Boomer when she first blew up on him.

"Always has been." Boomer cheekily smiles in return and winks at the Powerpuff Girl.

"Y'know Boomer, I'm always wanted to ask you something; why did you keep this secret of mine?"

"Huh?"

"I mean you could just leak it out and just mess me over. I mean,you Rowdyruff Boys are created to destroy us and makng our lives difficult. "

"Hm...Never crossed my mind." Boomer replied nonchalantly.

But Boomer's mind said otherwise.

Boomer had thought about this before. Boomer had wanted to use the knowledge as a leverage against Buttercup during his detention period, and it worked. But somehow along the line, both Boomer and Buttercup somehow got along and the 'blackmail' soon became their shared secret. The fact that they are both here without their siblings knowing is proof that they kept it among themselves. It is to a point where Butch wanted to use this secret against him and Boomer obliged to Butch's threat, thereby keeping her secret safe. This dichotomy of being an unlikely ally and an uncertain foe is also the source of contention within himself. Something primal in him is the cause for this assistance and willingness to be more engaged with aspects of Buttercup's life. But at the same time the reason why he is here to begin with is due to Him's unknown machination in its grand scheme,which most certainly is targetted at the Powerpuff Girls.

"Hm...I guess that's fair. You ain't much of a thinker to begin with. That's more like Brick's thing." Buttercup said with a smile.

"Heh." Boomer said, thinking that Buttercup is utterly clueless about his mental. Boomer and his brothers knew that they are tools for a war, but they are utterly clueless on how they are being utilized. After all, they are brought into Townsville precisely because Him wanted them to do a 'job' for Him. Perhaps the demon had even planned for all the things that had happened to them from the very beginning and nothing is within their control Boomer's fears are further compounded by the discovery of Brick's Tyrant gene implanted within him since their resurrection, and honestly he is not even sure what else is being planted within was then that the adults came out from the home, and they walked towards the teenagers and the little girl. Father Maxwell proceed on to call Annabelle over and she ran excitedly towards the priest. As the little girl reaches the priest, Father Maxwell kneel down on one knee and smiled at her. The little girl with the braided brown hair realizes that something is going on that she is nor aware off. Boomer and Buttercup are now bearing witness to an event that would change the life of a person.

"Annabelle today's a big day you know that?" Father Maxwell said to the little girl, his voice happy but quivering. The little girl is a little confused and uncomfortable when she sense the quivering from Father Maxwell's voice.

"What's wrong Father Maxwell?" Annabelle asked uncomfortably, sensing that the atmosphere around the older people are quite different than before. Father Maxwell puts both his hands on Annabelle's shoulder, as if bracing her for the news."Annabelle...These two kind and gentle people... have decided to take your in as family." The little girl is stunned into silence at Father Maxwell's news, and Boomer and Buttercup can see that this is something that she is not expecting at all.

"Fa...mily?" Annabelle is visibly shocked, and the middle-aged man and woman also kneels down on the ground and start speaking to her.

"Hello there Annabelle. My name is Ron, and this is my wife Gaby. Nice to meet you." The man speaks in a warm and gentle tone, and one can see that it is genuine from the heart as Buttercup can see that they are speaking to Annabelle with respect. The woman waved at the little child, but instead of reassuring the little child, Annabelle balks at the two other adults and she turns her attention towards Buttercup and Boomer. Buttercup understands Annabelle's actions for Annabelle tends to be shy around those she meets for the first time.

"It's okay Annabelle...go on. Say hi to them." Buttercup said with a reassuring smile. Annabelle turn towards the couple once more and with the boost of confidence by Buttercup, she greet the couple.

"Hi." Annabelle's voice is subdued and a little shaky.

"Hello there Annabelle. Is it okay for me to call you Annie?" Ms. MacCarthy asked Annabelle. Annabelle nods her head, giving the consent for the lady to call Annabelle with a shortened form of her name.

"Well Annie, if it is okay would you allow us to take you home with us and live with us?" Ms. MacCarthy ask the girl politely. The little girl is visibly unsure as her emotions of both fear, excitement and happiness are all mixed in together within her. Boomer know that this is something he is able to sympathize with in a way, for he too was more or less 'adopted' by Lilith Morningstar to be part of her world.

"Kiddo, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid. Big Sis Buttercup, Father Maxwell and I will come and visit you whenever we can. That way you can show us around your new home and we can hang out." Boomer reassures the little girl and winks at the little girl."Yeah, we'll all visit you. You can always just shout our names and we'll be there for you." Buttercup also assures the little girl.

"But..."

"Come here." Buttercup beckons the little girl to come over, and Father Maxwell lets go of her shoulder and the little girl walks towards Buttercup. As Father Maxwell and the MacCarthys stand up, Buttercup lowers herself as low as possible to Annabelle's eye level. Buttercup then hugs the little girl, and she whispers to Annabelle's ear. Annabelle in return whispers back to Buttercup, and Boomer's ears is picking up on the conversation between the two individual.

"It's okay sweetie. You should be happy. You finally got a mommy and daddy. You got a family now. They'll take care of you and love you with all their heart."

"But...I'm scared."

"I know it is scary, but..." Buttercup tried to reassure her but Annabelle shakes her head. Boomer can see that Buttercup is trying to reassure Annabelle that everything will be alright, but Annabelle is finding it hard to buy Buttercup's words. The MacCarthys and Father Maxwell also appear to be at a loss to connect to Annabelle. Looks like he need to do a 'Boomer Special' to salvage the situation. Boomer clears his throat, and everyone is now looking at him. Boomer hopes that this would somehow change the situation.

"Kiddo, don't believe in yourself."

"Huh?" Annabelle and the others looked at Boomer with particularly bewildered eyes.

"Listen close kiddo...Believe in everyone that believe in you. Believe everyone that you believe in. Have faith in all those that believe in you. Have faith in everyone that you believe in." Boomer said, while the the MacCarthys, Father Maxwell and Buttercup looked at him even more confused than ever.

"Big bro?"

"Well kiddo, do you believe in me?" Boomer asked the little girl.

"Yes..." The little girl answered.

"Then I believe that you will be alright with the MacCarthys. What about you Buttercup?" Boomer turned his attention towards Buttercup.

"I believe that you'll be alright with the MacCarthys." Buttercup answered, caught in the moment.

"Father Maxwell, what about you?" Boomer asked the priest.

"I believe that Annabelle will enjoy being part of their family." Father Maxwell answered.

"See kiddo? We all believe that you will be fine with them. Do you believe us kiddo?" Boomer asked. Annabelle looks at the three individuals that she is most comfortable with, and then she looks at the two MacCarthy couple who are now looking at her with genuine eyes that wanted her to be a part of their world. Annabelle realized that the reason why she is scared is because she do not know them. But like how she managed to befriend Boomer, she would need to take the first step and the first words to bridge the gap. Since everyone believes that she would be fine, she would trust them. Besides if these two people turn out to be really mean towards her, she can always scream for help and her big brother Boomer and big sister Buttercup would come to her rescue. They are superhumans after all.

"Okay Big bro, Big sis, Father Maxwell." Annabelle nods her head, and she smiles. Boomer smiles back at the little girl and puts his hand on the little girl's shoulder, and winks at the little girl.

"Sure thing, you can always believe in me who believes in you. And I believe that these two people will be the best thing that ever happen in your life. Go on and get to know them better." Boomer beckons Annabelle to go closer towards the MacCarthys. With small nervous steps, the little girl walks towards the couple and the MacCarthys watch as the little brunette extends her hand to the couple.

"Hi." Annabelle said nervously.

"Hello." The two couple replied.

* * *

Boomer and Officer MacCarthy are now watching Annabelle playing with Mrs. MacCarthy and Buttercup.

"Thanks again young man. Thanks to you, I'm able to see this sight of my family become a reality." Officer MacCarthy said to the sand-blonde teenager.

"Nah, I don't think I should be thanked. I mean...I'm essentially there when it happened." Boomer tried to downplay his act, truly believing that he is not deserving of such praises. After all, Boomer did hesitate when he heard the Officer MacCarthy's cry for help.

"But you acted Boomer. You acted. You could be there and you could ignore me and get away. But you helped me. And fate would have it that you also helped saved my soon-to-be daughter as well along with Buttercup. If it were not for you, Buttercup here would also fall during that orphanage attack." Officer MacCarthy said while taking in a deep breath. Boomer is now quiet, not knowing what to say given the situation.

"You're a hero in my eyes Boomer. You saved me from being killed. You saved my wife from the grief of my death. You saved Annabelle from being killed by that fiend. You saved Buttercup as the fiend almost killed her. You saved those people in the orphanage. If that is not heroism, what is?" The middle-aged man asked Boomer, but Boomer remained silent.

"The attacks...it happened because they knew isn't it?" Officer MacCarthy continued, asking the sand-blonde teenager despite knowing the answer to the question.

"Come again?" Boomer asked, not sure how to respond to the officer's inquiry.

"The attack on the orphanage. It is because they knew that Buttercup is close to them ain't it? Seeing from how Annabelle converse with Buttercup, she had known Buttercup for a very long time. Would understand why Buttercup didn't tell anyone about it. Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret. It is the least I can do."

"Thanks." Boomer thanked Officer MacCarthy, but the man pats Boomer's back.

"But Buttercup need to stay away from the orphanage for a while, as it would protect those in the orphanage and also Buttercup." The man smiled before walking slowly on his crutches towards Annabelle, Buttercup and his wife. Boomer is left to think about the man's advice.

* * *

It is a long day for both teenagers and they are now riding the train back to Little Tokyo.

The paperwork for the adoption are still in process, and it will take another few more days for the adoption to officially go through. However, the MacCarthys and Annabelle are now doing their best to bond before they can finally take her home to be part of their family. At the meantime, Father Maxwell assured Boomer and Buttercup that when the adoption paperworks and procedures are done, he would invite them to the farewell party cum welcoming party for Annabelle and it is best that they don't come until then. So with nothing much to do, they decided that it is time to go back.

Boomer watches the people passing by while Buttercup leaning and dozing off on his shoulder. Here they are, riding back together on a train and Buttercup being comfortable enough to take a nap on his shoulder. This sight is something Boomer would not be able to imagine a few weeks ago, but one way or another Boomer and Buttercup are bonding in a way he never knew it is possible. Boomer wondered if this is how friends are made. He had never gotten a friend before, and he wondered if everyone goes through this process when they are making friends. Boomer thought that of all the people he would think of being a friend, Buttercup would be the furthest away from that idea.

"Mister, may I sit next to you?" Boomer snapped out from his thoughts and turned to see a soft-spoken young boy in a black hoodie asked the sand-blonde teenager.

"Sure, go right ahead." Seeing that the seat is empty, Boomer gestured to the child that the seat is available. The child hopped on the seat, and Boomer smiled. Boomer thought to himself that the kid is particularly brave for riding on the train by himself. As Boomer is about to go back to his business of submerging himself into his thoughts, Boomer realizes that something is very wrong. His senses are all running a little out of sync, and this causes Boomer to have a very unusual and disorienting sensation.

"Him's right, you really do look rather airheaded." Boomer immediately turn around and face the child, and to his discomfort the child is now looking at him with a rather creepy smile. Boomer is visibly uncomfortable by the sudden realization that this boy is one of Him's messengers, and the demon sure has a way to come and mess with them at the most unexpected moment.

"Who the hell are you?" Boomer asked the little boy, but instead of answering the sand-blonde teenager the little boy chuckles.

"Who am I does not matter Mister, I'm just here to deliver the message; The writing's on the wall _Hermes_."

Boomer is suddenly struck by a nauseating and unpleasant feeling, that everything has gone wrong. The word that the kid had used to address him. The message. The kid itself. It is utterly nerve-wracking and somehow it had triggered something within him. Suddenly the little boy vanished from his sight and Boomer jerked back as the child vanished into thin air without him even batting his eyes. Boomer's heart is now pounding rapidly from the sudden disappearance of the little boy, and this is a sign that Him is finally making his move with the boys in tow.

Boomer turns around to see that the Powerpuff Girl is still napping on his shoulder, and Boomer looks at the Buttercup with very concerned eyes. Boomer covers his eyes with his hands, trying to figure out what on earth is Him trying to do now.


	39. Chapter 39: Buried Emotions

Author's note: Well finally after all this time, the long-awaited interaction between Brick and Buttercup is now here! Also having Brick narrate from his point of view for most of this chapter makes this chapter a little more interesting to write. Without further ado, here's the latest chapter.

Chapter 39: Buried Emotions

Hi, I'm Brick, the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys. I'm known by many names; The Crimson Terror, The Carnelian Avenger, the Blood-eyed Demon. Those are a few of my monikers, and I think there's a few more. Honestly, I don't remember all of them. Right beside me is Buttercup, the strongest and toughest of the Powerpuff Girls.

"Brick, is that you? Seriously you need to move your arm off my ass!"

To be fair, she does has a very nice ass. I can see why Butch is particularlly enthralled by her butt. But this is not the time or the place to enjoy such a sensation. Why you asked?

"I can't help it when we are stuck under this ridiculous amount of rubble, especially when your hand is on my crotch Buttercup!"

There you go. We are currently trapped under a pile of rubble. With my hand on her as and her hand in my crotch.

"Oh god, that's your crotch?!Gross!"

"Then why don't you just blast your way out then Buttercup?!"

You must also be wondering by now; why are we still staying here under the rubble ?Why don't we just blast our way out from this you say? Well...

"Well, ex-cuse me! It is not like I can blast out when there's other people buried with us!"

Hoped that explained the situation. We're stuck under the rubble with a bunch of people, and honestly if we blast our way out, these people will not be leaving with just a bad mood. Seriously, you must be wondering; How did we end up like this? We're superhumans with superpowers for crying out loud. Well, this needs some explaining and thus we need to turn back to a few hours ago. I'll have to leave this part to the narrator to allow everyone to catch up.

 _Thanks Brick. I'll take it from here._

* * *

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, 12.30pm]

The city of Townsville! it is a rather fine day and oh...what's this?

We see Brick walking around the gritty streets of downtown Townsville in disguise, his red iris masked by blue contact lenses while he is dressed in a much more urban style with a dark brown hoodie and blue jeans pants. His head is covered by his hoodie, concealing his distinctive strawberry blonde hair. His steps are slow and steady but his eyes are alert and scanning his environment quickly. As he navigated his way through the streets he saw a graffiti on the wall with a Russian Cyrillic script and a stylied bear's head with a hammer and sickle painted on it. Brick realized that he had just arrived at the borders of the Ghetto.

The Ghetto. The area nicknamed the Ghettto comprises of Little Moscow, Little Italy, The Jewish Quarter and the Irish Quarter and these areas are the most obvious when it comes to knowing who controls the area. The area is cordoned off by the US military and from what Brick had found out, it is a constant war zone to wrestle control of the Ghetto from the Lunatics. The Lunatics are oddly enough the aggressors in this tug of war, and the US military is ill-equipped to contain them. It is only through the efforts of Professor Utonium- derived texhnology are they able to hold the enhanced brutes back. With every passing day, more and more sightings of Candy-infused brutes are coming in and there will be a point where they will break through.

Brick looked around and he saw an open window and decides to climb into the window. Brick entered the window with ease and soon find himself staring at a few men, armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles are looking back at him.

"What the-?" One of the armed men blurted out.

 _Great_ , Brick said in his mind. Brick decided that he is not going to waste his time with them. With a blink of an eye, the gangsters immediately fell down unconscious with foam in their mouth. Brick walks over them, knowing well that the fear aura that he had honed on Mojo Jojo's island is much more potent than before. Usually a few of them would be screaming their lungs out but now it seems that it is so oppressive that it just cuts then out from reacting at all. Slowly but surely, Brick walks out from the room to find even more individuals armed with small arms lying on the ground unconscious with eyed rolled up and foam in their mouth. He looked around and he saw several individuals lying down unconscious on the stairs, and it appear that they collapsed where they stood.

Brick takes a deep breath and as his nose register the smells of his surroundings,he is reminded of Aleppo. The dusty and chalky smell of grounded masonry and concrete is contrasted with the smell of burning gasoline and acrid and sour metallic-tinged smell of gunpowder fills the air. The faint but sickeningly sweet, dry metalic scent of bloodalong with the more horrid smell of feces and urine fused with the other smell to provide an utterly overwhelming smell.

"Back to a true war zone." Brick chided as he takes his steps on the staircase, carefully avoiding the unconscious armed men.

As Brick walked up the narrow passage of the stairs, he wondered how did these people even manage to arm themselves like the insurgents in third world conflicts. He soon com face to face with a door , the only thing between him and the roof of the building. With a kick, the door panel slams down on the concrete floor. Brick walks out towards the roof and his eyes are greeted with a scene all too familiar to the red-haired teenager.

Columns of burning smoke rises from the neighborhoods that comprises the Ghetto, the distinctive sound of gunfire and military-grade explosions breaking through the silence from time to time. Several buildings were already demolished by the conflict and Brick is still amazed at how similar the scene is to all the urban warzones he had participated during his time as a mercenary.

But this time there is one thing that is quite different than the rest.

Three streaks of lights entered into the Ghetto, and Brick recognize the distinctive streaks of light. The Powerpuff Girls are at it again. The three girls are now clearing the problematic crooks again. With his enhanced sight, he is able to discern the three Powerpuff Girls beating the living daylights out of the crooks to the cheers of the US military forces from several blocks away. Buttercup in particular seem to not know mercy even if it stared her in the face as she pummels one of them down to the ground with such force that Brick feels the tremors of her blows from where he is. This is also a good way to see what the girls are packing these days, seeing that he only seen Blossom in action before.

Indeed, this is one of the reasons why Brick decided to enter into the Ghetto.

Brick is observing the Ghetto every few days for three reasons. The first reason is to better understand the neighborhood just in case the Rowdyruff Boys are forced to enter or worse, escape this place. Secondly, he is here to observe the elements of Him's forces in action to better understand them and also to better neutralize them if he were to face them in a hostile situation once more. The third reason, which is now being granted by the presence of the Powerpuff Girls, is to observe how the Powerpuff Girls fight and work together. His cynicism is particularly strong, especially when his two brothers are now a little more open with the Powerpuff Girls. In many ways, they are now more or less allies of convenience due to how Him's schemes had inadvertently dragged them all into this mess. Him is the one that brought the Rowdyruff Boys here to Townsville for a task, but at the same time, Him is also the one that forced this particular situation with the Powerpuff Girls.

As Brixk watches, he noticed that Buttercup's sisters are already taking out the injured soldiers from the war zone, whereas Buttercup just blasted another Candyman with what appears to be a fireball or to be exact a firestorm. The whole street in front of Buttercup is engulfed in flames.

"Damn..."

Brick is impressed with Buttercup's raw combat abilities,for her attacks were particularly vicious and effective. His eyes however soon moved away from Buttercup and he is now looking at Bubbles reassuring the soldiers that they will be fine and consoling them. She is seen assisting one of the military medic in tending to the wounded and this image of Bubbles teating the wounded puts a small smile on Brick's face.

Bubbles is certainly the most caring and the sweetest among the Powerpuff Girls, Brick thought to himself.

* * *

[La Galeria, Uptown Townsville, 3.30pm]

Brick is now sitting on a bench around La Galeria, the upscale Townsville Shopping Complex, looking around the area and seeing people doing their shopping. Brick wondered why on earth did he choose this particularly upscale area to waste his time. The contrast of these unsuspecting individuals going about their daily lives is very different than the gritty and violent scene from the Ghetto. This is a fact of life; the world is a world of contrast. But this is why Brick is always cynical and even pessimistic of the world. Watching the world now with his crimson eyes hurts, and he wonder if it is because he is privy to seeing the world in such a cynical manner. That...or the contact lenses in his eyes is drying up. Brick's irritated eyes is suggesting that it is the latter.

"Well, time to take them out." Brick said to himself as he gently puts the tip of his finger into one of his eye. As he slowly takes the first contact lens out from his eye, he noticed the shadow of a figure standing before him. Seeing that it doesn't concern him, he went on taking out the second contact lens from his eye.

"Brick?' A husky feminine voice asked as Brick took out the second contact lens from his eye. Brick raise his head up to see a handsome young woman with short undercut bowl-cut black hair with bright green highlights is now looking at him with her bright peridot eyes. As he puts the contact lenses back into its case, Brick looks at the atheletically-build woman with his natural crimson eyes.

"Huh, didn't expect you here, Buttercup" Brick said in a dismissive manner as he puts the contact lens case into his pocket and leans back while resting his elbows on the back rest, essentially hanging his arms on the top of of the back rest.

"The same can be said about you." Buttercup snarked back as she folds her arms around her torso."Fair enough." Brick said as Brick decided to pull back his hoodie and combs out his long braided strawberry orange hair and let it rest on his shoulders. Buttercup finds it odd that despite his rather edgy boyish looks and his rather intimidating and harsh mannerism, Brick's braided hair is rather smooth and luscious, feminine even. His hair really reminds Buttercup of her own red-haired sister.

"Ain't your brothers with you?" Buttercup asked.

"Nah, they got their own things to do." Brick said, knowing that he had lied to the Powerpuff Girl. He intentionally sneaked out of the house without his brothers knowing in order to observe the Ghetto and get his own intelligence about the area and Him's forces. That saying, the Rowdyruff Boys do tend to sneak out and do their own thing from time to time, so Brick is not obligated to inform his brothers of what he is doing now.

"I see." Buttercup decided to invite herself to sit beside the empty spot on the bench, and Brick realize that there is not reason to refuse the Powerpuff Girl. Brick's nose immediately picked out the faint but sickly sweet stench of dried blood on Buttercup, and the smell has the particular odor of a Candyman.

"Seems like you were in a fight just now...Candymen?" Brick asked, knowing that he actually knew the answer to that question. The boyish girl gives him a rather feminine cheeky smile, and Brick is surprised that Buttercup is able to smile, let alone have feminine characteristics.

"Yeah, they never knew what hit'em." Buttercup grinned.

"Hmm..." Brick verbally said his pause, not sure how to continue on the conversation with the tomboyish Powerpuff Girl.

To be honest, Buttercup and Brick do not have anything in particular to say to each other. His brothers are closer to Buttercup than he is; Butch consider her as a worthy opponent that he wants to best one day, while Boomer has what Brick consider a very interesting relationship with the Powerpuff Girl. As for the Powerpuff Girls, Brick finds himself gravitating towards Bubbles only because he had the most contact with her, being his parole officer and also near-constant lunch partner. Blossom on the other hand is more or less his counterpart, but much more cheerful and also more meticulous. Not to mention a little more uptight. But Buttercup? Not much, other than those fights from long ago, and also indirect knowledge of her from his siblings. He also needs to remember that the cooking that Bubbles sometime brings with her to their lunches was prepared by Buttercup. Buttercup made a number of those, and Brick gives his compliments to the chef.

The same can be said about Buttercup's perceptions of Brick. Buttercup had always considered Brick to be the most reserved among his brothers but at the same time the most assertive. Some way or another, Brick is always mysterious at best and unapproachable at worst. This is in contrast to his brothers as they are relatively straightforward beings; Butch is an emotional bloodthisty musclehead while Boomer is a decent goof with a good heart,though sometimes he can be a little irritating. Buttercup honestly had never interacted with Brick on any deeper level,and her shallow recollection of her interactions with him is often tinted with antagonistic emotions. The last time they talked, they almost brawled in the cafeteria and that is around two months ago. Nothing bonds them at all except their blue-eyed siblings interactions drew them more or less in the same boat. Boomer befriended her more or less and is the only other person who knows her secret, while Bubbles apparently sees something in this moody redhead to hang out with him for lunch.

Both Brick and Buttercup are now sitting on the bench in an awkward silence, knowing that there is nothing in common between both of them. Unless they were both in a fight, or if they are inadvertedly drawn into a compromising situation.

 _Boom_!

"What the heck is that?" Buttercup said out loud, knowing immediately that trouble is in the air. The muffled exploding sounds are slowly but surely coming closer to where they are,the ground trembling and shaking with each ascendingly louder sound. Brick responded to Buttercup with a single calm and poised line.

"Trouble."

Suddenly, Brick and Buttercup were engulfed by the caving ground below.

And now back to you, Brick.

* * *

So here we are, buries under the rubble with my hand of Buttercup's fine ass. Looking upwards, I can only see rubble and debris. Right now if I wanted to blast my way out, I'll do it in a heartbeat. Alas Miss Superhero here is not making it easy for us. Someway or another, we need to get out of the rubble.

"So what do you propose?"

"Just...just let me think okay?"

"You can think?" I can't help but to poke fun at Buttercup. Immediately, I regretted my decision when I felt a vice-like grip on my manhood. Oh god that hurts. Reminded myself that her hand is still on my manhood, and she will not hesitate to crush it if I've done something wrong in her eyes.

"Do that again, and I'll crush it all." Buttercup said with a deadpan voice, which disguises her anger and hurt feelings.

"O-ok." Man, do I sound so meek. How did Boomer even get along with her that well to begin with? I would need to talk to my brother on this.

"Brick, can you see if there are other people around us?"

"Can't you-" A vice-like grip ensured my obedience to the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"I'm facing down on the ground idiot!"

Man, it hurts being called an idiot by Buttercup of all people. Can't a guy ask a question? Anyway I looked around to see if there were really people around us. I looked around with my X-ray vision and I come to find out that there were several figures buried around us. I switched to my infrared to see if these people are still alive or not and some appear to be breathing, though some are more or less dead.

"Three people are alive. One at around twelve feet above us while two others are about fifteen feet above us. I've spotted a few others but I believe they're dead. No body heat or anything coming out from those bodies."

Buttercup is quiet for a while,and I would assume that she is just digesting all this information in her head.

"Damn it..." Buttercup couldn't help it once she heard what I had to say about the situation.

Seeing the situation, we're hard-pressed, no pun intended, for time. If we don't get out from here, who knows what is going to happen. But at the same time, blasting our butts out of here means we may have to forsake the three survivors above us. Personally, I'll still blast my way out of here, but Buttercup here is a bona-fide hero. She'll never agree to what I will suggest. If I even dare to do anything, she'll crush my manhood. Not to my best interest at all. Also, we don't really need oxygen to survive so waiting till she fall unconscious before blasting out from here is out of the question.

"We're trapped here until they take us out or they decided to abandon us and the other survivors. Nothing we can do about it if we don't want to move out from here by force. Meanwhile I'm gonna take a rest. wake me up if there's anything."

Buttercup didn't answer me, but she knows that my point is just. Looks like we're in it for the long haul. Fortunately for me, I'm not claustrophobic, and so's Buttercup. I'll just leave her to her own device for now, while I close my eyes to take some rest.

* * *

I honestly don't know how long I've rested, but when I woke up I find that the pressure from the rubble is a little more than before I rested.

"Buttercup, are you awake?"

It took her a while to answer me, but she answered me in the end. Her voice is a little hoarse and huskier than before, and somehow one way or another it sounds particularly sensual. Not sure why I'm thinking tha the boyish Buttercup is attractive in such a way.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking if you're still here."

"Right." Buttercup is definitely not convinced of my inquiry, but at least she's not squeezing me.

"Anyway, if another guy's in my situation, he'll think this is all worth it. A nice butt in his hand and the girl's hands on his stuff." I honestly tried to joke about the situation, but I know that I'm treading on volatile grounds here.

"That's new, no one ever told me that I'm attractive." Buttercup answered back without any hint of wit. Are you serious Buttercup? Boys, girls and even some of the teachers talked about how attractive you are, especially your butt and you don't have a clue? Is she thick or what? But right now I need to not insult her obliviousness.

"I heard from the others guys that you're one of the three 'Untouchable Beauties' alongside your sisters. Pics of your smiling face has a market price. That and your ass." Buttercup paused for a while, and I wonder if she is rolling her eyes. However, based on her answer she honestly was stunned that people are willing to pay for pictures of her.

"You're really serious. Wow... and here I thought that Brick is trying to tell a joke about the pictures being real."

"Yeah...you ought to be more aware of your surroundings, Buttercup." I'm clearly expecting a clamping sensation,but fortunately it didn't happen.

"Speaking about that...how's the three survivors?" Buttercup asked as she was reminded of the survivors that forced us to not get out from here guns blazing. That saying, I obliged to check on the survivors.

"Well, so far they're fine..." I lied. The one closest to us is not radiating body heat anymore. That guy bit the dust. If all the 'survivors' are dead, I would just tell her that and blast my way out from it. Unfortunately, the two that were closest to the surface are still alive and that put a damper on my preferred plan.

"Good to hear that. Thanks Brick."

"No prob."

"So Brick..what were you doing in La Galeria anyway? Guys don't go to La Galeria." Buttercup asked me and I don't think that this should be a question that I should struggle answering.

"For me, I'm just wasting some time after my foray into the Ghetto." I don't have a reason to lie to Buttercup, and honestly I don't have to reveal everything to Buttercup. The less she knows, the better.

"Wait...you're in the Ghetto today as well?" Buttercup didn't conceal her surprise at my presence in the Ghetto and she certainly didn't disguise her presence at the Ghetto. The subtle smell of blood and Red Candy is plain for my superhuman senses to detect.

"Yeah. Been doing such forays for a while now. Also, you're in the Ghetto earlier? Well, that explains why you have that Candy smell on you Buttercup." I lied. I know that she was in the Ghetto earlier with her sisters as I observed them from a distance away.

"Yeah just saving some people and bashing some Candymen in the Ghetto. Anyway, doesn't seem that you're involved in any trouble while you're in the Ghetto."

" Nothing too drastic, and also no news on where the leaders were. My stuff are just some sneaking around and investigating stuff, that's all. "

"Huh...not bad Brick. Not bad at all. You managed to sneak in." Buttercup gave her compliments on my recon skills. Of course, Boomer is way better than I am, but I consider myself decent in tracking and reconnaissance missions.

"What can I say, when you're a mercenary you learn a few things." I immediately realized my folly and Buttercup caught on to it fast.

"Mercenary? You're a merc?!" I cursed under my breathe, realizing that I revealed more than I should. Not cool, Brick. not cool at all. Looks like the cat's out of the bag, and time to make it brief and simple.

"How'd you think we Rowdyruff Boys survived without Him and Mojo Jojo all these years before Miss Morningstar took us in?" I hoped that would make things a little easier. I was proven wrong.

"That made a lot of sense now...that's how he get all that cash." Buttercup voiced out her thoughts and immediately I knew she was talking about one of my brothers. Or to be exact one of my brothers. This prompted a question from me.

"What did Boomer do this time?" Based on how my brothers interacted with the Powerpuff Girls, I deduced that it must be Boomer. Butch doesn't hang out with Buttercup despite them being in the same MMA club. Boomer on the other hand had been dissapearing very often on regular intervals and the time at the Utonium residence really made the interaction between the two glaringly clear.

"How did you? I mean...ur...nothing?" Buttercup's sudden attempt to avoid the question raised a red flag in my mind. Boomer and Buttercup had been rather close these past few months. Looks like it's time to find out why.

"Anyway Buttercup, just curious; what's going on with Boomer and you? " I suddenly heard a very loud coughing from Buttercup ,as if she's choking on something.

"What the hell?!" Buttercup sounds really flustered, and it seems that I hit something interesting.

"I mean...don't you two just get along just too well? Is there something between you two Buttercup?"

"What about you and Bubbles !? You guys are almost dating more or less!" Well, that escalated quickly. Buttercup struck back with her own statement and I'm stunned. I need to recompose myself fast. Must not succumb to this counterattack.

"Wait-"

"You guys are having lunches together almost everyday for crying out loud Brick! My sister never looked so excited when she prepare her lunches with anyone, not even her friends!"

Strike one. Admittedly Bubbles is always very excited when we have our lunches together. Sure, she talks a lot but somehow I had learned to get uses to it and know a bit about her life. Like how she struggle with math classes precisely because she don't see the point of overcomplicating ways to count things and how she is worried about her friend Sally that is not confident of doing a role in the upcoming stage. Plus, she is always very happy when I said that the lunch she made is delicious. Speaking about that...why did she make those lunches for me anyway?

"Also Bubbles always knew when to find you even after the detention observations!"

Strike two. That is an astute observation. I had wondered for a while on how Bubbles is able to track my whereabouts with unnering accuracy despite my best efforts to avoid her, or just seem to appear for some reason like that time the purple-haired girl tried to confess to me and I ran off.

"Also, your expression when you found out how badly she's injured after that battle at the base...You look like you're half-dead. It was only when she's awake did you look more alive."

Buttercup's voice turned from a flustered anger to something much more gentler than before. This point is something I'm not aware about. How am I not aware of this? I tried to respond, but it appeared that the cat caught my tongue. It seems something inside of me also knew of this. Buttercup is much more observant or aware about stuff than I thought. I would need to reevaluate my opinions about her.

"Every time Bubbles' around you,your expression turned softer and every time you're around her, Bubbles' a little more radiant. Bubbles can be a little ditzy and clueless about her own state, but I know that somehow she likes you."

I didn't say anything, knowing that I don't have the right words for the situation.I never though that Bubbles looks at me that way. I never thought of Bubbles that way or to be exact, I thought about Bubbles a little deeper than I though, but chose to shrug it off. This is particularly unpleasant to realize as that is some heavy emotional baggage I'm carrying right now.

"Brick... All I ask right now is for you to not take advantage of her honest feelings for you."

Buttercup's words were honest and I can sense that it comes from the deepest part of her heart. If Buttercup could see me right now, I would be nodding my head. It was then that I noticed something peculiar.

"Buttercup, I'm seeing a lot of people on the surface. Looks like the rescue party's here."

* * *

[La Galeria, Uptown Townsville, 9.30pm]

Blossom and Bubbles are helping out at the site of the La Galeria bombing for a few hours now, carrying the larger pieces of rubble to allow for the rescuers to get to the survivors. For Blossom and Bubbles, their particular zeal in removing the rubble is very specific; Buttercup had informed them that she will be at La Galeria to get some clothing items and she had not returned home since then. They were worried that she might be ambushed in La Galeria, and innocent civilians are trapped in the struggle.

"We've found survivors!" One of the rescuers cries out and immediately Blossom and Bubbles dashes towards the source of the voice. Blossom and Bubbles were greeted with a very particular sight; Brick is looking directly at them, half buried in the rubble while his arm appears to be on a woman's butt,while the woman is lying face down with her hand on his crotch.

"Brick?" Blossom is clearly not expecting Brick to be in La Galeria. It was then that Buttercup rose up fro the rubble and dust herself before turning around to face her sisters.

"Finally, I'm out of here. Thanks guys." Buttercup thanked her sisters.

"Oh...hi." Brick greeted the two Powerpuff Girls with a rather hoarse voice. Bubbles on the other hand is looking at Brick in a very particular way, and this is the first time Brick saw Bubbles looking at him in such a manner; the look of great concern and scorn. Somehow it hurts him more than it should.

"What...are...you...doing...with...Brick?" Bubbles' voice is trembling as she asked her raven-haired sister. Buttercup looks at her blonde sister for a while before she looks down at Brick while giving him a subtle wink disguised as a twitch. All this happened in a split second before Buttercup's face contorted into an expression of disgust and surprise.

"Wait...Brick? So you're the one I'm talking to all this time?" Buttercup said, catching all the superhumans by surprise. Brick immediately noticed Buttercup's subtlety and played along. Brick is impressed that Buttercup is such a good actor.

"Wait...the ass that I was holding on is Buttercup's? Ah shit..." Brick lamented and he planted his palm on his face.

"If I knew you're Brick, I wouldn't have talked to you." She huffed and looked away from him.

"And if I knew you're Buttercup, I would have blasted my way out of here and let the rubble collapsed on ya." Brick rises up and dust himself clean.

"Oh...That's a relief!" Bubbles suddenly said in a more cheerful voice, and somehow the heavy expression that she had before is all gone. Brick looked at Bubbles and realized that whatever Buttercup said about her sister is right on the mark. She's not aware that she is emotionally affected by the presence of Brick and Buttercup together.

"Well, anyway thanks for getting me out of the rubbles girls. I'll be going off now." Brick said to the girls before he hovers upwards from the debris. Bubbles is looking at the ascending figure before she sensed a nudge at her arm. She turned around to see a rather dusty Buttercup looking at her and pointing her head upwards towards Brick.

"You ought to check up on him. See if he is alright. I'll just let Blossom here take a look at me." Buttercup beckons her pigtailed sister. Bubbles hovered to where Brick is without any hesitation and the Rowdyruff Boy and the Powerpuff Girl immediately started conversing with each other. Buttercup lets out a small smile before Blossom comes up to Buttercup to check her condition.

"Good call on letting Bubbles check up on Brick. Are you alright Buttercup?" Blossom said as she scanned her sister for any injuries, not aware that Buttercup intentionally set Bubbles with an opportunity to speak to Brick. Buttercup gives a smirk before she answers her red-haired sister.

"Just fine."

* * *

"Brick!"

I heard the youthful girl's voice as I was suddenly approached in mid-air by the blonde pigtailed Powerpuff Girl with the blue zircon eyes. Her eyes are now filled with a deep concern and I felt obliged to talk to her. No point trying to avoid her for no good reason, I thought.

"Yes, Bubbles?"

"Let me take a look at you." Bubbles looked up and down, scanning me with her X-ray vision. Somehow, Bubbles checking up on me like that is really nice. If it were his brothers, they would already bicker or try to jab his open wounds. His brothers are world-class idiots. Her hands suddenly touched my cheeks and I reflexively jumped away, scaring her in the process. I realized that my reflexes is now my bane and I apologized.

"Sorry about that... but I'm fine. It takes a whole lot more to bring me down." I assures her and her silence is rather unusual. She is usually a little more chattier and this sudden quietness is really odd. Despite her nodding her head at my assurance, but I don't think she's buying it too well.

"I didn't expect you to be in La Galeria at all. And with Buttercup at that too." I can sense a tinge of displeasure when she mentioned the last part. Is this what they called jealousy?

"What's wrong Bubbles?" I asked as I landed down on the ground. Bubbles is unusually quiet as she landed beside me. and both of us walked for a short distance before she made her next move. Bubbles wanted to say something, but she hesitated for a moment before she found the courage to speak up.

"I'm glad that you're alright...but I don't like how your hand is on Buttercup's butt. And how her hand is at your..." Bubbles stopped herself, and I knew that she is ticked off about the compromising position that Buttercup and myself were in. The way she's behaving is not like the Bubbles I knew, and somehow Buttercup's words are ringing in my mind. Is it true that she likes me? Seriously, I am not so good with girls. Bubbles is a near exception, but that's because I think I had gotten used to her. But right now, it felt like that first day in high school all over again.

"I...I...I don't know. But I don't feel so good about it, and I don't like seeing you like that." Bubbles continued on, and that in turn made me particularly self-conscious. Bubbles suddenly blushed, and stopped in her track realizing what she had just said to me. I'm not even sure how to react in this situation. Why am I so awkward in this situation to begin with anyway? Damn Buttercup, making me have all these weird thoughts about Bubbles.

"Um...I sorry if I made you mad in anyway." I apologized, despite me not being in the wrong. Hell, I don't even know what else I'm supposed to say. Bubbles also realized that she is putting me at a very odd situation with her uncharacteristically crazy mode. She covered her mouth and she looked away from me, as if to avoid me.

"No...it's my fault. I don't know what came over me." Bubbles apologized, and that made me feel even more weirder than before. Both of us walked for a little while with nothing else to say to each other. Somehow I knew that this has to end somehow. If only Break was here to help him, but I reminded myself that-

"You wanna fly me home? I could use the company." Wait, hold on for one second. Did I just said that? What the hell Brick?

 _Don't say I didn't help you Brick._

Once I heard that voice, I immediately flipped in my mind. Son of a bitch! Break just took over my mouth for a second! I though I had my body under control! As I try to figure out how to salvage the situation,Bubbles stare at me with an initial expression of surprise before she gives out a wide grin. She must have seen me panicked a little as she giggled with a wide grin.

"I'll be happy to fly you home." Somehow, her smile and her radiance is such that if I were a demonic being, I would be shielding my eyes from her radiant smile. I inwardly sigh, but somehow I'm not sighing from annoyance. I'm sighing because I'm relieved that I'm able to see her being herself once more. Somehow, Break managed to not be a dick this time.

"Alright, cool. Let's go."

* * *

The flight back is particularly peaceful and we talked to each other as we flew back to my home. Bubbles had mentioned that once she sent me back,she need to return to the La Galeria scene to help out with the rescue operations alongside her sisters. As we landed in front of the porch of Miss Morningstar's home, I realized that my short time with Bubbles is coming to an end.

"Well, thanks for the flight back Bubbles. Much appreciated."

"It's my pleasure." Bubbles answered me back, and somehow it felt good.

"Anyway, I'm off for the night. Good night Bubbles."

"Good night Brick. See you when I see you!" Bubbles waved at me before she burst off in a streak of light blue light. I waved as the streak of blue light heads off towards Townsville once more. Somehow everything seems right for that moment. It was then that I felt a particularly jarring sensation, as if I was whirling and spinning around from a great height, and my sense of balance is particularly off. Am I suffering from vertigo? No...this is not it. This is something else entirely. I called out towards the darkness,seeking the source of the jarring presence.

"Come out, I know you're out there."

"Very sharp of you to notice me."

Suddenly the jarring sensation is all but gone. An ethereally beautiful and attractive woman with bright blue eyes and milk-white skin appeared from the darkness, her pale skin appeared to light up the dark night around them. The woman pushes her free hanging locks away from her face, and as as she walked towards me, her waist-length dark brown hair tied in a braid moved like a serpent mimicking the movement of her hips. The only thing marring her otherwise beautiful features is a scar on one of her cheek in the form of a tilted cross.

"You."

"So she's Bubbles. She is a really beautiful young lady." Renée looks at the fading streak of light blue light on the dark sky. This is bad. What is she doing here? IF she's here, there's something really bad about to happen.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to deliver a message from our infernal majesty; The holiday break is over for you and your brothers, _Hades_. Time to get to work." Suddenly I felt that something is extremely wrong, and it felt like my world had just shattered. Before I can even ask Renée what is going on, she disappeared in a wisp of reddish-pink smoke. I breathe deeply, knowing that there is no point trying to do anything about this particular situation. But what is she talking about?

The puzzle of what Him wants is now more convoluted than ever, and honestly he needs to talk to his brothers about this.


	40. Chapter 40: Fear and Tears

Chapter 40: Fears And Tears

[Townsville High, 11.00am]

Blossom is clearly distracted in her history class. It does not help that fully three quarters of her class is not in school today.

This is now a common occurrence in Townsville High ever since the La Galeria bombings two weeks ago, as more parents are concerned to put their parents to any place that resembles a public gathering spot. The Lunatics, in their audacious and systematic application of terror and crime in and also their rise in the underworld throughout the United States of America had transcended the normal threshold of an organized crime syndicate in terms of reach and terrorist organizations in terms of sheer military might. This anarchic confederacy had in essence became a proto-state within the American system and all cities are now a front line in the mysterious objectives of the Lunatics. Blossom wondered what is the point of going to school if even the teachers are afraid of coming to school, but Professor Utonium is very particular about his girls' education and also their significance of being a beacon of hope and normalcy in this most trying time for Townsville.

Blossom started to draw a rough map of Townsville, trying to distract herself from the monotony of her teacher's voice and try to remember the members of the loosely-affiliated confederacy of this anarchic organization that is now terrorizing America. Blossom had painstakingly ensured that the information is available for the girls and also the Attorney-General's office to use against these people.

Blossom drew the symbol of a bat perching on a crescent on the areas considered to be the Spanish-speaking enclaves within Townsville of Little Havana, Little Manila, and El Barrio. This is the domain of Los Noches, the most powerful Hispanic street gang in the whole of Townsville and also the fastest growing gang in the whole of America. They had made it a habit of marking out law enforcement authorities, and in the case of Townsville, the US Peacekeeping Force as fair game and they had waged their violent and brutal form of gang warfare on the Us forces guarding the southern part of Downtown Townsville.

Next, Blossom drew the symbol of the hammer and sickle over the southeastern section of Downtown Townsville, encompassing the area known as the Ghetto, comprising of Little Moscow, Little Italy, the Jewish Quarter and the Polish Quarter. This area in particular is now under de facto control of the Medved Bratva, and while they lacked in numbers, they more than made it up with sheer brutality and military-like raids and ambushes on the US Peacekeeping Forces. The two areas under Los Noches and Medved Bratva is essentially a large sprawling urban warfare zone the like which can only be rivaled by the foreign urban war zones of Syria, Iraq and the Philippines often seen in American media. The gangs ensured that no one gets in, while the US Military ensured with much difficulty that nothing comes out.

These two gangs are more or less waging war against the establishment and to their embarrassment, they are winning against the government.

Blossom moved on towards the eastern part of Downtown Townsville and started to draw a doodle of a cat over the area of Chinatown, Little Tokyo and Koreatown. This, Blossom knew, is the territory of the Heavenly Tiger Society, or at least that is how it is translated into English. This gang is at least, on the surface, much less violent than those of the other two gangs in the south. However, their leader is particularly infamous for storming into the Townsville Police Department and essentially wiping it out in one strike. Tigress' forces blended themselves within the community, and it is proving hard for the American forces to get them out from these Asian enclaves.

However, the remaining leaders of the Lunatic outfit is now in hiding and it is particularly hard for the authorities to look for these Lunatic leaders. The one Blossom codename the Spider is particularly elusive, as well as his role in the whole confederation though there are still sightings of the man in the various areas under Lunatic control. The one that attacked the Maxwell orphanage was never heard of again, and Blossom wondered where that person went. Last but not least, the mysterious lady that appeared in the Fort Marks base whom Blossom recognized as the French lady that had an influence on the Rowdyruff Boys. Based on the footage that Blossom managed to get, Renée's powers are particularly potent, just as potent as those of Tigress. Indeed the Fort Marks invasion was reinforced by the two Lunatics before they disappeared from the gangs and these leaders are all violent and brutal, but Blossom is clueless about their final objectives for their acts of violence is often accompanied by a supernatural cunning and intellect in its execution. This worries Blossom even more, as there is no logic in their actions, but the violence is calculated.

They should not be rash in their actions, for they had something up their sleeves. Blossom clearly hoped that her sisterd did not do anything particularly reckless and stupid.

* * *

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, 4.00pm]

Buttercup had decided to sneak into the Ghetto to try and find out who is responsible for the La Galeria attack. Based on Blossom's debriefing the other day, it appear that the attack was done by Medved, the leader of the Russian Mafia outfit that shared his name. Now she needs to figure out how to get to him without alerting the rest of his outfit.

"Perhaps by first dressing to blend in." The sudden boyish voice causes the Powerpuff Girl to turn her head over her shoulders to discern the owner of the voice. Staring back at her is a teenage boy with a black strapped jacket with gray wool around the rims of the collar, wearing dark blue jeans and dark blue sneakers. The teenage boy's long waist -length hair is let loose and wild while he wears rimless sunglasses. Buttercuo looked at the teenager for a moment, before the teenager decides to lift his sunglasses up to reveal his crimson red eyes.

"Brick?"

"I'm amazed that you just came in here without any disguise. You're just asking for it, aren't you?"

"Bite me."

"Suit yourself." Brick said nonchalantly as he cover his eyes once more with his sunglasses. Brick walks pass Buttercup in a very leisurely pace,and soon enough Buttercup trails behind him.

"What brings you here in the Ghetto anyway?" Brick asked Buttercup.

"Just wanting to find out who's tue exact culprit for the bombjng the other day."

"Well, at least you came to the right place Buttercup. That type of detonation and the precision of the explosions is definitely military grade explosives being blown by experienced combat sappers. Only one outfit in town got the skill to pull it off."

"What about you Brick? What's your reason?"

"My sources told me that there's a big deal going on here. Need to see what that is."

"Sources?" Buttercup asked, and Brick turns his head to face her.

""When you're in this line for a while, you will get some friends that can help." Brick gives a sly smile as he walks on. Buttercup is particularly nervous from the way Brick express himself.

Brick and Buttercup trailed down the alleyways and it soon dawned on Buttercup that Brick is very familiar with the road layouts of the Ghetto. Buttercup reasoned that the teenage boy had walked in this place almost every day to the point where he remembered the roads by heart.

"Hm...about here." Brick verbally voiced out his thoughts and soon look around to see a particular object. Before Buttercup can ask the crimson-eyed teenager what he is looking for, he jumped upwards to pull down the steps of the external stairs of tue building. Brick starts to climb up and Buttercup soon follow his example, not wanting to be left behind. Before long, both teenagers finally reach the rooftop of the building.

"What are you looking for Brick?" Brick instead walked to the ledges of the rooftop and looked down to the basketball court at the opposite end where Brick and Buttercup climbed up the stairs. Buttercup soon followed after, and the raven-haired teenager is now standing beside Brick.

"So that's the spot. And right on time at that." Brick gives a rather sly smile. Buttercup noticed several men in various garbs but all of them are wearing the same pattern for their undershirt; horizontally striped in white and light blue colors and some of the undershirts are sleeveless. The men are also heavily armed with various assault rifles, pistols and other weapons that does not seem out of place in a contested war zone.

"Seriously, these guys look really dumb. They don't even have a fashion sense. That striped shirt don't even match with their shirts." Buttercup pointed to one of the men wearing a painfully bright orange shirt over his striped undershirt with bright green pants.

"Hm...the Russians are here. I was right on the dot."

"How'd you-"

"The striped undershirt."

"No way you could tell someone's nationality from their stupid undershirt."

"I'll bet you fifty bucks for it. Wanna bet?"

"I never back down from a challenge.""Okay, your loss."

Suddenly from the other side from the basketball court, a large group of Hispanic men wearing in khahki pants, a wifebeater sleeveless t-shirts or a flannel shirt with only the top buttoned arrived with a distinctive swagger. Some of the men are wearing hairnets, while others have bandanas wrapped around their forehead halfway down over the eyes. The faces and exposed bodies of some of these Hispanic men were tattooed with Christian imagery, calligraphy, and gang symbols. Despite their various appearances, the Hispanic men had one unifying thing in common; most of their outfits are colored black and white.

"Los Noches." Buttercup whispered.

"This is interesting." Brick said with a cautious look on his face.

* * *

" _Zdravstvuyte_ Los Noches." One of the men wearing the striped shirt voiced out towards the Hispanic group. A barrel-chested man appeared from the group of striped shirt men, striking out as a particularly imposing figure. Draped on his shoulders is an olive green military trenchcoat, and underneath the make-shhift cape is a black business attire with the same undershirt as those surrounding him. The silver-haired man's face is marred by burn marks covering most of the right side of the man's face, neck and chest.

"The Bear himself. Also Buttercup, pay me fifty." Brick did not even give the chance for Buttercup to even say anything, and Buttercup grumbled."Fine. But how'd you know they're Russians.?"

"Those unique striped clothes are called telnyashkas and it was originally developed to be worn by military divers under their dry suit. It is a mark of pride and honor to wear those in the Russian military, and light blue ones are worn by Russian special forces. Says a lot about these ex-soldiers really. Wouldn't be surprised if they are still serving."

"Nerd." Buttercup said bitterly, knowing that she did take up on his bet.

"Yo, Medved." A scrawny-looking gangster walks towards the center of the court just as the large burly Russian also made his way to the center of the court."Where's Bat?"

"Sorry, but my _Ese_ got something to do down and deal with some stupid _Sureños_ and _Norteños._ They _loco_ for stealin' our dope."

"Deal is to meet with Bat. No Bat, no deal. He should know that."

"Well sorry, big guy. You have to deal with me!" The gangsters attempt at intimidation is neutralized by a one-handed choke. As the sound of the Russian's muscles tightened, the face of the Hispanic gangster is slowly losing its color.

"Ei, Ei, Ei! Let me call _Ese_ , _¿esta bien?_ " The scrawny gangster said to the burly man in a very constricted voice. The scrawny man soon takes out his phone and start making the necessary call. After a while, the scrawny man manages to contact his leader, and as if to emphasize the point Medved tightens the grip on the man's neck, causing the man to have a gaspibg squeal. He passes the phone to the Russian. With his other hand, Medved picks up the phone.

" _Hola_ Big Guy! Sorry I couldn't make it, but this particular thing I'm dealing with requires my immediate attention."

"Please tell next time. What you want."

"Fine, I'll not speak for long. Pantheon is on. Just give my boys the stuff." The call is immediately cuts off, and Medved passes the phone back to the now almost purple gangster. The gangster picks the phone before Medved lets go of him. The man drops down on the ground and started coughing and gasping for air. The burly Russian turns around to his men, and all of them are looking at him with anticipation.

"Brat'ya...PANTEON VKLYUCHEN!" The grizzled man roared.

* * *

"URRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAA!"

"UUUURRAAAAA! UUUURRAAAAA! UUUURRAAAAA! UUUURRAAAAA! UUUURRAAAAA! UUUURRAAAAA!"

Medved's men soon joined him with their fists in the air, causing the gangsters to jump at the martial display. Buttercup jumped as well, surprised by the sudden cheer. Brick however is looking at the unfolding scene with no certain amount of consternation. He knew that this is the start to something really bad, and honestly from the word that they used; Panteon. That's the word for Pantheon, and it has an eerie significance to Brick. Renée had given him a warning and used a particular phrase that struck unease in his heart; _Hades_.

Why is Brick so unsettled by the word? Did Him planted something inside his head? Was he brainwashed before he came to Townsville? These are questions that Brick is now utterly clueless about. He did not speak to his brothers yet as he had not found the appropriate time to talk about it. It seems that with this happening, it is time to pop the question to his brothers.

"Time to go." Brick informed Buttercup, knowing that he need to also tell his brothers about it.

"Yeaahhhhhhwwaaait." Buttercup stops Brick and points towards the two groups of men.

Brick focuses his attention once more to the two groups of men and soon enough several of the Russsians were bringing several cases. Buttercup is a little clueless as to the nature of the crates, but Brick immediately recognize what the cases are holding within its confines. As the crates were placed on the ground, one of the Russian thugs opens the case and takes out a very peculiar device. It looks more like a plank than anything else, but the presence of several spaces within the plank-like object reveal the plank as a rifle of sorts with a hand grip, trigger and trigger guard. Another Russian takes out a particularly long square magazine from the crate, holding what appears to be an pink gelatin-like liquid. The odd ammunition clip was passed to the Russian with the rifle and with a simple slide down its stock, the magazine clip blends into the square-like weapon.

"Oh crap."

"Brick...what is _that_?" Buttercup points towards the weird, plank-like weapon while the Russian passed the weapon to one of the Hispanic gangsters. Soon enough, the Russians are taking out four more rifles from the crates.

"That's not good at all."

"What kind of gun is that? Brick!" Buttercup tries to get through to the crimson-eyed teenager.

"It's a beam rifle. Mojo's design at that too. I can recognize that crazed simian's handiwork anywhere." Brick is now visibly uncomfortable as the crates are being passed to the other Hispanic gangsters. Brick is counting at least twenty of the crates so far, and the crates just kept on coming. Before long, the men are all opening the crates and arming themselves to the teeth.

"We can stand Mojo's beam rifles." Buttercup assured Brick.

"It still hurts though. But more importantly, the US military can't withstand this weapon. We need to tell the others."

"Got it." Buttercup immediately takes out her smartphone and takes some pictures of the gathering of crooks with guns. Suddenly one of the crooks accidentally fired his gun to the sky and the pink bolt of energy almost missed Buttercup's head. Instinctively Buttercup cried back at them, angered that they almost shot her. The crooks immediately focused at Buttercup who is now holding her phone up with one hand and flipping them the bird with the other.

"HEY DUMBASS, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE FIRING THAT...oh...shit." Buttercup realized the folly of her action as the remaining crooks looked up at both Buttercup and Brick. Brick can sense that it is now situation critical, but before any further action be taken, he had to do one thing first; he needs to slap his palm on his face and groan.

"Urghhhhhh."

Suddenly several more beam bolts are now bolting at them, and the two teenagers are now dodging the beams as they riddled the building with cleanly burned-through holes. Brick immediately understood that they do not have much time to lose. They need to get out from this place fast, but at the same time he needs to neutralize the anti-air from these weapons."If a fight is what they want, it's a fight they shall have!"

Brick watches as the swirling winds start to form behind her shoulders and a loud boom is heard before Brick realizes that Buttercup is gone. He ran towards the edge of the rooftop and immediately see a scene of carnage unfolding before him. The crooks were trying to fire at her, but she is moving far too fast for them to even get a chance to aim at her. Their blind firing only made things worse for them as they started to bring down several of their own men. Several clusters of men were blown back from Buttercup's blow and they crashed into their own allies with such force that they were all lifted off the ground and burst into the surrounding buildings.

"She's violent." Brick said to himself as he watches the unfolding fight.

The Lunatic known as Medved is now looking at the ensuing chaos, and now his eyes are moving around to catch the motions of the Powerpuff Girl beating his own underlings and the Los Noches gangsters. At first he sees nothing. But then a blur appears. One of the men closest to him was blown away by the blow and it is within his reach. He attempts to grab, but he misses. Then another one of his men went up towards the sky, and he once more saw a blur. But this time he saw a little bit of green in it. He reaches once more, but he misses. But this time he felt something a little more tangible. A graze perhaps. Then one of the men closest to him was blown back. This time he saw a greenish blur with something black extended. But as the black blur extends back, Medved reaches for it and he manages to grab the object. Suddenly the teenage superhuman girl is no longer an invisible phantom, and she looks at him with surprise and shock as the Russian grabbed her arm.

" _KHOROSHO!_ " The Russian cried out in glee and with all his might, he throws her towards the wall. The wall caved in a little, and Buttercup bounced off the wall from the impact. Before Buttercup can recompose herself, she is face to face with the Russian kingpin. With a solid headbutt, Buttercup is launched once more towards the wall, and the wall caved in a little more.

"God damn..." Buttercup murmured. She looks up to see the tall barrel-chested Russian man looking down at her, and he takes out two bright red orbs from his business suit and puts it into his mouth. Buttercup recognized the smell, but knowing that he had just ingested the Candy before her sparked another question in her mind; Did the man just grabbed her out from her Interdictor, threw her at the wall, and caving it in without resorting to Red Candies?

"You did good. Very fancy move." The Russian man said with a smirk, his skin turning red. He takes off his military jacket and throws it away, and the Russian soon follow up with taking off his business coat, revealing his impeccably muscled body with the sleeveless striped shirt covering his upper body. The skin in both of his arms soon peels away to show distorted large forearms covered with fur and bony protrusions from his knuckles. Buttercup's mind notice the bony protrusions and she suddenly remembered the pictures of how Butch was found, realizing that this is the man that had impaled Butch's arms and legs to such a state that he is forced to be in intensive care.

"Crap." Her body is soon met with a blow from the Lunatic's fists and she immediately felt the ridiculous power of his blow followed by a piercing sensation in her stomach. Followed by another, and another. The cumulative damage of the blows are such that her midsection is now bleeding from the blows of the bony protrusions on her stomach. Getting the wind knocked out of her is something Buttercup did not expect. She coughed out some blood, before she falls down on the ground. As she lies down on the ground, the Lunatic takes a few steps backwards. The other men who were not injured or battered by the Powerpuff Girl soon gathered around and they soon were looking at her with very malicious eyes.

"That bitch..."

"She not be able to stand after blow for a few minutes. Everyone can do whatever you want with her." Medved said to all of them, and soon a few men are already waking up to Buttercup. Buttercup looks up and realized that these men are up to no good, especially when she is now defenseless from her paralysis.

"Looking at it, she does have a fine ass." Buttercup immediately felt a hand up her butt, and slowly she realized that she is in a different sort of trouble now. Slowly but surely, the other criminals are now feeling her body. Her hips, her legs, her breast. Slowly she can feel the sensation of her jacket and her jeans being taken off, and the men started hollering. They turn her around and Buttercup realize that they had more or less pulled her pants down, revealing her legs and undergarment.

Buttercup realized that a great sense of fear and terror is now spreading within her as they slowly took advantage of her. She felt as terror tunnels into the darkest corner of her mind and pulling out the things she was most afraid of, making her want to crawl into a hole and hide. Buttercup's heart struggled to beat and she desperately try to keep her mind from unhinging. The cold sweat of fear flowed down Buttercup's forehead and the chill down her spine is now spreading throughout her body. She tries to keep it all in, but like a cracking dam, her emotions are leaking out.

"She's got some nice panties!"

"Well time to take out that cute panties and have fun!"

She thought of the worst things that they will do to her, and she does not want that to happen to her. Her body is her own, and she will not let them use her body as a plaything. As a pair of hands slowly reaches towards her hips, Buttercup's eyes started to water and she wanted to just scream out but her voice is stuck in her throat. But someone else cut her to the chase.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The man who was about to undress her holds his head and scream loudly.

Suddenly some of the men were screaming out of their lungs, while the others are falling down limply on the ground with whitened eyes and foam coming out from their mouth. Buttercup looks around her and she notice that some of the men are regressing into a state of helplessness as they squat down and hold their heads to shield them from the world. The men that were molesting her moments ago are now in various stages of mental instability. As the screams of insanity rises up, Buttercup realizes that her sense of fear is also rising up exponentially.

 _Their reaction...it's terror_ , Buttercup thought as she realized that whatever she is feeling now is also being felt by these men. It is only by sheer willpower that Buttercup is not succumbing to the madness of fear like these men. Now instead of the paralysis of the punch to her solar plexus, she is enveloped by the paralysis of fear.

"What the...hell?" Buttercup muttered out loud as she noticed that the area around her is in a much darker shade than where the other crooks were. Suddenly an immeasurably presence of intimidation is now pressing on her shoulders and she realized that this sensation is coming from behind her. She dare not turn around completely, but from the peripheral of her eyes, Buttercup watches a figure unlike any other standing beside her.

"Are you alright, Buttercup?" The voice of the immeasurably intimidating figure beside her asked, and she immediately recognized the voice of the figure.

"Brick?" Buttercup uttered, her voice trembling involuntarily with fear.

Brick's head is enclosed in a rounded oval helmet, with a brim flared over the forehead giving a hooded appearance. The visor is hinged and opened at the end, with the eyes covered with a distinctive eye grating that appear more like grills. The nape of the neck is protected by a fin-like curved projection and Brick's long flowing hair runs from the helmet like a lion's mane. As Brick's hair turned from black to a glowing crimson red, the red glow from Brick's eyes lighted the visor of the helmet giving the helm a haunting hellish appearance.

The crooks reacted violently as they stared directly in Brick's line of sight. Even more crooks fall limply on the ground while others are just screaming from the top of their lungs as they tried to frantically dig out their eyes at the sight of the red-haired teenager. Buttercup looks down on the ground to shield her eyes from the grisly sight, not sure where else she should look.

"Well, it's working alright."

"Not bad..." A gruff voice cuts through the screaming, and Brick and Buttercup turns towards the source of the voice. The large Russian man is now looking at them with sweat running incessantly down his forehead and temples, but otherwise the man known as Medved is particularly stoic and composed. Buttercup realizes that she is now also sweating uncontrollably from the particularly oppressive atmosphere.

" _Balshoye_ _Spaseba._ " Brick answered the Russian back fluently.

"You are Brick. Remember you from club."

"Yes, yes I am."

"Always with girl it seems. Last one was blonde girl with electric orbs. Now is brunette with super speed. All beautiful." Medved said with a chuckle. Buttercup turns up to look at Brick briefly as she realize that the blonde girl with electric orbs is referring to her sister Bubbles. But she immediately turns away as she can not look at Brick directly, especially when he is wearing the hellish helm.

"Who I am with does not change the fact of the situation."

"What would that be?"

"You're alone. Your reactions are slowed from the constant fear coursing through your veins now, which is deadly for a soldier like you. You may be special ops, but my abilities are not your normal notions of fear. I am terror incarnate. But yet, I can't fight you. Not now. Not until I know what Pantheon is." Brick said without any tinge of emotions in his voice.

"You want to interrogate Medved?" Medved challenges the teenage boy, but is soon gripped with an even more oppressive atmosphere. His legs soon starts to shake and for the burly man, he had never trembled before in fear towards anything. The dark flame-like apparition coming out from Brick's body is now visible to all and Buttercup is now closing her eyes, not daring to even look at Brick. Buttercup can feel her chest being bombarded by her beating heart, and the twisting feeling of helplessness and anxiety within her is breaking down her willpower.

"You may have the clock, but I got the time. I will break you until you talk."

"Wrong. Medved have a flare gun and that buys Medved time." Medved said defiantly before revealing a flare gun from behind his trousers. The man immediately aims the flare gun above him and fires the flare. The flare hovers up in the air before bursting in a reddish pink light, illuminating the skies at the backdrop of a setting sun.

"Well done." Brick must give his complements to the bearish Russian for being able to act calmly in the face of overwhelming terror.

"You are very intimidating. Rarely does Medved feel fear. And you just made mockery of men." Medved gestured to the men who are utterly broken beyond all compare. The smell of feces, urine, vomit and blood are now mingling together into an assault on the senses. Brick is still looking at the man, while slowly edging towards Buttercup. Brick takes Buttercup's pants and slowly puts an arm around Buttercup's shoulders.

"But you may leave. You got information of weapons with pictures. You know that Pantheon is starting. Is this not good enough for you?" Brick can hear the sound of several vehicles convening towards their location and Brick knew that his abilities has a limited range. Medved's men will not be so foolish as to enter into his 'Tyrant Zone' so easily. But Brick knew that he needs to get something else out of the whole thing.

"Fine. Medved gives one more information; Hades, Poseidon,Hermes."

Brick immediately suffers from a distortion of his senses at the utterance of the three names and Brick's helm immediately dissipates. Brick realized that his powers has weakened and Brick's helm dissipates and he immediately picks Buttercup up in a bridal carry, knowing that he needs to get them out of here _now._

Brick's hearing picks up the sound of mobilizing men and boots stomping on the ground, the sound of the equipment clanking inform Brick that Medved's men are packing a whole lot of heat. With a single burst, Brick flies off in a bolt of crimson lightning. Several beam fire and also missiles were fired at the fleeing Rowdyruff Boy as he dissapear in the darkeninh skies of Townsville.

" _Polkovnik_!" One of Medved's men rushed up to him. Medved immediately drops down to his knees, and let his body tremble as hard as it can, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply to calm the shock of terror within his body.

* * *

[Bonsai Garden, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 7.30pm]

Brick and Buttercup arrived at a quiet and not often visited part of the Bonsai garden in Little Tokyo, and Brick gently lets Buttercup to stand on her own two feet. Buttercup stumbled for a moment, and Brick tried to support her. However Buttercup instinctively swatted him away. Buttercup immediately recognize what she had done and she embraces her own body with her realized the reasons for her to swat him away; she is not wearing any pants, revealing her light green panties. Her trembling arms is showing signs of shock from the fear and terror that she had just experienced a few moments ago. Brick should be more aware of these kinds of things and he slaps his palms on his head in lamentation. Brick hands Buttercup her pants as she looks at him.

"I just realized...sorry." Brick said before turning away from Buttercup, but his arm is still outstretched with Buttercup's pants.

"I should be the apologizing." Buttercup said, knowing that she should not have done what she did to the person that just saved her. She gently takes her pants from Brick's hands and starts to wear her pants. The sound of Buttercup pulling up her pants before she buckles and zip her pants is audible to the red-haired teenager and he blushed for a moment. Seriously, Brick really need to stop getting these 'fanservices' from Buttercup despite their nature. Butch or even Boomer would be able to appreciate this scene better than Brick.

"I..should..I should have acted faster."

"You did fine..." Buttercup assured the Rowdyruff Boy with her surprisingly soft husky voice. However, Brick did not turn his head to face her.

"But...I froze for a moment. I didn't expect you to go down so quickly." Brick answered the Powerpuff Girl. Buttercup hesitated for a moment, but she proceeded on with touching the redhead's shoulder. Brick turns around to see Buttercup giving out a brave smile, despite him feeling the trembling sensation of her fingers.

"To be fair, I didn't expect myself to be beaten up so badly either." Buttercup tried to kid it off, but Brick knows that her pride had taken a blow.

"Medved does that to people, Buttercup. He's the one that impaled Butch." Brick informed Buttercup, but he knows that her situation is also aggravated by his abilities.

Buttercup noticed Brick's state, and she lets go of his shoulder. The raven-haired girl takes a few steps away from Brick before she finds a patch of grass to sit down . She makes herself comfortable by sitting down with her knees to her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. Brick looks at her, not sure of what to make of the situation. Buttercup, seeing that Brick is clueless about what to do next, gestures for him to sit down next to her by patting the ground next to her. Seeing that he got no reason to refuse her, Brick decides to lie down next to Buttercup and watch the night skies. Both individuals allow for the silence to descend around them, and let their hearts and minds take in all the emotions within them. The tranquil moment passes on and the serenity of the Bonsai garden soon allow them to be less tense than they were before.

"That helmet, that ability...what the hell is that?" Buttercup finally break the silence between them, her husky voice much calmer than she was before.

"That ability of mine? Somehow I can always scare the crap out of people and people find me intimidating. It's in my genes." Brick explained and Buttercup laughed out loud. Brick realized that the way he puts his words does not come out in the right way and he will have to show it.

"Hold on." Brick immediately leans up and Buttercup wonder what is Brick about to do. Suddenly he puts his finger into his eye and takes out a rather large contact lens and reveals the pitch blach sclera of his eye. Buttercup jumped a little before Brick proceed to take out the other large contact lens. He turns around and look at Buttercup with his black eyes and crimson red irises while the tips of his long flowing hair is now the purest of glowing crimson. She realized that Brick is not joking at all and she regretted laughing at him.

"Him planted something inside my genes when I was ressurected and it created an imbalance and altered my genes further within me. This 'Tyrant' gene situation gave me some weird dark abilities. Another power that came up from this gene manipulation is the thing I call a 'Fear Factor'. It came up when I hit puberty and it is essentially my special thing."

"Ouch, and I though you were just plain intimidating and unsociable."

"Well, I am also intimidating and unsociable as well." Brick said with a bitter smile on his face. Buttercup chuckled.

"But if I maxed it out, people tend to faint and freak out. It is a good crowd control thing, but...it doesn't care if there are friends or foe. That's why I don't use it often." Buttercup realizes that Brick's tone is particularly lonely and a little sad.

"I see. Are your eyes-"

"If you're wondering if my eyes had always been like that...the answer is no. This only happened after the trip to Mojo Jojo's place a few weeks ago when we went out of town around the same time you were out with your training. Mojo Jojo helped me stabilized the unstable gene problem along with the help of a monk named Tenzin Khenchen."

"Wait...you knew Tenzin Khenchen?" Buttercup asked Brick, which caused Brick to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah...but how did you know about him?"

"I've trained with him before. He's a rad old man."

"Ah." Brick has nothing else to say about the abbot in the Tibetan monastery. It was then that Buttercup realized the other name that was mentioned by Brick.

"Hold on...did you just said the name 'Mojo Jojo'?"

"Yeah...the monkey is still alive. He is semi-retired though and is now more or less legitimate." Brick explained, and it is now Buttercup's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Best you don't know about that. As for the headgear...It's a gear I asked Mojo Jojo to make for me. I asked him for something to amplify my powers and he made me something. It essentially breaks them on the spot and perhaps permanently, rather than just making them freak out and faint. Right now, I am pretty sure that we'll never see those henchmen ever again. It also enhances my other dark powers, but that's for another time."

"Damn."

"Anyway, these black-red eyes also come with my hair being a glowing mess. I need to dye my hair and put contact lenses on to adapt back to normalcy." Brick smiled bitterly as he touches the tips of his fringes, and Buttercup realize the sadness in his voice, uncertain about how life had given him this change of appearance. Buttercup figured that she should try to cheer him up.

"Your powers and abilities are particularly badass, Brick. Outwardly evil, but badass." Brick gives Buttercup a smile.

"You're one of the first people to see it being used and survived with your sanity intact. It takes a person exceptional willpower to resist its effects, and even then their body would still be trembling from the fear for the next few days. Or at least that is what the monkey told me." Brick told Buttercup.

"The monkey is right about that...I'm still feeling it and my heart is still pounding. Though to be fair, before you did that fear thing, I was almost-" Buttercup stopped herself and Brick realized that the topic had went a very sensitive direction.

Brick understands that her close call is not an ordeal any girl would want to experience. Time and time against in many war zones, he had seen victims of rape being shells of their former self and some took their lives due to the shame and shock of their ordeal. But for this to almost happen to Buttercup, that is unexpected for him. He thought that Buttercup would stomp on their balls if they even tried.

"Sorry about that...but for some reason...I'm...I'm..." Buttercup eyes are now watery and her words are already holding up, and Brick is looking at her while thinking on what to do.

Brick is certainly not used to girls, especially girls who are emotionally distraught. Honestly, Brick is clueless on many things; Hades, Him, Bubbles. All these matters are a little out of reach for him, and all he could do is to remember a time in the cold dusty nights in Aleppo as he watches the starry night above him. It is on such nights in Syria that the Frenchwoman would comfort them when the Rowdyruff Boys are homesick or experiencing a bad day. He remembered her warmth during those lonely nights, and how caring she is as she pats them to assure them that the world is not a sick place to be in. Buttercup needs that sense of comfort and safety, Brick reasoned.

As Buttercup struggles with her emotions, Brick pulls Buttercup and letting her head rest on his chest, and this action catches the raven-haired girl unaware. She was about to protest when Brick suddenly pats Buttercup on the shoulder in a gentle and rhythmic beat to calm her down humming a tune that is ethereally timeless and sadly joyful. Buttercup did not expect his chest to be a place of warmth and nurture, and the way he is patting her and humming reminds her of a parent soothing their child. Buttercup realizes that she is now lying down on most of his body, and Buttercup's cheek reddens. Buttercup looks up to see a Brick with a much more softer expression on his face looking up to the sky above.

"I may not be the one that you want right now...but I am the person that you need right now. So just let it all out. You're safe now." Brick's dark eyes are as lonely as the night that surrounds them, while the red irises are glowing with a much warmer and passionate tone. His smile is soft and gentle, and Buttercup's eyes start to water as she watches Brick. She could not keep it in any longer and soon started sniffing before she bury her face into his chest. The sniffling sound resonated against his chest and Brick wondered if he is going to regret this. It is not is not everyday that a person can get the strongest and the toughest fighter of the Powerpuff Girls to cry in their chest, but that exact unlikely moment is happening.

Brick looks down at Buttercup, not expecting such a soft and gentle way of crying from Buttercup the tomboy. Brick reiterates the truth of the matter in his mind once more; he is definitely not used to girls and he is certainly not used to girls burying their faces into his chest and cry. Blossom, Bubbles, and now Buttercup have all seek comfort by crying on his chest after he had saved them from situations that made them that vulnerable to begin with. Oh, how Brick wished that he could just cry on someone's chest or shoulders as easily as these Powerpuff Girls. Brick pats Buttercup on the head in a gentle and rhythmic beat to calm her down while bringing his other arm to her back in a nurturing embrace and continue on humming the tune.

 _This is what Renée that I know would do_ , Brick said to himself as he watches the starry night above him as he hums 'As Time Goes By'. As he soothes Buttercup, Brick realize that his own unanswered fears are still haunting his mind. The three names and Pantheon needs to be discussed with his brothers at the earliest opportunity.

* * *

Butch is sitting on the couch watching 'Breaking Bad' on Netflix,bored out of his mind. The only reason why he is watching the show to begin with is because he needs something to distract his eyes. However his mind is utterly itching for a fight. Butch looks at Boomer who is now taking a bite out of his ham sandwich. He figures that taking the sandwich away from Boomer can be a good fight if he decides to act on it.

Alas, Butch's plans went up in smoke when the door to the Morningstar residence opens to reveal Brick in a clearly foul mood. Brick's dyed hair signals that their dear leader is out on a recon mission. However, the darker patch on his shirt is something particularly bizarre. It was then that he picked up the faint smell of Red Candy and the smell of female pheromones. It seems that Boomer had also picked up on the smell and Butch remembers that his blonde brother have the sharpest senses out of all of them. The sand-blonde teenager drops his sandwich onthe plate and immediately walks up towards Brick. Suddenly, to Butch's surprise the usually docile Boomer is now grabbing Brick by the collar of his jacket.

"What did you do to Buttercup? I smell her fear and tears on you brother."

"Wait...that smell's Buttercup?!" Butch leans up from the chair and takes a sniff once more. Butch immediately recognizes the faint smell of spices and Chemical X and realize that Boomer is right. Butch knows her smell all these years for he had fought her the mmost. But fears and tears? Boomer is in a class of his own when it comes to smells. He can smell human emotions and their bodily state.

"I'm pretty sure you can smell it all Boomer, I didn't do anything to her. Medved did it." Brick answered his brother. Butch stares at Brick with wary eyes, for Butch remember how the man bearing that name impale his limbs. Boomer takes a few more sniffs from Brick's body and soon enough, the blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy lets him go.

"So what happened?" Boomer asked his red-eyed brother.

"Buttercup was paralyzed by Medved and the rest of the goons was about to sexually assault her. I stopped it in time." Brick of course did not tell his brother that Buttercup was only forced into the situation because she followed him. Brick is justified in his choice of words when Boomer is now grinding his teeth in anger. Boomer's anger is a force to be reckoned with, and Brick needs not to be its target.

"No...she's Buttercup for crying out loud." Boomer hissed in disbelief.

"I stopped them from doing anything further to her. But I was forced to retreat with Buttercup. Does that help you comprehend the smells that you sense from my body?"

Boomer nods his head, knowing that the smells he is getting off his brother is consistent with his story. He can smell the the fears and terrors of several individuals along with faint scent of blood, feces, urine and vomit hugging Brick's clothing. Brick had used his 'Fear Factor' on those fiends that tried to defile Buttercup. Boomer also realized that he is emotionally affected by Buttercup's smell of heightened sense of fear and terror and tears; something he would never think of a few months ago. But ever since that moment that he agreed to visit the location of the new orphanage with Buttercup, the equation had changed.

"Yeah." Boomer answered curtly.

"The Lunatics are packing some heat. Looks like they managed to get Mojo Jojo's beam rifles in the black market or stole it and planning to wage war on everything that stands in their way."

"But. There's always a but." Butch speaks up, knowing that his brother did not come to the juiciest information yet. Butch is also angered by Buttercup's near-sexual assault. Only he gets to do something Buttercup's fine ass and be the one that will defeat her once and for all. In that exact order.

"Him's making its next move alongside this mobilization; Pantheon the name of the game and the clues are Hades, Hermes and Poseidon-"

As Brick utters the three names, the Rowdyruff Boys are immediately hit with a sensation that everything is particularly wrong. Brick holds on to his chest while Boomer wraps his arms around his torso to embrace himself. Butch on the other hand is now breaking out in a cold sweat. Their pounding hearts further elevated the unease within their minds, for their heartbeat is eerily synchronizing with their frantic thoughts. None of them said a word for a good minute.

"What. The. Hell." Boomer breaks the silence, and looks at his long-haired brother. Brick looks at Boomer before he turns his attention to Butch. Butch is clearly breathing in and out deeply, the tension in the air thick enough to be sliced by a knife.

"That...is...wrong..." Butch voiced out his unease, knowing that he had experienced this exact state of being. The words Poseidon comes into mind, like a worm gnawing into the fabric of his reality. Both Butch and Boomer turned their attention to their brother, seeking an explanation about the situation. It was then that the door open for a woman with short, black pixie hair with gray eyes entering into the living area. The three teenagers turn around to see that Miss Morningstar is now looking at them with a perplexed look.

"What just happened to you boys? It feels like you guys just saw a ghost or something." The reason behind the unearthly sensation that the Rowdyruff Boy felt moments ago would need to be put on hold as Brick realize that there are more important matters at hand.


	41. Chapter 41: Yours

Chapter 41: Yours

[Townsville High, Townsville, 4.30pm]

Butch finds himself alone on top of the school, personally prefer the solitude, especially if there is none of the presence of those Powerpuff Girls around. Blossom may have seen him in a moment of weakness and Buttercup may have been his rival, but so far he finds himself quite detached from the Powerpuff Girls in general. They may be very attractive ladies in his opinion but they are more trouble than its worth. This can be seen with his brothers. Brick and Boomer in his opinion are turning a little softer ever since they are all brought to this town by Him and were more or less befriended by two of the girls.

His despise of his brother's weaknesses make it worse, as they are both interacting with the Powerpuff Girls to a degree that Butch finds particularly disturbing.

Butch watches the towering skyline of Townsville from the rooftop of the school and finds that the city is relatively peaceful despite the presence of martial law in Townsville and the occupation of the Ghetto. How everyone is able to go on living by the relative peace that they are all experiencing is something Butch can't stomach for he strive for battle. The Lunatics are not really going for battle,and neither are the U.S Military and law enforcement agencies. Butch considered them all as cowards, and he wished for his participation in the battle to wreak a war zone into existence. But Brick had given him explicit instructions to not actively seek battle within the Ghetto,or suffer severe consequences.

Butch honestly finds himself slowly constrained by the lack of battle and even he could never go all out against Buttercup in the MMA club due to the rules and regulation that they must adhere to. With the exception of Buttercup, the rest of the MMA club members do not even stand a chance against him. His only viable sparring partner can't spar with him all the time due to her commitment to train her fellow club members.

Butch scratches his head as he remembers why he was skipping out on the MMA club today. Instead, Butch wished he could fly over to Monster Island to beat up some monsters, but Brick also warned him from doing just that. Butch bitterly remembers how Butch should not, in the words of Brick, 'cause a mass extinction' at Monster Island or suffer one himself. When Brick says something, he expects himself to be groans as his frustration builds. Butch wished that he was back in a warzone of some kind,for that would at least keep him on the edge and make his mind sharp. The peace is dulling his senses and the more he looks at the city,the more he hates that the only battles that he can engage himself in this city are verbal banters between people.

"This pisses me off." Butch concedes that looking at Townsville is just making him more bitter and annoyed, causing him to turn away to the exit of the he walks down the staircase, he finds himself hating the school grounds even more. This temple of peace and intelligence is not a place for him, and honestly the only thing keeping him here are the chance of seeing some eye candy. Butch had considered messing around with some of the girls in the school just to keep his mind off the issues that plagued him, but somehow he finds them lackluster to even do anything of interest. Perhaps he should just aggressively hunt them down and do something towards them. Suddenly Butch felt a bump on his torso, and he notice a pair of very soft things touching his body. His instinct tells him that a girl had bumped into him and his mind immediately figured that maybe he should start with this girl that bumped into him. Butch looks down and is particularly pleased with what he is looking at.

The girl has long golden blonde hair, that is placed into two curled-point ponytails, by two pink with white trimmed scrunchies, and a few bangs across each side. The girl is wearing the standard Townsville High cheerleading outfit, consisting of a small purple top, that is supported by two ties, with the Townsville High Logo, "Townsville Archers", with the 'H' of the Archers being in the shape of an archery bow .

The cheerleading outfit leaves the arms, shoulders and midriff of the girl revealed and the outfit comes with a purple skirt, that has a white underlining above, and pink underlining below, along with a red belt. White, purple trimmed stockings with Townsville Archers placed on the outer sides of her legs, along with red leg warmers and red with white sneakers.

Thanks to the outfit, Butch can admire her curvaceous body and her fair skin. In addition her outfit also inadvertently show her cleavage which excites the male teenager. He would like to put his hands over her hips and also to caress the smooth skin of the cheerleader. Now all Butch needs to see is the face of the girl, for it would be a waste if the girl before him had a butterface. As the girl looks up to see who she had bumped into, the soft features of the cheerleader is visible and her light blue eyes is perhaps her most defining feature. Butch's initial excitement that the girl is indeed a looker is soon dampened once he realized who the girl is.

"Oh I'm so sorry..." The bubbly and amiable voice is recognizable to the dark-haired teenager and he mutters the name of the girl that bumped into him.

"Bubbles."

"Butch." Bubbles immediately recognized the teenager that she had bumped into. Bubbles was wondering what is going on when she realize that Butch is glaring at her with eyes best described as particularly focused on her outfit. Bubbles soon notice where he is looking at and she covered her chest. Immediately she stomped him in the shin as hard as she could and Butch immediately kneels down to hold on his shin."GOD DAMN IT BUBBLES!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR OOGLING MY CHEST!" Bubbles shouted back. Butch wanted called out to Bubbles as he looked up,but soon realize that he is looking up to her skirt.

"White." Unfortunately Butch had made the cardinal mistake of looking up too long, and also not thinking before he speak. Clearly offended, Bubbles slapped him with enough force that he fell down the stairs. Her face red with anger and embarrassment, Bubbles immediately walks away from the scene, clearly mad at Butch.

* * *

"What an idiot!"

Bubbles is clearly unable to take Butch's perversion off her mind. Bubbles is already rather sensitive when it comes to her cheerleading outfit, as she is often the one that the boys will stare with unbridled perversion. She honestly wished that her body is not as curvaceous and her breast are not as large for they tend to draw unwanted attention if she wears anything else other than a single piece dress. Anything else that she wears usually will make her C-cup breasts much larger than it is. She does not know why, but that is how it has always been when she hit puberty.

Alas she can't choose her cheerleading uniform, and she really just want to go back to locker and take her bags before going back home. To make it worse, Butch basically looked up her skirt and voiced out the colors of her panties. What a brute.

"Seriously, can't he even keep it to himself?" Bubbles grumbled as she walked past the school corridors. Bubbles believe that Butch is the Rowdyruff Boys most driven by his carnal desires. Bubbles know that his appearance and also his rather aggressive personality solidly puts him in the 'bad boy' camp, and many of her friends and also club mates consider him to be a man sculpted to be a woman's ideal image of a man. But this is precisely why Bubbles is not interested in him, for she consider him to be the most shallow of the Rowdyruff Boys.

To be fair Bubbles had never truly spoken to Butch before,let alone converse with him. The last time they ever met is during the battle of Fort Marks a few weeks ago. Both Butch and Bubbles suffered the most grievous injuries during that night, and it is a hard memory to forget. But she had never find Butch to be a person she will befriend,let alone a person that she would get along with. Both Butch and Bubbles are like oil and water, and barring a battle situation she believes that the both of them are not compatible in any way all the Rowdyruff Boys.

"If he even dares to -OOFF!" It was deep in these deep thoughts that she bumped once more into another individual and both individuals fall down on the ground. Bubbles sensed that a hand is grabbing on her chest, and her back is down on the floor. Bubbles groaned inwardly, expecting another pervert getting their fair chance of being on top of her. If it is a guy, she would kick him in the nuts. If it is a girl, she would push her away.

 _I really need to focus when I'm walking around_ , Bubbles thought as she look to to apologize. To her surprise, two pair of cinnabar-colored eyes are now looking down on her, or to be exact,her _and_ her outfit a little too intensely for Bubbles' comfort. Bubbles' mind is still trying to register the identity of the person she had bumped into, and as she stare at the person she notices that the person has a red baseball cap covering his head. As the person tilts his head, his long and smooth carnelian-colored braided lock of hair leaning down from the boy's shoulder to the side of Bubble's cheek.

"Bubbles? I MEAN BUBBLES! YIKES! I'M SO SORRY!" Brick immediately gets up and jumps back from the Powerpuff Girl. Immediately Bubbles covered her breast by crossing her arms in an instinctive manner as she realize that Brick is the person on top of her.

"I-I-I!" Bubbles stutters as she tries to speak to Brick.

"I'm sorry..." Brick is now looking the other way,but Bubbles sees Brick's cheeks reddening with every moment. But he did take a few glances at Bubbles' cheerleading outfit,which he honestly finds rather distracting. But at the same time, it appears that he finds his own actions a little rude, and thus did not look at her directly. This is also not lost on Bubbles, as it boosted her confidence that she is attractive enough to even make the most stoic of the Rowdyruff Boys to take notice of her.

"N-no it's okay." Bubbles' cheeks are also having a tint of pink. Brick finally musters the courage to look at Bubbles directly. Unlike his green-eyed brother, Brick at least had the sensibility to only look at her when she wants to. She gets up and dusts her skirt, catching Brick's attention once more.

"Bubbles, I didn't know you're in the cheerleading team." Brick said to Bubbles,clearly trying to not be distracted by her outfit. Bubbles can see that he is struggling to find a place to focus his attention on. This gives Bubbles a fun thing to do; she wants to see how much she can tease him out of this situation .

"Well..now you know." Bubbles leans forward a little and sticks out her tongue in a mischievous manner. Her sensuous cleavage and body curve is contrasted with her cutesy mannerism in her cheerleading attire. Brick seriously wondered how on earth Bubbles manage to always look particularly sensuous when she wears anything other than her normal one piece dresses. Brick clearly believes that Bubbles is trying something funny, but he is unable to prove it.

"So today's a cheerleading practice?"

"Yeah...there's an upcoming game for the Townsville High Basketball team and we're supposed to cheer for them." Bubbles stands up and raises her arms to stretch them, which in turn lifts and presses her breast together. This made Brick really wished that he was gay for the moment, as he is now feeling rather hot and bothered. His mind would need to distract Bubbles from his perception of her outfit, but fate would like to see a different direction.

"Well, you can cheer me up in that outfit." Brick voiced out his opinion and immediately realized what he had just implied. Brick wished that he can jump off a window right now to hide his embarrassment. Bubbles immediately gives Butch a mischievous look and immediately grabs Brick and wraps her arms and body around his arm.

"That's really nice of you." Bubbles said cheerfully.

"Ur..." Brick is clearly voicing out his pauses verbally, but Bubbles immediately drags him while holding on his arm.

"Come with me!"Bubbles gives her most sweet and innocent expression as she giggles, further adding her feminine charm in Brick's mind. But Bubbles is anything but innocent right now. The joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls is inwardly laughing at the shyness of the Rowdyruff Boy. She finds a little sadistic joy making him more conscious about her body. She really can not stop teasing him. She is having so much fun.

But be careful Bubbles, for a teenage boy's hormones can give him justifications for things that can be questionable.

* * *

[Inside Brick's Head]

"Ah shit."

That's the honest though Brick have in his mind as he looked down on Bubbles. Her breasts are enveloping his arms like hot dog buns. Her breasts are soft and warm, and Brick's arm can feel the soft skin of her stomach on the back of his forearm. Brick regretted his action of rolling up his turtleneck sleeves immediately, for now he is sensing her whole body with his arm. The way she is smiling and giggling while wearing that ungodly attractive outfit is making Brick's heart beating faster and faster.

 _She's got the hots for you Brick_ , a voice informed Brick. Brick suddenly realize that he is now in his mindscape once more, with the red aurora above him and the red savannah. Standing before him is the familiar figure of the dark-eyed apparition of himself with the pure crimson hair. The apparition is shaking his head while he sigh, as if belittling Brick on this particular situation.

"Break? Why are you here?"

 _Your mental discipline...it's cracking. I was wondering what kind of calamity is forcing your mental discipline to falter, and here I am looking at you with a cute little hottie in a cheerleading outfit. Did I mention that she's blonde as well? You really got yourself a fine way to break your mental discipline._

"Great...you're out because I can't keep my mind straight over Bubbles." Brick laments that his mental fortitude only amount to so much.

 _Wait...isn't she that girl whom you go on lunch picnics with? Like...that girl you thought about when your memory flashes when you're about to be screwed?_

"How'd you know about that?" Immediately, Brick feels a smack from behind his head. Brick rubs his head as he breathe in deeply to soothe the pain.

 _Seriously, we're one now. Your memories and my memories are now one. Admittedly, I got nothing much to give to you. But still...can't you read the signs? You've got some interest in her alright. Definitely not the normal kind of interest like the ones Boomer made with Buttercup._ _You peeked at her like a perv, and she did not bat an eye, but tried to show you her outfit in oh, so many ways._

"Seriously, I-" Brick wanted to protest, but Break puts both his palms on Brick's shoulder and shakes him. Brick's head and body rocks back and forth violently as the apparition tries to give his host some common sense.

 _Hell, even her sister said that she likes you! HOW DENSE CAN YOU GET! YOU'RE AS DUMB AS A BRICK!T_

"No, I don't thi-" Suddenly Brick realized that the shaking had stopped. Both hands of the apparition is now off Brick's shoulders. Break immediately cover his eyes with his palm, as if to lament the stupidity of his host body.

 _Fine, I'll take over. She's gonna have a fun time with me once I-_

"No, no, no! Break, don't you dare!" Brick realize that this is a bad situation, and he will not have that happen right now. Not when Bubbles is now holding on to his arm. The apparition immediately guffaws at Brick's expense, and Brick realize that the apparition is pulling his finger.

 _Just kidding. Be a man, do the right thing!,_ Break winks and slowly fades away as his voice echoes in the mindscape.

* * *

Bubbles finally reached her locker. She decides that it was fun trying to mess around with Brick, while also allowing her to be a little closer to him. As she finally let go of his arm and walked towards her locker, she sensed that her arm is being grabbed on. She turned around and suddenly she was pulled towards the carnelian-haired teenager. She suddenly felt his arm around her waist.

"Brick? What's...going on?" Bubbles asked, her face turning redder with every moment. Bubbles felt a soft touch on her cheek, sensing Brick's palms on her cheek. Bubbles felt the sensation of Brick's arm and hands on her body, and she did not expect the intimate moment at all. Brick tightens his embrace of her with his arm, and her body slowly presses on his situation is turning into something more than just a flirting tease, and Bubbles realized that she is not really ready for this.

She wanted him to let go, but at the same time she is enjoying every moment of Brick holding her like she is the only one that mattered right now. Brick slowly turns the palm that is touching her cheek to gently move from her cheek and letting the transition of his palms to gently moving his finger down to her jawline. The movement continued down her jawline towards her neck, and from her neck to her shoulder. Bubbles is not expecting Brick to be caressing her in such a manner, and her senses is being bombarded by the pleasure of it all. It is rather ticklish, but at the same time it is particularly sensuous and making her a little warm and bothered. As Brick's touch slowly reaches towards her palm, Brick's simmering cinnabar eyes are now being reflected on the surface of Bubbles' sky-blue eyes like reflections on a lake, giving it a purplish shine. Brick and Bubbles can now feel each other's breathing as Brick finally holds Bubbles' hand. Bubbles is helpless except to follow Brick's lead. Her heart is now beating harder and harder, not knowing what is going to happen to her.

Suddenly, the sound of a guitar with a rich, smooth, glass-like singing quality playing a dreamy and soulful ballad is suddenly heard, surprising Brick and Bubbles. The sound of the percussion serenading the guitar only serves to give a romantic atmosphere. Bubbles takes a glance to the side for a moment and she realized that they are in front of the Latin Music Club room, and they are now jamming like they always do. The tenor-voiced vocalist of the club soon adds to the atmosphere with his dark and rich voice in Spanish.

 _Soy el fuego que arde tu piel,_

 _Soy el agua que mata tu sed._

 _El castillo, la torre yo soy,_

 _La espada que guarda el caudal~_

 _Seriously?_ , Bubbles thought in her mind. And yes, Bubbles. Really. This situation calls for it. Please give a hand to the Townsville Latin Music club and their rendition of Rodrigo Amarante's _Tuyo_.

As Brick's face comes closer to her own, Bubbles realize that she is not resisting in any way whatsoever. She closes her eyes and let the music and the experience flow into her body. As her chest slowly presses on Brick's body, she realize that this is going beyond what she is expecting. Both their beating heart slowly become one beat, their hearts beating in synch with each other. Brick's silence only made it even more intense. She suddenly she felt a electrifying sensation coursing through her body, and her body is warming up further.

 _Tú, el aire que respiro yo~_

 _Y la luz de la luna en el mar._

 _La garganta que ansío mojar,_

 _Que temo ahogar de amor._

Brick on the other hand is not expecting himself to even come to this situation at all. It is just too good to be true, for he can not take his eyes off Bubbles. Somehow him touching her like this is like touching heaven itself and make him want to hold her so much. He can be pardoned for the way he stare at Bubbles for there is nothing else to compare his staring to. Her soft breathing makes him feel weak, and there are no words left to speak in this situation. He wonder if she feels what he feels, and he hopes that she will let him know that it is real. His face edges closer to Bubbles' face, and his lips is now but mere inches away from her lips. Both teenagers can feel each other's lips is but a moment away from touching each other.

 _Y cuáles deseos me vas a dar,_

 _Dices tu, mi tesoro basta con mirarlo~_

 _Y tuyo será, y tuyo será..._

Brick closes his eyes, and decide to hell with it. He had went with it, and he will definitely finish it.

* * *

"So what are you going to do about that firearm shipment?" Buttercup asked her copper-haired sister. Both sisters are just talking to each other after a long day of participating in their club activities, Korean Appreciation club and Muay Thai club respectively. Despite the end of the activities in school for the day, both Powerpuff Girls are always on duty when it comes to fighting crime and the forces of evil. Buttercup had just informed her sister regarding the shipment of beam weaponry that had arrived to arm the gangs and crooks under the Lunatic's control.

"Well, we need to let the Professor see what kind of weapon it is in the first place. After all you did take some pictures of the deal, Buttercup."

"Yeap...we need a plan." Buttercup answered.

"Though I must ask; how'd you know that there will be a deal going on between the gangs anyway?" Blossom asked the peridot-eyed teenage girl.

"Um...I was just lucky I guess." Buttercup smiled nervously, causing Blossom to look at Buttercup with a great amount of suspicion. Buttercup knew that it was Brick that found out about the deal and how she was almost sexually assaulted by the crooks for fighting against one of the Lunatics. But at the same time, she was glad that she was saved by Brick, the same person that also allowed her to cry on his chest. In fact, now that she think about it, it is the first time that she cried on a boy's chest to begin with. She decided that the incident will remain a secret, and Buttercup adds one more secret to her dossier. As both Powerpuff Girls are about to turn around the corner of the corridor, Buttercup catches with the peripheral of her eyes a scene she finds unbelievable.

"Anyway, Buttercup did you hear-OUCH!"

"Wait!" Buttercup hissed as she pulled back her copper-haired sister by her hair back to the corner. The pink-eyed Powerpuff Girl yelped briefly before turning her attention towards Buttercup.

"What's th-" Blossom's displeasure is silenced by Buttercup's hand covering her mouth. As she struggled, Buttercup decided to turn her around to let her see the reasoning of why Buttercup pulled her hair. Blossom's eyes immediately opens wide and she stops her struggling immediately.

Amidst the particularly romantic atmosphere of a Latin ballad serenading the atmosphere, the two Powerpuff Girls are now seeing two couple about to kiss each other. One of them is a girl in the Townsville Archer uniform with long golden blonde hair, that is placed into two curled-point ponytails, while the other is a boy with a crimson red baseball cap, black turtleneck and a waist-lenght carnelian braided hair.

"Wait... is that?" Blossom asked Buttercup,clearly in disbelief.

"Yes...yes it is." Buttercup assures her sister that her eyes are not fooling her. Brick and Bubbles are making out.

As the lips of of the couple made contact with each other, a connection between the two individuals starts to unfold. The kiss begins with a gentle soft touching of lips, as if they are feeling each other in an unhurried, sensuous 's arms is enveloping around Bubbles; one arm around the waist, just above the buttocks in the small of the back while the the other arm around the shoulder, enveloping her in a gentle, reassuring embrace. Their lips lock as they tilt their heads heads and Brick softly lift Bubbles up and she instinctively hold Brick around the neck.

"Wow...that's hot." Buttercup admits that the situation is particularly steamy. Blossom is holding both her cheeks,covering her reddened cheeks.

"Hey Buttercup, there you are and- Whoa." Buttercup turns around and notice that Boomer is now looking at the kissing couple with a gaping jaw. Boomer turns towards Buttercup while pointing at the couple, and Buttercup nods her head. Boomer pushed his jaw back to its normal location before taking out his phone.

"What the hell?" Blossom hissed at Boomer.

"Dude...you don't get this chance to take a pic for blackmail that is so incriminating." Boomer said without any regret and start taking some pictures.

"Pst...Forward the pics to me too." Buttercup whispered. Blossom could not believe these two people and how they are taking advantage of this situation. Though to be fair, Bubbles do have the tendency to be a little lazy on some chores...

"Buttercup, forward the pics to me once you've got it from Boomer." Both Boomer and Buttercup looked at each other and grinned.

* * *

Both Brick and Bubbles separated after what appears to be an eternity in the sublime embrace. As they both opened their eyes, they felt that they had passed a stage of no return. Bubbles' breathing is a little louder than before, as if to take in the air that was lost during their kiss. Brick's numbness of this whole situation is now dissipating and he soon realized what he had done. Brick covered his mouth and before Bubbles could say anything, he bolted away from the Powerpuff Girl as fast as he could. Bubbles stood in the corridor as she touched her lips.

"Bubbles! There you are!" The voice caused Bubbles to jump a little before she settles down once more. As she turn around, she see her sisters and Boomer are together.

"Oh hi guys! And...why are you guys grinning at me like that?"

"Oh nothing...just that we saw this." Buttercup takes out her phone and forwards Bubbles a message to her phone. Bubbles takes out her phone and opens the message, only for her face to turn beet red.

"Well Bubbles, looks like you're treating us to some Cafe Latte cakes." Blossom smiled as she pats the blonde Powerpuff Girl's shoulder.

Bubbles' face is now pure crimson from the embarrassment of her sisters finding out about the kiss, and she wished that she can bury her head in the ground right now and suffocate to death. Unbeknownst to the others, another figure is watching the two teenagers making out. Two glowing orbs of jade-green eyes are watching the Powerpuff Girls and Boomer conversing with each other. Visibly pissed, the figure turns away to walk down the staircase.

* * *

[A Random Hypermarket, Suburban Townsville, 6.00pm]

When Butch is pissed, he eats sweets . When he is particularly pissed, he eats lollipops. Butch is now stuffing his shopping basket with a lot of sweets and lollipops in anticipation of the rage-binging. He clearly did not expect Brick to make out with a girl, and of all the girls it just had to be one of the Powerpuff Girls. Sure, Butch has the carnal desires of being in Blossom's arm and leg embrace, Bubbles' breast grab amd Buttercup's ass press on his crotch,but that is just that. Carnal desires. But what Brick did is something he is furious about.

Butch is bitter for many reasons. But the one that topped the list is how this scene is something he had always wanted to have with the woman that had torn his heart apart when she had passed away, only to be ressurected to become something else entirely. But something else needs to be resolved first.

"Who's there?" Butch realized that he was being followed.

No reply.

"Show yourself or else!"

An old lady with grey hair tied up in a bun and a cerulean blue flowery dress and matching shoes appear from the corner of the aisle, clearly afraid of Butch's threat. Butch realized that he was just being paranoid for no reason. He turns his attention away from the old lady and continue on looking at the aisle to find the potato chips. All he is seeing is a bunch of cereals, and honestly he wonder why on earth is he assigned for this duty. Boomer and Brick are always the ones that are better off shopping.

Suddenly, Butch feels a bump on his shoulder and he turns around to find the culprit who bumped into him and did not say sorry. As Butch turns around, he sees the old frail lady from before looking back at him and clearly intimidated by him. Butch finds no reason to pick a fight with the lady, and he sighs and decides to walk away. However, the old lady called upon him.

"Sorry young man, do you know where the butcher's section is located?"

Butch was about to tell and point the old lady to the butcher's section where suddenly he finds himself not in control of his body, and his mind immediately went into a panic. The leanly muscular teenager falls down on the ground face down, and soon was enveloped in a state of paralysis. As he struggled to move his body, his head moved against his will to face the old lady, and the old lady is now looking at him with an entirely glowing emerald gaze, devoid of eye whites and irises.

" _You really fell for that after all_." The voice of the old lady is not the old, sweet voice of an ageing lady. Instead the voice is cacophonous voice of a high-pitched female voice and a deep baritone growling male voice. Butch realize who the old lady really is, and struggles within himself to only find himself under the control of the foul being before him.

"H-h-im." Butch managed to move his voice and voiced out the identity of this nefarious being before him.

" _Yes, it is I. "_

Butch is clearly trying to defy the demon, but the demon's grip on him is significantly stronger than the last time they met. Butch is trying to make sense of the situation until a thought flashes in his mind. Butch's eyes are wide in shock and the demon starts to cackle as a third appendage materializes. The demon soon produces a forest green orb from its clawed appendage, and Butch can smell the nefariously sickly and sweet smell of the orb in Him's grasp. The smell betrayed its nature, but this particular 'candy' is foul sweetness is even beyond the compare of most of the other Red Candy. Worse of all, Butch recognized the other element of the smell within the candy; his own. Butch tries to close his mouth, but the old, frail hands of Him's disguise pry open his mouth against his will.

 _"Open wide~_ " As the claw of the demon forcefully enter into Butch's mouth, Butch muffled sounds are barely audible as he struggled on the floor in a state of paralysis. The demon in the guise of an old lady started humming a tune, as Butch's eyes and blood vessels glowed with an eldritch, malevolent green. Him looks around and smiles at the sheer emptiness of this hypermarket, for it had made the rest of the people 'disappear' for it to make this move. As Him removes his claw and hands from Butch's mouth, the dark-haired teenager is now convulsing on the ground.

" _And which desires are going to given...Just to look is treasure enough, it will be yours, it will be yours_." Him caresses the convulsing teenager on the ground before leaving in a flash of reddish pink smoke.


	42. Chapter 42: Psychosis

Chapter 42: Psychosis

 _Butch finds himself once more in the streets that is very familiar to him. The dusty streets are filled with rubble and debris while the blazes of fire are flickering through the holes and exposed parts of the blown-up buildings. The smell of charred flesh and the metallic tint of blood pierced Butch's nose, while the sound of dim explosions and soft crackle of gunfire echoed through the barren city. The still-burning wrecks of main battle tanks and the mangled corpses of the victims of this war zone only served to enforce Butch's recognition of this place. Butch knew the name of this city, and the significance of this city in his living memory._

 _Ash-Shahbaa. Halab. Aleppo._

 _Why is he here in this destroyed ? Why has he returned to the city once more? Haven't he had enough_ _? Is seeing the countless deaths within this city not enough for him to even try to forget?_

"Butch."

 _A metallic-tinted voice called his name. He turned around to see no one. He turned back to see a figure standing before him. It is a peculiar being, for it is made out of bullet casings, with two large casing rounds staring blankly at Butch._

What the-?!, _Butch thought to himself. Should he be beating down this monstsr? But if that is the case, isn't he at the hypermart? Why is he here? It was then that Butch understood what is going on_ ; this _is a mindscape. Brick had told him once that people tend to get here when a person's mind is severely distraught or a person is experiencing a great trauma. Butch realized that that means one of two things; he is screwed mentally, or he is screwed physically._

 _But the question is; Which one made him enter into the unusual realm?_

"What are you?" _Butch asked, not certain what or how on earth such a being could even exist._ But he had to remind himself that his mindscape is the one that allowed for the eldtritch being's existence.

"Your regrets. Your fears. Your anger." _The voice answered the teenager, with its mouth moving and showing a row of teeth made out of bullets._ _Butch had to admit that the monster made out of bullet casing is perhaps one of the most 'metal' beings ever, but it is still a very unnerving being._

"Okay...what do you want?"

"The question is more like what do _you_ want?" _The figure made out of bullet casing asked the Rowdyruff Boy back. Not expecting the thing ask a question like that, he flips his middle finger at the being._

"Fuck you."

"It will hurt if you do that." _The bullet made out of bullet casing answered back._

"Smartass."

"You want to make the whole world burn. And I shall grant it to you."

 _Butch suddenly find the whole city in a green malevolent flame, and suddenly the flames spread towards him. Butch can sense the excruciating pain from the inferno and he started to run and roll, trying to get the flames off his body. As he watched in horror, the skin on his hands slowly melted, showing his musculature and also the tendons of his arm before that too were ignited into a fiery conflagration. The figure of bullet casing soon drops its appearance, and reveal itself to be a torso with no arms and legs. The figure looks at Butch with blood flowing down from her eyes, and her sky-blue eyes are looking at Butch wrathfully._

 _Butch suddenly saw two figures engulfed in red flames, and as they walked towards him he can smell the burning human fat and flesh piercing his nose. As they came closer to him, he can see the the flesh melting off the burning bodies of the two individuals dropping down like droplets of dark oil while the fat slowly sizzles and flows down the cooking muscle like overburnt olive oil. It was then that he noticed that the two individuals had eyes that he recognized; a pair of crimson red eyes and a pair of cobalt blue eyes. Butch wanted to run, but his legs would not let him._

 _The two burning carcasses soon catches up with him and hold him by the shoulder, causing Butch's clothes to ignite violently as well. As Butch tries to pat the flames away, his two burning brothers embraced him in a deathly hold and as Butch felt all his nerves blaring pain signals to his brain, he can only scream._

* * *

[Random Supermarket, Suburban Townsville, 6.15pm]

Butch started screaming hysterically before realizing that he is standing in the candy aisle of the hypermarket.

He recalled seeing his brother Brick kissing Bubbles, but wondered what on earth is he doing in the hypermarket. His memory from entering the hypermarket to him screaming in the candy aisle is blanked out from his mind. He wondered why he could not remember, for it was just a few minutes ago when he entered into the hypermarket. As he looked on his arms, his relief at the condition of his arms only serves to ensure that he is having a really bad emotional situation. It was then that he wondered; why is he looking at his arms in relief? Did something happened to them? He then touches his jaw making sure that it is in one piece. That too sparked a question in his mind; what happened to his jaw to warrant him checking it?

But the fact still remains that he is here now in one piece. He decides that he need to get out from this hypermarket fast despite not knowing what happened. Without a second though, he started running towards the exit. Butch failed to notice that he is the only one in the hypermarket as he exits out. His perception of the world around him appears to be a little more darker than it should be, and his legs just kept on moving.

And moving.

Butch has no clue of what is going on with him, but all he wants to do is to just run for his life. His mind flashes back once more into a time long ago. His mind fades between the present and the past, the streets of suburban Townsville fading into the broken homes and streets of Aleppo before fading once more into Townsville. The sounds of the cars around him are interlaced with the sound of armored vehicle threads moving across the streets of the Syrian city. The sounds of car horns blaring and the sound of white phosphorus explosions echoed in his ears, while the smell of the trees and the grass is alternating with the smell of the sand, dust and decaying bodies. The sound of dog barking is replaced in his mind with the sound of rebel officers barking orders to charge forward.

Butch is now gasping for air, as the panic and anxiety within him is slowly overwhelming him. Butch's eyes kept on watering, and he failed to know what is real and what is not real. One way or another, the world is slowly warping into a living nightmare. Butch just kept on running, not knowing where to go but to keep on running. He knows that he can't keep running forever, but his mind is challenging that notion.

Finally the shortness of his breath made him stop.

Butch is in disbelief about his breath being cut short, but at the same time he is also finally breathing. The sweat is running down his face and brow, and he looks up to see that he is in front of a shop, a coffee shop. Butch felt a sensation in his hand, and as he takes his hands up he realized that his hands are trembling. His heart is beating strongly and rapidly as he felt a sense of dread and hopelessness. Butch looks around the neighborhood and finds himself in downtown Townsville with the sun long gone. His eyes catches the sight of wandering crying children who had lost their loved ones, lovers screaming in anguished suffering as they hold their loved ones in their embrace, and parents picking up fragments of their children's bodies with soulless eyes. Like the flickering lights above him, these images are flickering in and out of existence.

He really need a cup of hot cacao.

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 7.00pm]

"Here you go Blossom."

A waitress said as she holds a tray with a a cup of hot mocha on the table before the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl. The girl with the pink irises snaps out from her studying and noticing that the table is nearly covered with textbooks and notebooks,she smiled meekly and made room for the beverage.

"Thanks Daniela." Blossom thanked the lady with a smile. The waitress smiled back before she walked away to attend to other matters.

Blossom had rarely gotten time to herself ever since the appearance of the Rowdyruff Boys, Red Candy and the Lunatics in Townsville. Her time in the classroom and school clubs may be fun, but they are not relaxing in any way whatsoever. Usually her classmates,clubmates and even teaxhers rely on her to help them due to how responsibility is always piled on those that people perceived to be capable This gives her very little time in school to make her own notes and studies,and she relishes the chance to do so when given the opportunity.

Being a superhero had made her particularly orderly when it comes for her studying, and she always made the 'me' time as her time to study and make notes. Contrary to most people, even her sisters, Blossom personally find studying to be a particulary relaxing and joyful activity. It is perhaps the only time where her hectic life is not about getting rid of the filth of society and getting herself into mortal danger, but a time where her life is like any other normal non-superhuman individual. Hence, her time in Cafe Latte right now is akin to how people decide to go fishing to relax and be detached from the world.

As she takes the mug of mocha closer to her lips, she takes caution to blow very gently as to not freeze her drink. Her memories of how she found out about her ice powers is a constant reminder that she always need to control any air being blown out of her mouth. Seeing that the steamy surface of the drink is no longer steamy and at the same time feeling the heat of the cup dropping to a cooler temperature,she figured that it is the right temperature to take a sip.

It was then that her blissful focus is interrupted by a figure entering into the cafe. A tall young man with a scorched brown jacket over a black undershirt entered into the cafe and proceeds to walk towards the counter. Blossom watched as the young man is now making an order with the cashier as he taps his foot. The particularly unique camoflaged pants,which has reddish brown vie-like camo over a khaki pants and patches of bright olive green only confirmed the identity of the individual in Blossom's mind. Only one person would wear camoflaged pants all the time.

 _Butch?_ , Blossom recognized the figure, not expecting the presence of the teenager with the jet-black hair with a bright green headband. As Blossom takes a sip,she made the attempt to reach out for one of her textbooks with her other arm and try to spread the book open. Once she had done so,she brought it up to her face and use it to shield her face as she observe him. The teenager soon males his way towards a table opposite Blossom and takes a seat.

Te Rowdyruff Boy looks to be particularly pale and lethargic as he leans back on his chair and looks up towards the ceiling. The teenage boy soon slumps down on the chair and his legs straighten as he puts his hands in his pockets. Blossom noticed that his legs are trembling and so is his body.

 _He looked like he had just seen a ghost_ , Blossom thought to herself. That saying,she is annoyed that of all the places he had to sit, he just had to sit opposite her. To add further annoyance to the matter, she can't keep holding up the book and mug forever. If worse come to worse, she would have to continued on with her studies and ignore his presence.

 _Calm down Blossom, just pretend he's not there and gently put down the book. I can't just let one minor annoyance to bother with my 'me' time_ ,Blossom thought to herself.

Blossom slowly lowers down her book and gently puts down the book, followed shortly by the mug. She looks around for her pen and after finding it, she proceed to continue writing the notes that was interrupted by the waitress. She scribbles on as she disseminate the textbook and soon she is back to her usual pace. It was then that she noticed that Butch is now staring at her.

 _God damn it_ , _please leave me alone._

Before Blossom could say anything about leaving her alone, Butch gets up from his chair and walks up towards Blossom. Realizing that she needs to act fast,she tried to respond with something.

 _Please don't sit._

Alas, the words are only in Blossom's mind, an abstract concept that failed to materialized into reality. The jadeite-eyed boy gently pulls the chair before sitting before her. Blossom is now looking at him, but finally her mouth is moving once more.

"I didn't expect you to be here." Blossom voiced out her honest thoughts,her tone a little sarcastic.

"Neither do I, neither do I. But I figured that I really need a cup of hot cocoa to calm my nerves." Butch appears to be not in his usual flirtateous mood. This raises a red flag in Blossom's mind. The second red flag was raised when he took one of his hands out of his pockets and showed Blossom.

"Calm your nerves...from what exactly?" Blossom asked, her curiosity of his situation overrode her desire to shoo away Butch. His shivering hand soon lands down on the table before he takes out his other hand and put it on the table.

"A bad nightmare I would reckon. Or perhaps a memory. For me those two tend to mix together and be one and the same." Butch's lack of agression is particularly alarming, and Blossom puts down her pen to listen more.

"Here you go, your hot cocoa." The friendly voice of the waitress interrupted, and both Butch and Blossom turned towards the waitress.

"Oh, thanks lady."

"Yeah,thanks Daniela."

"My pleasure. Didn't know that you're Blossom's boyfriend." The waitress winks at both of them.

"Wha-"

"Wait-"

Both teenagers are flabbergasted by the waitress' perception, but before they can completely deny or explain themselves, the waitress had moved on to mind her own business. Blossom takes a deep breath before she speaks out.

"Don't think that letting that line slip is an invitation for funny stuff."

"Funny stuff huh? What kind of funny stuff? I don't mind funny stuff." Butch said to Blossom with a hint of something a little more lewd than he lets on.

"Shut up."

"I mean...why would the lady think that you're Blossom? Weirdo." Butch said as he takes a sip of his cacao. Blossom immediately realized that something is very wrong with Butch. Blossom is now rather unnerved by his demeanor as he appears to be much more gentler and peaceful. But his eyes appear to be staring a distance of a thousand yards. Seeing that Blossom is now paying him more attention, Butch continued on without being prompted.

"Sometimes I don't remember things, but usually that means I am just ignoring things. Things that hurt too much perhaps, or things I chose to bury deep within me." Blossom has nothing to say as she heard those words coming out from Butch.

"The fact that you're here makes it all a little more bearable. Honestly, I don't know why am I here in Townsville. Him's sure has his way to mess around with us." Butch chuckled and Blossom can see that the sparkle of life within Butch's eyes has all but dissapeared. His eyes belongs more on a dead person than the living.

"What happened?" Blossom is now very worried and concerned about the safety of the people within Cafe Latte.

"Seriously with all these minions, the Powerpuff Girls, and my brothers and I...we're spinning round and round on this game by Him. Even Brick and Boomer said you're now with him. Back from the I never believe it until I saw you here. Drinking coffee with books around you. Exactly as you say you would do if you're back in France."

 _He thinks I'm Reneè_ , Blossom realized that the Rowdyruff Boy is under the influence of something.

"I wanted to jump on you and hug you, but I know you'll kick my ass. After all you taught me all the things I know." Butch laughs once more, his laugh serenely sincere.

"I would." Blossom answered back, knowing that she will meed to find out what is this all about.

"But yeah,there is never a single day where I don't think about you. How you took care of us brothers under the starry nights of Aleppo. I will be honest. Those were some of the best times in the world, despite being in hell on earth." Butch reminisce about the times, which Blossom will not know. She looks around to see that the unsuspecting people are still going about their normal activities,not aware that there is a hallucinating superhuman in their midst.

"But now that I'm old enough, I need to tell you something. I am always in love with you." Butch confesses, not aware that he is hallucinating.

"I mean, I always see you in girls that I find interest in. But you're you,and I like you for who you are."

"What about this Blossom girl?" Blossom asked, wondering what he honestly think of her.

"Well,she is a looker and I will be honest, her body is frame for frame just like yours. When I saw her I can't help myself, I wanted to talk to her. But alas,she don't trust me and my brothers made it all worse. Managed to see Blossom in a swimsuit,and honestly that made me very excited. And her wit...oh her wit. Not often you get brains and body in one package. Personality-wise, she's a firebrand. Not like Buttercup, but a more classy firebrand. A bookworm, but a sexy bookworm." Butch said without holding back, and Blossom honestly finds his opinion of her very flattering.

"Still I can't move on. The Powerpuff Girls are still an enemy more or less. Buttercup is a worthy opponent, and I always respected her for that. Blossom...well she is a little bit of a bitch, but her body is fine. But it is Bubbles that I hate the most."

"Why Bubbles?" Blossom is surprised that Butch has a particular dislike for her sister.

"In many ways, she is the total opposite of me. Not a fighter, naive, bubbly, friendly, a girl, doesn't have a shred of demons haunting her, and having a clear conscience. I find her existence unrealistic. Also, it seems that she is taking my brother away from me. You remembered Brick right?" Blossom nods, knowing that she needs to keep this charade up for a little while longer.

"Well, Brick may be the smartest and the most street-wise, but when it comes to noticing how he looks at her...man, Boomer and I made jokes that he is as clear as a High-Definition LCD TV screen. Brick's always like that; when he likes something he stares at it for a very long time and might I say very intense at that. But today, it seems that they both made their move. She tries to be funny with him, he kissed her, and she stole his only met him for a few months, and she thinks that she can barge into our lives just like that?" Butch's voice becomes much more harsher, and he grits his teeth.

 _Oh no,_ Blossom thought. Butch thinks that Bubbles is a scheming woman that is stealing his brother from him and breaking their brotherly bond apart. Blossom takes a sip of her mocha, knowing that she needs to be aware that Butch is in a very volatile and emotional state. The other teenager also takes a sip of his hot cacao, before he continues on. Blossom is very surprised how talkative he is, but Blossom understood that the reason of his openness is due to him believing that he is talking to a figure whom he can confide to.

"At least with Boomer and Butters, it is Boomer who found out about Butters' weird hobby of playing and spending time with the orphans. But that idiot...he didn't even want to blackmail Butters and instead joined in the fun. Hell, that idiot is the one that first volunteered to help out the Powerpuff Girls when Him's cronies attacked Townsville and told Brick that he will go to the orphanage first. Those two...also another problem waiting to happen. Seriously, Buttercup and my bro being friends is kinda weird, and I think he's slowly falling for that Amazon." Butch guffaws, causing some people to turn around to see what the commotion is all about.

Blossom however is anything but joyful. It seems that for some reason, Butch revealing that Boomer and Buttercup are secretly meeting up is something she did not expect. Blossom knew that there was something up with those two, but she never knew that they were keeping a secret of their activities. Blossom would need to ask her peridot-eyed sister about this matter.

"Then there's Him. Seriously, what's his game. Bringing us brothers here, and then disappearing like that. Then forced us to fight his minions, and now he wants us to do our part. Poseidon? What the fuck is he calling me Poseidon and telling me to do my-URGH!" Butch immediately holds his head, and Blossom stands up and try to assist him. As Blossom comes closer to the teenager, she realized that his smell is particularly sweet, sickeningly sweet.

"Butch...what's wrong?" Blossom asked the teenage boy sternly. Butch however is groaning, and his head is now sweating. Blossom knows that she needs to take him out of the cafe, and she rushed to put her books in her backpack quickly. As she zips her bag, she looks back at Butch and sees that his eyes are closed in pain, and his breathing is more labored. Slinging the bag across her back, she immediately slings Butch's arm over her shoulder and supporting him. The staff noticed the situation, and they looked at Blossom to see if they can assist her. However Blossom shakes her head, and she leads the tall teenager out from the cafe. As she finally step out from the cafe with Butch, her mind registers the information that she had received from Butch.

 _That is a whole load of things going on...Him and the Rowdyruff Boys. What is their relationship to Him?_

"That's weird...don't know why that happened. Maybe I am just a little too tired from all of this. Anyway thanks for listening, you're a good pal." Butch composes himself and distance himself from Blossom. Before she can even response, Butch disappears in a streak of forest green lightning, making a electrical trail across the dark night skies. Blossom realized that this is a very messed up matter that she need to speak to her sisters about, but before she can do anything, a Humvee stops right in front of her. Three military soldiers immediately came out from the vehicle and Blossom wonder what is going on until she hears the familiar baritone voice of her father calling out to her.

"Blossom, I'm so glad I managed to find you here!" Professor Utonium said with great relief.

"Professor, what's going on? Why are you with these soldiers?" Blossom asked.

"Quick no time to explain! Get up on the Humvee!" Professor Utonium beckons the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl to come up on the vehicle. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Blossom would have to put the case of Butch's issues on the back seat and see what is going on with this unexpected development.

* * *

[?]

The city of Aleppo burning under him. The towers of burning smoke climbs up as the sea of fire beneath him stretches as far as the eye can see.

Butch had no idea where is he flying to,but he needs to take shelter for the night. After a while, he managed to find a location that looked to be a secure location for . It is a ruined shop lot, two storeys and looked particularly familiar to him. Butch wondered for a moment before shaking his head. He takes several steps towards the door, and he opened it gently before he entered into the building. Butch finds it odd how the furniture and the layout of the ruined building reminds him of a place that he had been before, but somehow his memory is not helping him recognize the place.

 _Screw it, I can try to remember it some other time,_ Butch thought as he walked across the living room and towards the stairs . As he take the steps up the stairs, he looks around warily. Butch always knew that stairs are one of the best place to ambush a person, and he slowly climbed the staircase with caution. As he reached the top, he saw several more rooms but they appeared to be in various stages of ruin.

 _That leaves me with the room at the end huh?,_ Butch said to himself as he slowly walks towards the room at the end of the passage. Stopping in front of the room, he comes face to face with a blasted door. It appeared to be blown outwards, but the general door frame and parts of the door leaf of the door appeared to be still attached to its hinges. Butch gently open the already fragile door to reveal the interior of the room. A dusty but surprisingly intact bed is before him while the light from the starry sky dimly lit the open-aired room. He looked around to see if there are any enemy presence around him, but he is relieved that there is no hostile forces around him. Butch decided to slam the door behind him, and soon jumped on the bed, seeing that it is a decent place to rest.

As Butch gets himself comfortable on the bed, Butch wondered where his brothers were. However Butch was reminded that his brothers may be engaged in missions around the city of Aleppo. Seeing that there is not much point to continue pondering where his brothers were, he decided to just lie on his back. Butch will have to find his way towards the rebel's stronghold tomorrow to check up on his brothers and also the rebels.

Butch slowly closes his eyes and hope that he will be rested enough for the next day.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00pm]

Boomer is listening some some music in his room before he noticed a figure passing by his room. Wondering who it is, Boomer got up from his bed and saw a familiar figure walking towards the room at the end. Boomer noticed that a raven-haired teenager is now walking very cautiously towards the room at the end, and Boomer is wondering why his brother is creeping towards his room.

"Butch?"Boomer asked his brother,but it seems that the raven-haired teenager is ignoring him as he entered his own room. His brother appears to be somewhat pale and tired,and Butch being tired is something unusual. The door slams behind Butch and Boomer decided that he rather not bother his brother.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville; 10.30am]

"Bubbles, are you alright?"

Bubbles snaps out of her daze and she realized that her thoughts went astray during her class. Despite the intensity of the teacher's lesson, her thoughts are preoccupied with the events that are going on with her life now and Bubbles is unable to let the issues go away. To add even more situations into her already complicated life, Professor Utonium and Blossom are summoned to a top-secret location or at least that is what they informed Bubbles and Buttercup when Professor Utonium picked their sister up in a Humvee with military escort yesterday night.

"Oh, I'm okay Ms. Weatherlight." Bubbles replied to her teacher as she smiled. The teacher smiled back at her before she continued on with her lesson. Bubbles had learned throughout her life that if she smiles genuinely as she answer people, people will always leave her be. Alas, she had learned to keep her secrets well, and that made things easier.

"Psst...Bubbles." A plain-looking girl with golden blonde hair whispers to Bubbles.

"Yes Britney?" Bubbles whispered back, wondering what is her classmate up to.

"Coul you accompany me and see me confess?"

"Confess? Who's the guy?" Bubbles asked. Bubbles is often called in as a support for any confessions of her fellow classmates and other students, mostly because she is often the one that can make a frown from a rejection turned upside down. Or in the case of a successful confession, a happiness multiplier.

"B-Butch."

"Say what?!" Bubbles shouted out loud and the rest of the class is now looking at her. Bubbles noticed the attention she had drawn and she scanned her surroundings quickly. Fortunately for her, the teacher was just writing down the homework list for her students to do before the class ends.

"Is there anything wrong with Bubbles?"

"Oh...uhm...maybe we should do less homework and ur...do something...something more...ur...cheery?" Bubbles said with a great amount of uncertainty. The other girls laughed, and Bubbles hoped that works. The cheery Bubbles ploy always works. Once everyone settles down, Bubbles immediately focuses her attention to her blonde teammate.

"Are you crazy?!" Buttercup hissed in a whisper, knowing full well what this woukd entail.

"I know, I know...but I had to ask."

"Sigh... fine."

* * *

Before long, Bubbles find herself accompanying her fellow cheerleader to the classroom where Butch had a class. Bubbles and her fellow cheerleader sees the tall and muscularly lean Butch exiting from the class, looking particularly aloof. Without warning the girl immediately dashes towards the young teenager, and Bubbles gives out a loud sigh.

"Love makes you crazy I guess." Bubbles said to herself as she peeks from the edges of the wall, not realizing the irony of her own words.

Bubbles sees her teammate walks up towards the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy in his characteristically militant clothing. Somehow Butch always has a new military pants to go with his black tank top at any moment, and this time it appears to be particularly unique camo pattern with light brown patches of and vertical, brownish blood-red vine-like stripes over a khaki material. Butch is scanning the teenage girl with his jade-colored eyes and , Bubbles is worried that the hornball may do something bad to her. Still, she looks on with great caution as she is not meant to meddle into the matter.

"Butch...actually I-" Butch puts his finger on her lips, silencing the teenage girl.

"Sorry, please get out of my way if it is not important ." Bubbles' jaw immediately dropped as she did not expect Butch to be such a prick. The girl was stunned in place, and Butch immediately walks away from her. Bubbles is now particularly pissed off at what Butch did. She stormed towards Butch, who noticed the golden blonde Powerpuff Girl walking up towards him.

"What's the heck Butch?" Bubbles called the Rowdyruff Boy out. The commotion between Bubbles and Butch attracts the attention of the other students and they are now watching the two superhumans glaring at each other.

"What?"

"You can't just say those things to a girl."

"What's wrong with telling a person to not bother someone?" Butch said unapologetically. This further infuriates Bubbles.

"She had something to tell you Brick."

"He's a woman?" Butch said all of that without even a shred of censoring his speech. The sound of a girl sniffling can be heard immediately and this enrage Bubbles.

"You take that back you prick!" Bubbles shouted, and the rest of the students gasped. Bubbles rarely swears,and when she does it always means that something is really, really going to be messy.

"What did you call me?" Butch raised his voice, but Bubbles care not about his opinions of what she just called him.

"I just called you a prick! I see, you're not only an idiot but you're deaf!" Bubbles shouted at Butch,and the spectators noticed that Butch is already clenching his fist tightly.

"You're pissing me off." Butch points his finger at Bubbles, who take further offense to Butch's action. Bubbles' face is now redder than before,and she is not going to entertain the Rowdyruff Boy.

"You? Pissed? I'm furious about what you've done to poor Britney! No one deserves to have their first crush turn them down that way so harshly and insensitively! Not to mention sexist!"

"And I'm furious about how you looked like Bubbles." Butch said out coldly, and immediately the murmurs among the students begin to pick up something is really off about Butch, and the fact that he does not recognize Bubbles is becoming rather bizarre.

" _You're in tough luck. greenhorn. Those Baathist Alawite bastards pissed me offthe other day. You looked like you can give me a good fight. Just need to make sure Reneè don't see this ._ " Butch's ramblings are now turning more incoherent, and Bubbles is visibly disturbed by the whole situation.

 _Did Butch just spoke Arabic to me?,_ Bubbles asked herself as she moved on to wonder who is this Renée person and how this person is even related to the whole situation. This disturbed state of Butch is also apparent to the rest of the students. Bubbles suddenly picks up a particularly odd odor, and she is disturbed by the unfolding situation. She unable to pinpoint what it is exactly but it is definitely emanating from the Rowdyruff Boy. Like Red Candy, it is sickeningly sweet but at the same time it felt a little more sour. This made Bubbles very unsure what is going on with the teenager before her. As Bubbles watched on, she noticed that Butch's eyes are slowly turning a pure jadeite green. The intensity of the transformation increased with every rambling and the sickly sweet stench is growing stronger.

"I am envious, even jealous on how everyone is able to live with their lives so easily without a care in the world. If you only had seen what I've seen. No one here have seen children's heads impaled on sticks in Myanmar. No one here had to see the mutilated corpses of a suicide attack in Baghdad. No one here saw a massacre of a village in Congo. No one here saw a person starved to death before your eyes...NO ONE HERE EVEN CARES!" Butch roared and everyone jolted, shocked by Butch's outburst.

"Butch...I don't know what's going on...but you need to calm down." Britney said as Britney's hands touches Butch's shoulder. Butch pushes Britney down with one arm and the girl fell down with a resounding thud. Britney groaned in pain as she fell down on the ground holding her arm, and Butch is looking at her with eyes that seeks to finish what he started. Bubbles realize that Butch is about to do something that will endanger her friend. As Britney looked up, Butch's eyes started to glow with a malevolent light.A fist immediately made contact with his cheekbones, causing the teenage boy to slam down on the ground with a reverberating tremor.

"BRITNEY, RUN!" Bubbles immediately jumped on Butch and proceed to lay down several punishing blows with her fists and elbows. The ground below Butch slowly start to crack with every blow, and the students are staying further and further away,but none of them are leaving the area. It is not everyday that they can see a fight between superhuman beings before them, and that curiosity outweighs their need to stay away.

Realizing that he is now in a brawl,Butch shrimps his body to escape from Bubbles' onslaught. Bubbles is caught by surprise, and Butch knew then that the Powerpuff Girl is not used to ground grabs on Bubbles' arm and pulled her down while he turns around to wrap his legs around her neck. Butch is satisfied with the strength of his hold and he hopes that the teenage girl would tap out or something. He smiled smugly at his efforts, but soon realize that Bubbles' sky-blue eyes are now glowing wih a bright icy glow.

"Hrghhhhhhh-Eaaaaahhhh!" Bubbles screeched out in rage and Butch realized what will happen. Butch forgot that he is facing off against a Powerpuuff Girl and immediately his stomach is met with a pair of eye beam bolts from Bubbles' eyes. Butch cried out in pain as he lets go of his hold of the Powerpuff Girl and rolled away. Bubbles coughed as she finally took in a large gulp of air while holding her throat.

"Bubbles!" A husky voice called out to the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl. Realizing that Buttercup had taken wind of the commotion, Butch flew off in a streak of forest green lightning.

"Not so fast Butch!" Buttercup blasted off in a streak of light. Seeing that Buttercup is on Butch's tail, Britney immediately rushes to Bubbles' side

"Bubbles...you alright?"

"I'm...fine...how...about...you?" Bubbles's voice is hoarse after the particularly tight choking experience.

"Bubbles...you need to-"

"Britney, pass me your phone. " Britney looked at her cheerleading teammate and she had wanted to protest, but she decided that it is for the best. Buttercup may not be able to take care of Butch alone, and Britney nods reluctantly. Britney passes her phone to Bubbles. Bubbles immediately types the number that Britney needs to call for this particular situation.

"I'm going after Butch and Buttercup. Call the number, it will help the situation." Britney's smiles back at Bubbles before the golden blonde Powerpuff Girl with the bright light blue eyes blazes off in a flash of light. Britney immediately picks up her phone and dial a number that Bubbles believe would be the best person to call given the situation. The number manages to connect and Britney immediately talked into the phone to inform the person of the situation.

* * *

[Somewhere in the Midwest, 11.00am]

"I got you now."

Buttercup said to herself as she catches up with the fleeing Rowdyruff Boy. Buttercup will not let him go after one of her MMA club members rushed to inform her that her sister is fighting with Butch. The fact that Butch ran away proves his guilt of starting the fight and Buttercup will make sure that he will face justice for his actions. Justice is perhaps too strong of a word, but Buttercup finds that anyone that hurt her sister is guilty and will get retribution for what they have Buttercup noticed that Butch is flicking a few fingers at her and she knew the dangers of his flicking dangers. She dived down a little before the sound of several flying force barriers passes by her. Buttercup did not even plan to fight with the Rowdyruff Boy, but since he opened fire it gave Buttercup the reason to fight back in self-defense. Buttercup fires her eyebeam at Butch and Butch is immediately hit with the eyebeam bolt. But Buttercup knew that the eyebeams will not be enough. Gathering the vortex around her arms, she threw several crescent-shaped energy projectiles at the Rowdyruff Boy, causing several explosions in succession as they made contact with Butch. A trail of smoke soon dives down towards the forested area and a loud crash can be heard before a trail of falling trees are visible to Buttercup's peridot eyes.

Buttercup soon descends down towards the trail of broken trees before finally stopping a few feet away from the scorching trail of destruction. Butch is now standing upright with his shirt blown apart, showing scorched marks on his muscular body. His camo pants are also visibly damaged, and Bubbles knew that it would take more than just her basic Booms to take him down.

"Alright Butch, this ends now." Buttercup said as she prepares herself mentally for anything.

"Ah, so the Baathist managed to get a super to hunt me down ." Butch's tone is particularly malicious and cruel, and Buttercup realizes that something is extremely wrong with Butch. Butch has always been excited for battle, but never in a malicious manner. This disturbs Buttercup, for she knows him best when it comes to fighting.

"Butch...what's wrong with you?" Butch immediately flicks several of his fingers and Buttercup dodges to the side. The forest behind Buttercup is engulfed in a series of large explosion and Buttercup realizes that it is time for her to get serious as well. She fires several of her energy crescents in response, and Butch dodges all of them via an impressive array of acrobatic dodges and flips. As the teenage boy is about to land down on the ground, he called out the dark-haired teenage girl.

"Not bad prick, now try this on for size!" Butch puts his thumbs on all the tip of his fingers before flicking them all at once. Buttercup know that she is unable to dodge these attacks and she need to bring in her own form of protection.

"Melchior, time to rumble!" The crystal within her bangles soon lights up and Buttercup is engulfed in a bright light. The force fields from Butch attacks made contact with the bright light and exploded in a large bang. As the light clears away, Butch is now face to face with Buttercup clad in what appears to be a sleeveless lime-green dress going down to her thighs with a black stripe marking her abdomen, consisting of several fabric-like armor with angular vents and triangular thrusters around her back, legs and skirt. Buttercup's legs were encased in a white legging like armor and black boot-like structures that merged her feet and heels into a smooth angular pointed form with spikes around her knees and sabatons. As Buttercup cracked her knuckles with her heavily armed black gauntlets, with green spikes around her wrists, forearm guards and knuckles.

"Nice. My turn." Butch smiles maniacally as two portals appear before Butch and he inserts his arms into the portal. As Buttercup watches, Butch pulls his arm from the portal to reveal two large conch-metal gauntlets enveloping his arms. The gauntlets are each tipped with a triad of wicked stud-like spikes on the front part of the gauntlet, followed by ring of spikes beneath the conch like structure of the upper portion of the gauntlet. The end of the gauntlet ends with tubes in which Butch inserts his arm.

"Great...just great." Buttercup is not pleased with this state of development. The Rowdyruff Boys got upgrades.

"I know right?"

Buttercup hears Butch's voice from behind her, and she did not waste the few seconds to turn around to ascertain if he is really there. She drops down on the ground immediately, barely missing the swing of Butch's punch to her head. Buttercup rolls away and recompose herself in a defensive posture. Butch's face is particularly jovial as his grin spreads from ear to ear, while his eyes glowed with a malevolent sapphire.

"Damn..." Buttercup cursed. Whatever it is, Butch is not Butch was bombarded by a dizzying array of electrical orbs which denonated with such force that Buttercup was blown away by the explosions. Buttercup crashed into a tree, causing it to splinter apart.

"What the?" Buttercup looks up to see Bubbles in her battle outfit. The white ring around the back of her outfit is now generating even more electrical orbs that detaches from the ring behind her and surround her as she slowly descends. Several waves of energy barriers shoots out from the smoke, but the barriers soon hit upon the electrical force field generated between the areas around the electrical orbs. A figure soon burst out from the smoke and heads into the forest.

"Bubbles, he's heading into the forest!" Buttercup cries out. Bubbles immediately releases several of the electrial orbs from her generators and the orbs soon homes in to Butch on Bubbles' command. Before long, some parts of the forest are soon engulfed in explosions. As some parts of the forest burns,Bubbles landed right next to Buttercup. Buttercup noticed that Bubbles is looking at the forest with a great amount of concern.

"Bubbs, this ain't good in any way possible."

"Yeah...I think he's drugged."

"Wait...drugged?"

"He's did not really recognize me,and he rambled on as if he is seeing something else." Bubbles said as her orbs recomposed around her.

"Shit...no wonder he is even more batshit bloodthirsty than usual."

"He tried to break my neck."

"Damn...this is gonna be tough. He's gonna be a tough one."Buttercup stretches her arm,knowing that this situation is now particularly critical.

"Stubborn too, Buttercup. We need to flush him out of the forest." Bubbles points towards the forest and the next question on both the Powerpuff Girl's mind is how do they flush Butch out from the pine forests that littered this area.


	43. Chapter 43: HIM

Chapter 43: H.I.M

[Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force Headquarters, Downtown Townsville, 10.00pm]

"This is bad."

This is the first time Blossom had stepped foot into the Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force, or also known as TOCTSeF, headquarters and she is seeing that the situation is critical. The headquarters is more akin to a military base with armed soldiers guarding the headquarters with machine gun nests and other heavy weapons. Several dozen large tents and fleets of vehicles ranging from Humvees to M1 Abrams tanks are parked in the large open spaces of the installation next to several Black Hawk helicopters and Apache attack helicopters. If it were not for the occasional stone statues and walkway pavement appearing from time to time, Blossom would not had recognized the Townsville Park had been turned into the largest forward operation base against organized crime on U.S soil.

"Yes indeed Blossom." Blossom turns towards Professor Utonium, clad in his signature white labcoat and black slacks. Blossom remembered that about an hour ago, she was pulled out of the streets by military personnel to attend this security meeting along with Professor Utonium to tackle the Lunatic threat. The Utoniums, being one of the very few feasible means of mounting a credible defense, are called in to help devise a plan against the Lunatics.

"This way." A stern-looking soldier gestured for the Utoniums to enter into a large covered tent.

As both father and daughter entered into the camp, they are faced with several dozen individuals conversing with each other. Noticing the new arrivals, the people within the room turned their attention towards the two Utoniums for a few moments. Blossom saw some of men are dressed in military fatigues while others are wearing office suits. The highest echelon of both military, law enforcement and civilian government are gathered here for a reason,and it is not a good. Blossom is surprised that there are no police officers in the room, until she recalled that she was there when the Townsville Police was effectively neutered and neutralized. The men and women soon returned back to their conversations, though the atmosphere of the room became a little heavier with the presence of the Utoniums.

Blossom is uncomfortable with her surroundings as she is the only teenager in the room. Correction, Blossom is the only superhuman teenager in this room, and this in itself sticks out like a sore thumb. Whatever it is that they are planning, the Powerpuff Girls will be central to their countermeasure against the Lunatics.

"Professor Utonium, Blossom, please come this way." The military attache beckons the Utoniums to follow him. They are lead to two seats with name plaques spelling out their names resting on each chair. The soldier takes the two plaques from the chair and the Utoniums soon take their seats. Blossom looks on and finds a small stage with a projection screen in the center and a podium towards the left of the screen. One of the soldiers step up on the stage and heads to the podium. After adjusting the microphone and checking if the microphone is working, the soldier soon steps down from the stage.

"If only there's a familiar face." Blossom said softly to herself.

* * *

[Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force Headquarters, Downtown Townsville, 10.30pm]

 _Forward bases? Check. Heavily-armed pacification units? Check. Utterly clueless officials. Check._

As soon as the transport carrying both Brick and entered into the militarized compound, Brick checked the similarities between the Townsville forces' arrangements and the particular arrangement used by the special Brazilian police units that patrol the infamous _favelas_ of Rio to stop organized crime. If anything, the Townsville forces is much more akin to a military forward base in an Iraqi base than those of a Brazilian special police unit base.

 _Bodyguards that can potentially be useless? Check._

Brick finds their escort particularly pointless, since they are not sufficient enough to protect anyone nor impactful enough to hold a meaningful resistance to a determined foe or foes. It is a matter of perspective for the carnelian-haired teenager, for if they are armed to such a degreee but decided to make it a half-hearted attempt they might as well save the time and effort for something more meaningful.

 _Now let's see the_ _will be the best way to cause chaos in this base?_

Brick's mind is already looking out for all the weak points of the base and the angle of attacks that Him's forces can use to breach the camp. From his three minute entrance into the camp,he had spotted fifty-seven weaknesses in the base defenses that he will exploit.

 _Not good at all, they're underestimating Him's goons_ , Brick thought to himself.

"Hope there's someone we know. Something big is about to happen."The brunette pixie-haired district attorney said out loud as she looks out the window of the Humvee driving into the TOCTSeF compound. The rules of engagement betwern the crooks and the government had led to the military-like arrangements to combat the spread of organized crime in Townsville.

"Familiar or not, I don't like this." Brick answered.

Brick had kept Boomer from coming with them, citing that they should not put their eggs in one basket. He had also informed Boomer to keep an eye out for anything odd. It is the best action that Brick could take given the situation, as the TOCTSeF forces had called on and Brick by name. No one else.

This in turn made Brick suspicious, for calling him out to a meeting like this means that someone who is familiar with his 'resume' wanted him in the conversation to determine the actions of the task force. Of course, this is mere speculation, but Brick never take things that are too conviniently placed as a coincidence.

"Neither do I, Brick. But we need to keep things under control."

"Ma'am,we've just arrived." The soldier at the driver seat informed . As the door to the passenger seat opens, the soldier beckons them to walk towards the covered tent in front of the Humvee. Brick and gets off the vehicle and made their way towards the tent. As they entered i to the tent,they saw a crowd of various individuals from both the military and bureacractic side mingling with each other.

"If we weren't told that this is a strategic mission planning and briefing, I would've though we we were in a ballroom party." joked. Brick smiled a little before replying to the district attorney.

"Well, looks like this is going to be a long night."

* * *

[Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force Headquarters, Downtown Townsville, 10.35pm]

Blossom's eyes wandered off to the empty seats beside her and she saw the name of Lilith Morningstar and Brick beside her. As if on cue, the two seats beside her are soon occupied by two familiar figures.

"Blossom?" A particularly attractive woman with glasses framing her gray eyes in an office attire took notice of the copper-haired teenager as she takes the seat that is further away from here, while a red-capped teenager with a long braided waist-length tail-like ponytail in a black turtleneck sits right next to her. Noticing the presence of the Powerpuff Girl, the teenage boy with the rather edgy atmosphere around him speak to her.

"So you're here too. Must be big if both of us are here." Brick reasoned.

"They need all the supers they can get." Blossom informs the Rowdyruff Boy,reminding him of their particular gifts.

"Speaking about that...why isn't the league of supers or something helping out? Wouldn't this be called a big crisis?" Brick's question is particularly astute, but Blossom is able to answer it.

"Because villains are all around causing big problems that are of note as well. Also, we're the strongest supers and our foes tend to be the strongest villains as well. So our troubles are always more than what the other supers could handle."

"Fair." Brick acknowledges Blossom's point. The Powerpuff Girls are already stronger than most superheroes by the time they were eight years old, and the crimes in Townsville rival those of warzones on any given time. Even monsters from Monster Island made surviving the onslaught of the Powerpuff Girls a rite of passage before they can terrorize other towns. In Townsville, the running joke is that when villains want to scare each other,they tell each other Powerpuff Girls stories.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats." A rather meek, frail and horse-faced scrawny fellow is now on podium, requesting the others to the men and women are seated, an image of the combined areas of the Barrio and Ghetto are now projected on the screen.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Leeroy Jenkinson, and on behalf of the U.S Government, I am seconded here by the President of the United States to see to it the resolution of this most dire national security issue. As we all know, for the past three months, this area of Townsville had fallen under the clutches of the group calling themselves the Lunatics. Due to their overwhelming militaristic presence and alao the neutralization of the police within Townsville, we are forced to deploy TOCTSeF in the confines of this city. Every day, many lives were lost and several thousand people are internally displaced or worse,trapped within these areas." The weasly voice of the man is rather grating to Blossom, but she will have to bear with it as the man points toards the area.

"The situation in Townsville had become unteneable, especially with the reported presence of hostile elements in the Asian enclaves of Townsville. Thus, the Presidential Office had decreed that this situation needs to be rectified." The murmur among the crowb only grew louder as they let the weasly man speak.

"Professor...it is me or he's about to say something really stupid?" Blossom leans sideways and asked the professor.

"You're not the only one." Professor Utonium gestured, leading Blossom to the group of military colonels looking at the man with a great amount of contempt.

"That's bad isn't it?"

"Very. But they can't do much about it. Fortunately for them, they've got us." Professor Utonium highlights to Blossom.

"Based on the intel that was provided to us, the Lunatics are now arming themselves with this particular hardware." shows the image of a rectangular, plank-like rifle and the expression of the military officers within the room hardened siignificantly. Blossom had never seen such a weird weapon, for it really looked rather harmless. She turn towards her father, wanting to ask the professor about the weapon but soon realize that the professor is now frowning.

"Professor?" Blossom asked, but the professor did not reply. The scrawny man proceed to explain to the others in the room.

"This ladies and gentlemen is the MJ-05 Beam-mining Rifle. A piece of technology designed by one of the greatest minds in the world, Mojo Jojo. This tool was commisioned by the Russian for their ice-breaking and tundra mining operations. However it had come to our attention that several hundred of these equipment were stolen in Russia and had entered into the black market. Now thanks to recent intelligence gathered by the NSA, CIA amd NSA, we had confirmed that they are spotted here in American soil, modified to become weapons of war which make a mockery of any type of armor or rotor-wing aircraft that are flying too low." An image of several crates of weapons opened with the hoodlums arming the weapon is shown on the screen while another image is of several gang membets raising the rifle up in the air.

"intelligence is also received that the Lunatics are planning something big. With these information amd threats at hand Homeland Security had greenlit Operation Baneslayer."

"Operation Baneslayer?" Blossom hissed.

"The following assumptions needs to be reiterated before I proceed on with the briefing of Operation Baneslayer; firstly, our airpower is severely negated due to political repercussions of damaging American infrastructure by our own military hardware. Secondly, they are well entrenched and clearly outgunned us. Thirdly, they have more superpowered beings than us." A dark silence befell the tent, and the only sound in the room is the humming generator and air conditioning units in the tent.

"Thus Operation Baneslayer is devised with these circumstances in mind. We will be sending several covert teams into enemy-controlled area to neutralize the relevant elements and weaken their defenses in order for us to take control of the areas. These advances need to be made in waves in order to maintain the tempo of our operation." The silence amongst the audience is apparent, but the man proceeded on, either being very aware or very unaware of the apprehension of the operations into the heart of the Barrio and man proceed to shows how the operations will be conducted to the rest of the audience in the room.

"We understand that there will be great concerns about civilian safety around and within the vicinities of these two areas. Thus in order for this plan to proceed,we will be required to vacate the civilians out from the area highlighted here," The man points towards the emerging red areas enveloping around the Barrio and Ghetto, "and we are to station the reinforcements around these areasto reinforce at any given moment to reinforce,distract and/or pressure the hostile forces within. Using a leapfrogging method,we will take these areas block by block,unit by unit."

"This will not go well." Brick mutters under his breath, unimpressed by the plan.

"Why's that?" Blossom overheard him, and she asked the teenage boy. Brick turns his head to face the Powerpuff Girl after noticing her voice.

"This is assuming that their opponents are rational beings. Which in many cases, they are not. The devil is in the details." Brick subtly points out the demon's role in all the misfortunes Townsville is facing right now. The presentation is now a blur to both teenagers,as they decided that paying attention to the screen is not productive at all.

"Right." Blossom agreed. Bloosom understood the issue for supernatural abilities always makes any equation more complex.

"Him is particularly capricious and often brutal in its tactical and strategic plans and execution. Not to mention,its mastery of magic is something otherworldly. Him in partic-" Brick's conversation was cut by the sudden gasp among the audience and both Brick and Blossom turn their attention towards the stage.

" _Hello Townsville!_ "

"What the-" The weasly man turns around to the source of the voice and standing beside the shocked figure is a humanoid being with crab-like pincers, dressed in a blood red dress one-pieced evening dress showing off a section of its neck, chest and belly button with garishly pink scarf draped around its neck. The charcoal black belt with a large buckle and black shin-high charcoal black boots completes the figure's outfit.

"Speak of the devil!" Blossom exclaimed out loud and the figure immediately start to cackle.

" _Oh Blossom! It's soo good to see you!_ " The androgynous demon waved its claw at Blossom. Its wide grin is particulary unnerving to all within the room, who are shocked at how this being appeared on stage without them noticing a cue of its appearance out of thin air.

"PERIMETER BREACHED! PERIMETER BREACHED!" One of the soldiers shouted out loud into his communication device, but the deafening static from the device only made the atmosphere within the room much grimmer.

" _Oh please...Do you think I would enter here and allow you to announce my arrival on my behalf? Have you even noticed where you are?_ " Him asked, and soon everyone realized that something is extremely off. For some reason, reality as they know it is 'off-center' and the disorientation from such a subtle but yet significant change is particularly jarring, and somehow it feels like nothing is responding to them. The military personnel within the tent immediately draw their weapons and aim their guns at the demon.

" _Oh, Such bad manners, tsk,tsk,tsk!_ " The guns that were held by the soldiers immediately glowed orange and the sound of flesh searing and the smell of burninng skin can be smelled. The men immediately dropped their weapons. Him waved his claw in disapproval.

"How did you-Hurk!" The weasly man's attempt to question the effeminate being's purpose is immediately silenced. Mr. Jenkins' throat is clamped between the pincers of the effeminate demon and the widow-peaked being turns around to give the more fearful stare and a much darker and intimidating voice soon comes out from Him's mouth.

" _Say excuse me, maggot._ " The man's shoe and pants are soon dripping with a yellowish liquid with a strong uric smell. The demon drops the man down on the ground, the man landing upon the puddle of his own piss. The demon turns his attention back to Blossom, its expression a much more jovial one than the one shown towards the presidential representative.

"What are you doing here Him?" Blossom asked, knowing that the demon always appear for a reason.

The demon walks down from the stage and takes a few steps before stopping in front of the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl. Blossom looks up to the figure whose height is two heads above her. She noticed that the height of the demon is much taller than the last time she met him, giving it a much more intimidating presence. Blossom glanced with the corners of her eyes to see the expression of the people within the tent and the same expression is etched on their face; uncertainty. If the demon's purpose is to neutralize all those in this tent, Him would had already done so without the slightest hesitation.

But here they are, staring at each other to see what the other would do first. Him is the first one to take the initiative, giving Blossom a particularly wide rictus of glee.

" _Blossom, Blossom, Blossom. I'm just here visiting with my crew._ " Blossom is puzzled by the words chosen by the demon, but her eyes immediately widened. She was about to turn away but she felt her body holding her in place. Blossom struggled to move, and she turned to Brick to see Brick's demeanor is particularly calm as he focuses his attention towards the stage.

"Well played, Him. You brought the Tigress Lady and the Spider with you." Brick calmly voiced out his deduction.

The demon gives him an acknowledging smile, its expression akin to a teacher proud of their student's answer. Suddenly a short-haired blonde Asian woman with a slender build appeared out of thin air beside Him, her high-collared black jacket covering the bottom half of her face. Another person soon emerge from thin air, an unnaturally tall man with three pairs of pale lavender pupil-less eyes and several pair of arms protruding from his back. Blossom saw the reflection of several threads that were coming out from his finger and understood how they are all unable to move.

"Where's the tent with the VIPs? It's gone!" Blossom can hear the shouting outside their tent, and she realized that the guards outside are unable to find the tent. The panic outside becomes more apparent as the sirens within the base is blaring and the scurrying of soldiers become more frantic.

"What did you do?" Professor Utonium voiced out, knowing that whatever happened is something beyond the normal realms of logical physics.

" _I had just more or less 'tilted' the frame of reality a little, Professor Utonium._ " The very mention of what it did caused no certain amount of disbelief among the people within the room save those of Him's lieutenants, the Utoniums and Brick. Blossom and Brick knew of Him's reality-bending powers, and this is one of those instance where Him abused reality as it sees fit.

"So you moved us out of a 'time frame'?" Professor Utonium asked calmly. Him winked at the professor devilishly.

"Why are you doing this Him?" Blossom asked with a tone of contempt.

" _For your lives of course!_ " Him said gleefully. The murmur in the tent start to rise up and Blossom turns pale at Him's reasoning. The demon realized that the words that escaped his lips are a little too dire without its proper context, and he sighed to itself before tapping its forehhead with one of its claws.

" _That didn't come out right at all...To be exact, I need people alive. Just like how a shepherd takes care of its flock and the pastures to ensure the herd's survival. If a person is dead, well...that is bad for me._ "

"Why do you want us alive?" Blossom musters the courage to ask, knowing that this is something that needs to be asked. Her heart is now beating a little harder than before, and the fear within her is growing. Him suddenly burst out in a cackling guffaw, while everyone else is just watching the demon engaged in its own self-entertainment. Him wipes off the tears from its eyes before Him sighs and decides to entertain the Powerpuff Girl.

" _Fine...since you asked so nicely. I need you to be happy. I need you to be sad. I need you to be envious. I need you to be anguished. I need you to be afraid. I need you to be brave. I need you to be in love. I need you to be in despair. I need you to feel emotions. You see, emotion is but a fleeting moment in time, and I wondered if I can capture it to be savored forever?_ " Blossom is silent as the demon went on his tangent speaking about his reasons, which to her is just as bad as not knowing its reasons. It seems everyone is also feeling the same way based on their facial expressions. But one thing is for certain; Him is freaking insane.

" _That's why I produced this._ " Him produces a particular small crimson orb from the points of its claws, and Brick and Blossom recognize the smell as that of a Red Candy. However something about the smell is particularly off-putting, and it made both teenagers particularly nauseous.

 _Wait...that smell_ , Blossom realized in horror that the smell is the exact same smell as those she picked up from Butch a few hours ago.

" _This drug allows one to experience their most intense emotions again once more. Of course, results vary by person~._ " Him explained, a grin on his face the main indicator of his joy. Him walks down from the stage and heads toward the carnelian-haires teenager. Brick calmly looks at Him with his cinnabar eyes.

" _Like what is the most intense emotion within this particular Rowdyruff Boy for example?_ " Him forwarded the question to its audience,like a teacher asking their students a riddle to be answered.

"Boredom." Brick challenged the demon.

Him looks at Brick, its expression changes from a gleeful expression to a more stoic and darker one. Him caresses its claw on the boy's cheeks, the hard crustacean-like appendage slipping down Brick's cheeks. Him gently twirl its claw and the large contact lenses that covered his sclera floats out.

" _Why did you wear those contact lenses Brick my boy? You should show the world your true self._ "

To everyone's surprise, the whiteness of his sclera is replaced with a perfectly black sclera while his iris is now a much richer and luminescent crimson. Even Blossom is taken aback by this development, for the presence of red veins across the black eye and into the skin around the eye. Brick's expression had turned a little darker, his eyes glowing dimly.

"Happy?" Brick sarcastically asked the demon.

" _The Tyrant gene. It had grown rather spectacularly in you. This would make this...all..._ worthwhile."

"Do your worst." Brick knew that the demonix being is about to do something to him,mustering all he could to show resistance.

" _Open wide~!_ " Him clamps Brick's jaw open with its pincers and with its other arm, Him force-fed the orb directly into Brick's mouth. Brick struggled but with an upward tilt of his head, the orb is ingested by Brick and he started convulsing while standing up. Blossom's helplessness is only compounded by his violent and unnatural upright jerking and twitching. Him however is looking at the Rowdyruff Boy with callous and cold eyes, but a sinister smile is now creeping on its face.

" _Ananse,let him go._ " Him commanded his multi-limbed minion,and the spider-like Lunatic moved some of its fingers. With a resounding thud, Brick falls violently on the ground and Blossom and cried out to Brick. The other individuals within the camp can only watch as Brick convulse on the floor, his body twisting out of control.

" _This is interesting..._ " Him observed the convulsing individual with a slight hint of curiosity and reckless disregard for the life-threatening situation unfolding before it. Blossom grits her teeth as she saw the long-haired teenager twitching on the floor. Her noble heart can not bear the suffering of others, and she barked out at Him.

"You fiend!"

" _Why thank you!_ " Him tool Blossom's outburst as a compliment and Him's excitement over only serves to infuriate Blossom further. Suddenly the sound of threads breaking apart one by one can be heard as Blossom flexes her muscles. Him looks between its pincers as something started to materialized before the tips of its pincers.

"Him, she's breakin' out." Ananse warns the infernal being.

" _Let her._ " Him's utter disregard for Blossom causes Blossom's veins on her forehead to pop out from her forehead in an intercrossed manner.

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN HIM!" The strands finally break apart and Blossom launches herself towards Him with all her might. However she barely managed to dodge a backfist coming at her, and she rolled away. As she regained her sense of balance, she saw the high-collared woman looking at her coldly with an extended fist.

" _Saì_ _Muí_ ,. I'll entertain you." The lady known as Lou Fu answered her, tightening her fist.

"Let's do it Balthasar." Blossom voiced out softly.

"It shall be done, my fair lady." Baltasar answered back, causing Him, Ananse and Lou Fu looking at her direction in surprise. Her pendant glowed before it burst out in a blinding light, causing everyone able to shield themselves or close their eyes.

Suddenly Him's face was struck by a pink glove-like gauntlet, spinning violently as it crashed down on the ground before tumbling towards the ede od the enclosed tent. Him gets up only to spit a tooth out from its mouth, black ichor flowing from the side of its mouth. Him looks up only to find Blossom clad in a battlesuit reminiscent of rhe Powerpuff Girls' original outfit; a pink dress with a corset-like black stripe across her abdomen with white legging armor and encased black boot-like structures. Completing the image is a clear helmet with a sharp ribbon-like structure protruding from behind her head, holding her long flowing copper hair like a cape.

" _Ooo-I like your outfit! So zeitgeist!"_ Him's eyes opened wide and is particularly attracted to Blossom's outfit, all while wiping its mouth of blood.

"Time to kick your butt!" Blossom is visibly angry and she is ready to rumble. However before the other two Lunatics spring into action, Him holds its pincered arm out stopping them in their tracks. Instead Him shows Blossom a reddish-pink colored orb slowly completing its formation on its pincertips.

" _There! Completed! This one is special for this particular situation! The emotions of those win this room are all within this orb!"_ Him is overjoyed by its accomplishment, and Blossom decided she will not have the drug being used on anyone. She fired her eye beam at the orb, but Him tilted his pincer with the most minimalistic movement to avoid the beams. Both means flew by the pincer as if it never hit its target to begin with.

"If you so much as to-" Blossom's threat is immediately cut off by Him's reply.

" _On the contrary Blossom, I already did._ "

"Huh?"

Him reaches into its dress and pulls out a pocket watch, flipping its cover open. Him looks back at both its subordinates and nods its head. Him looks back at the Powerpuff Girl and smiled once more, its expression seeping with unbridled mischief. Suddenly the sense of time that Blossom felt immediately accelerated, and several individuals within the tent soon succumb to the ground. Some are stiff as a plank, while others are just gasping for air. Blossom recognized the scene, and she cursed herself for not seeing it.

"You trapped us in a time-space bubble." Blossom's voice is simmering with anger as she looked around her.

"THE TENT IS BACK!" Cries from the outside can be heard and immediately the tent is stormed by several armed men. Him looked on with mild disinterest, as several figures are now pointing their guns at Him.

"DON'T MOVE!" Instead of complying with the armed men's response, Him decided to just snap its claw and one of the soldiers immediately opened fire indiscriminately towards the crowd. Several bodies fall down on the ground, while the other soldiers fired back. The soldier that fired first was riddled with bullets, but like a marionette, the limbs of the soldier moved in an unnatural manner and kept on firing.

"MEDIC! MEDIC! MEDIC!" As several soldiers called out for the medic, Blossom rushes towards Brick and noticed that his eyes are now pure orbs of darkness. Brick's body is limp from the Candy that was forcefed into Brick, and Blossom's mind is racing to figure out how to save the Rowdyruff Boy. She is unable to do any first-aid treatment, for she is clueless about the nature of Brick's situation. It was then that Blossom heard a ringtone, and she wondered where the ringtone is coming from. Blossom then realized that the phone is coming from Brick's pocket, and she reaches out to his phone and takes it out. It is an unknown number, but for some inexplicable reason, Blossom is driven to pick up the call despite the chaotic situation happening around her.

"Butch...Butch's out of control in the school! Bubbles and Buttercup just rushed out to get him!" The sound of a distraught female can be heard from the other line, draining Blossom's face of all its remaining color.

Blossom pulled the phone from her face and saw that the time on the phone is accelerated much further in time than she realized. Blossom put the phone up on loudspeaker. Sensing the need to respond, Blossom takes out her phone with her other arm and activate the tracker to track her sisters down. As the tracker triangulates her sister's location, she tried to respond to the voice from the other end of the line.

Suddenly something moves up from Blossom's peripheral view, causing Blossom to notice that Brick had just gotten up. However, his eyes are still pure orbs of darkness and the unsettling appearance is particularly eerie and wild. Brick's carnelian hair soon turns into a bright blood-red crimson and Brick's eyes rolled back and his glowing crimson iris returned. But his pupils are particularly large and that unnerves Blossom even more.

"Brick?" Blossom asked, uncertain of Brick's situation.

" _Brick's not available now._ " The crimson-haired person before Blossom answered her.

"Brick...this is no time to play games! You had ju-"

Suddenly Blossom felt a very oppressive atmosphere descending upon her.

Blossom's body immediately broke out in cold sweat and her body and lips started trembling uncontrollably. All the other normal humans within the tent immediately collapsed down on the ground teenager smiled as a helm with a hooded brim materializes around his head. The crimson eyes of Break glowed through the hinged grilled eye visors, and the atmosphere within the tent just became even more oppressive than before. Blossom drops down to her knees, for the strength in them had left her. Even Him took notice of the presence, and stared at the teenager with a face devoid of the mischievous expressions from before. Instead it is replaced with a stoic and reserved look. The other two Lunatics are now looking at him with a great amount of dread and cold sweat soon run down their foreheads.

" _Blossom right?_ _Get Professor Utonium and out of here. Then get to your sisters. Bring Boomer with you._ "

"But-"

" _Go. I'll take care of everyone else ._ " Break said sternly. Blossom reluctantly grabbed Profesor Utonium and before bursting away in a streak of pink light. As the tent unravels from the streak of pink lifting the entire fabric off the ground before puncturing through, the morning sun shines down upon the skies upon the participants in this particular standoff. Like a hellish lord from the deepest pits of hell, the crimson-haired teenager is surrounded with a unholy majestic aura of fear and horror surrounded by unconscious bodies of military and bureaucrats.

Ananse attempted to use his threads to attack the teenager, but realized that he is unable to do so. Break turns his attention at him and raises his index finger and wags it, warning the spider-like man to not try anything funny.

"What are you?" Ananse asked as he realized that the Red Candy strength within him is slowly escaping his body. The Tigress also noticed this loss of strength and both of them looked at Him, observing the infernal being for its reaction to this particular phenomenon. Him started cackling in a sinister manner, and its grinning teeth appears to be much sharper than before.

" _Beyond expectations!_ " Him exclaimed out in excitement.

" _Well, you're about to get a lot more where that came from._ " The figure calling himself Break points at Him, challenging the infernal lord.


	44. Chapter 44: Lurking Predator

Chapter 44: Lurking Predator

[Morningstar Residence, Suburbs Townsville, Townsville, 10.30pm]

Boomer is home alone right now.

Brick and Lilith had gone out, apparently having to attend a particular meeting or something. Brick had informed him to stay home and check out if anything odd is going on and warn him at the first sign of trouble. It is to be expected, for unlike his brothers, his senses are the most sensitive and most there are is any change in his surrounding, he will take note of it. His hypersenses is always his greatest gift and also his greatest curse,for it made him particularly irritated if there is just too much sensory stimuli. His brothers may have supersenses,but his senses are a level above his brothers.

The electrosensing of humming static from electricity coursing through the wires. The sound of travelling compressed steam in the vents of vibration of feet shuffling and stepping on the cement pavements. The smell of the brick and mortar of the sight of a baby's blue rattle from several miles away. These senses are easily picked up by Boomer, and in turn Boomer is required by necessity to numb all the sensation he experience less he suffers from a sensory in turn makes him a litttle more airheaded,which in turn gave others the perception that he is particularly dumb.

The only solace he gets from his senses is to listen to music,for it is the only sense in which he can choose what he listen to rather than being forced to listen. Boomer had take. the precaution to also modify his headphones to fit his physiology.

To make things a little better,Butch had just returned and immediately entered his room. The smell that lingered on Butch's trail is particularly sweet but Boomer also picked him the smell of coffee and tea mingled with the decided that his initial senses were just the smell of a coffehouse that Butch visited,and perhaps he also had some cake or something. This means two things for Boomer; his brother will not bother him for food,and his brother will not bother him having some time alone.

"Hm...that's odd."

Boomer suddenly finds that a part of the city is far too quiet for his liking. For some reason the usual hustle and bustle of Townsville seems more subdued, muted even. A city can never be muted, and this raised a flag in his mind. Something is very wrong with the city. His hearing is slowly picking up even more muted sounds of the city and the sound of increasing silence is making him very uneasy. Could it be the 'Bat'? Or is this something else entirely?

Boomer is feeling particularly fatigued and tired as he looks out his window, and he wondered if all this is due to his figured that he needs to observe a little more if he is just fatigued, or there is a chance of a great conflict. But then, Boomer had second thoughts and decided that he wants to sleep first.

 _Meh,the city will not burn down in a day right?,_ Boomer thought as he closes his eyes.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

Boomer wakes up to find the sounds of the city particularly less bustling than the night before,and he wondered why. Boomer is feeling a little unwell, and decided that perhaps his muted sense of hearing of the city must be related to his health. Boomer decided that it is a good enough reason to skip school today. He decided to get up from his bed with his ounce of strength and grumbled as he walked towards his desk. Boomer pulls out the drawer of his desk and takes out a piece of paper before writing the note to inform the other people of the residence to not bother him. Boomer then realized that he needs some kind of thing to stick the note on his door and started scrounging his desk drawer. Moments later,he found some cellotape and tore a piece of tape and stick it on the paper. Boomer walks towards the door and opens it before sticking the note on the door, all the while grumbling about how he is forced out of his bed for this matter.

This should do the trick.

Satisfied that the note will inform the rest of his condition, he gently closes the door and walks slowly towards his bed. But instead of easing himself to sleep, he finds that there is still one more thing he needs to resolve; there is a stranger in his room, a widow-peaked figure in red answered back, sitting on Boomer's chair with its clawed arm around its chin.

"Him." Boomer said coldly, knowing that the presence of the crimson figure is never good in any capacity. The last time he had seen the demon is when Him dropped them off in this home. Since then, Him did not even bother with them, not even once. Until now.

" _That's a little cold, don't you think?_ " Him asked the sand-blonde individual. Boomer decided that this will be a long talk and he takes a seat on his bed, directly in front of the effeminate demonic being.

"Well, I'm down with a cold. Of course I'm cold."

" _Very funny_."

"What's the occasion? Visits are rare with you."

" _Well, right now your brothers are all playing their part in the great game I've set up_." Him rubs its jaw, as if soothing the painful sensation from its jaw. Boomer heard what the demon had said, and is not surprised at all. Only the devil knows what it is capable of, for its own abilities defy the sense of logic, reason and order.

"Playing...their part?"

" _Yes,some things are unexpected but well within the parameters of my operations. Like your upcoming visitor._ " Him produces a glass of red wine out of thin air, and takes a sip from the glass.

"Visitor?"

 _"Right about now, Blossom should be heading towards this location. I'll give her...another minute and thirty-five seconds before she hovers in front of your window. You're needed to get Butch back._ "

"What happened to Butch?" Boomer is now concerned, knowing that whatever Him hatched up, it will not be good.

" _Let's just say that he's walking down memory lane. Your skills as a tracker will be very important_."

"Wha-" Before Boomer can finish his line, he can hear a tapping sound from his window. The demon dissapeared in a blink of an eye,and Boomer is now facing the window with a hovering fully-armored Blossom looking back at him with Professor Utonium and Ms. Morningstar on her shoulders. Boomer clicked his tongue in annoyance, knowing that Him had just triggered several events to cause this situation to happen.

 _Him's a prick_ , Boomer thought as he gets up from the bed and walk towards the window. Windows do not open by themselves.

* * *

[Somewhere in the Midwest, Noon]

It has been a few hours since Butch concealed himself in the forest. He had made himself an impromptu ghilly suit from all the shrubbery in the forest. He had also taken the precaution to also smear the mud on his body to prevent himself from being spotted by the Powerpuff Girl's heat vision. Butch's mind is now flashing back to the forests of the Syrian mountains, not realizing that his hallucinations and reality are becoming one and the same.

Nonetheless, Butch is wondering if his opponents will step into the forest. If they did not, Butch will hunt them instead. It is not every day that he gets a chance to fight against other supers, and he relishes the opportunity. Slowly but surely, Butch moved in a slight jerking manner in order to replicate the movement of shrubs blown by the wind. Butch is keeping his breathing calm and deep to further lower his heart rate. Butch is never the best in camoflage and sneaking around, but his skills are passable.

After a while, he finally saw his prey.

Two young women clad in some sort of body suit are in a conversation with each other as they walked deeper into the forest. Both are clad in a battlesuit of similar design, appearing as a sleeveless dress going down to their thighs with a black corset-like section protecting their abdomen. Their arms and legs were encased in legging like armor with a black boot-like structute that gave these young women's legs a peg-like appearance. However the two armors are slightly different in design.

The armor of the short-haired girl with dark hair is much more angular and sharper, with several aileron amd thruster like objects embedded within her armor. In contrast, the armor of the woman with the blonde hair is much more smoother and rounder, with a ring-like structure on her back. Also, it appears that there are two pod-like structures on her head.

 _They look strong. And pretty to boot. Those Baathist sure got someone good this time around_.

Butch observes as the short-haired woman with the athletic build is looking around with her lime-green eyes as she converse with the other more curvaceous woman. The other woman's is also looking around but it appears that she is a little more lax. If it were not for the fact that these female are on the side of the enemy, Butch would had tried to hit on of the women are pleasing to the eye,and they do look like they keep good careof themselves. The short-haired one has a very nice ass and back,while the other is just stacked. Still, these women are nothing compared to the slender build of Reneè. Butch focuses his attention back to the two women.

"Bubbles, is it me or it feels like someone's watching me?" The ahort-haired youbg woman askes.

"Nope. That's most likely Butch. But I'm not sure where's that idiot watching us." The curvaceous woman answered back,and somehow Butch is even more annoyed with her than some inexplicable reason, Butch hates the blonde one.

 _It seems that they know who I am_ , Butch is impressed as this is a sign that these people did their homework. The blonde one in particular appears to have a similar ability as Boomer, which warrants Butch's priority to take her out first. But the other one is also a challenge,for it appears that the short-haires girl is a fighter of some kind. They complement each other, and he will need to think of an ingenious way to take them out. Suddenly a buzzing tone pierced through their conversation,causing Butch to also freeze.

"The Powerpuff Hotline." The two women mentioned at once, recognizing the buzzing ringtone. The blonde one picked up the phone and the blonde girl is soon conversing. Butch can pick up the bits and pieces of the conversation, and at least he recognized that the blonde is speaking with another female. Butch watches the blonde's expression turning into a scowl and in return is raising her voice to tell the other person on the phone line of the situation that they are currently in.

 _So it seems that she's reporting to her superior_ , Butch reasoned. Reckless, but reasonable. The jadeite-eyed teenager turns his attention towards the other super and saw her crouched on a knob of rock, looking back toward the mountains. Indeed, the area in which they are all gathered is part of a large mountain range, and the snow covering the mountain cover was patchy, rock showing through. She scanned the sky for any signs before the dark-haired girl glanced down into a rock-ringed hollow. Butch is impressed, for the girl appears to be looking for ambushes and air strikes.

"Hey sis, come see."

 _So, they're sisters_ , Butch observed with interest. The dark-haired woman beckons her sister to come over, and the blonde woman climbed up beside her, squinting against the afternoon sun. Butch is also interested on the view of what they are looking at.

"Looks at the sight of the plateau."

The high plateau spread before them, so wide and bare it seemed the skin of the earth had no clothing to protect it. A straggly line of stunted trees marked the course of a stream that wound across the plateau. Otherwise, the stark landscape was nothing but stretches of grass, marshy hollows, puddles of icy water melting out of patches of snow, and knobs of bare rock poking above the grass amid a tumble of boulders. The wind never let up, rippling through grass, tugging at loose strands of their hair. Butch is also taken aback by the breathtaking view, but he realized that his stalking must come to an end.

"Enough." Butch voiced rose stiffly, his gaze devoid of any sliver of weakness. Suddenly a flash of pink light descended down before the two young women, and Butch decided to wait a little longer. So much for his resolution. He noticed that the streak of pink light turns out to be another young woman, and this new arrival is dressed in a way very similar to the other two young women. Instead, her back skirt is much longer and she also had two sharp bow-like objects pointing from her helmet. The new arrival's waist-length copper hair also marks her out in comparison to the others. Butch marks her out as the leader, seeing that the new arrival is asking them of the situation.

"Did you see Butch?" The copper-haired woman asked.

"I haven't seen yet." The blonde one answered.

"Neither have I," said the raven-haired woman.

"I don't like that he vanished just like that." The copper-haired woman voiced out her unease.

"Maybe Butch got bored. Maybe he's stalking us for reasons that pass as thought in his mind. Butch has a low cunning that make him particularly dangerous. Girls, you'll be better off if you covered all your angles." Another voice is heard, and Butch could not believe what he had just heard. From the foliage, a sand-blonde male teenager with cobalt blue eyes clad in a black hoodie walks out while scanning his surroundings.

 _Boomer...what the hell?_ , Butch' anger flared at the presence of his brother helping out these bloodhounds of the Baathist.

"You think that he is capable of ambushing us?" The raven-haired woman speaks to Butch's brother with uncanny familiarity. Butch taste treachery from his brother.

"I'm not saying he is capable, I'm saying that he's doing just that." Boomer answered. The copper-haired woman with the amarathine-colored eyes nodded with a smile, but the raven-haired woman challenged him.

"Butch isn't that smart to plan ambushes...he's a blunt instrument!"

"Blunt as he may be, but his plans are always practical. Come along, I'll lead the scouting. Bubbles, take care of the rear." The blonde girl nodded and positioned herself at the back of the group. Butch in particular is perplexed that the blonde girl's name is called Bubbles. Exactly the same as that blonde Powerpuff Girl from Townsville. He mused in his mind that perhaps these three will be named after the three Powerpuff Girls. But the chances of that happening is close to none.

"No sense in arguing with Boomer, Buttercup. He is our foremost expert on Butch." The copper-haired girl said to the black-haired woman.

"Fine, Bloss." Butch immediately took back his word and stand corrected. These three women do have the same name as those cursed Powerpuff Girls. The one known as Buttercup fumed as they set out, and she fumed as they walked, forming words with her lips without giving them breath to make sound. Now and again, the blonde one would roll a sideways gaze at her and waggle her eyebrows, mocking the dark-haired girl, until at last her mood began to soften at the familiar teasing. Butch realized that he needs to stalk them further to find his opportunity to ambush them.

As for his brother, he will make sure that he will pay dearly.

* * *

"God damn it!"

Buttercup is annoyed by the insects trying to get a piece of her despite the cooling weather. The afternoon's trudge in the shade of the tangled growth along the lazy curves of the watercourse was unpleasant, not that Buttercup would ever admit the constant buzz of insects and the pull of thorny vines and brush of stinging nettle bothered her. Any superheroine worth her salt was above commenting on such mundane discomforts. The others walked with grim purpose as they slapped away the incessantly biting bugs. The team of four reached an oxbow bend in the river where a deep pool had formed away from the main current. Boomer raised a hand.

"We'll break here. Blossom and Buttercup, take watch." Both Powerpuff Girls nodded .

Blossom walked to the edge of the tree line and, using the leaves as cover, peered up at the heavens. A large raptor was gliding in the distance, perhaps a hawk or eagle. A flock of long-tailed finches patrolled for insects along the edge of the thick vegetation along the watercourse. After a bit, Boomer came up to stand beside her, Bubbles at her heels.

"There's no sign of Butch," said Blossom. "Maybe he's not trailing us."

"Maybe." Boomer studied her until Blossom began to shift from one foot to the other, fearing she was about to proven wrong. Boomer gestured toward the high ground.

"Do you see that ring of stones out there?"

Some ways away from the watercourse, amid high shrubbery and trees, a knob of rock rose about a man's height above the ground. The rock was ringed by a tumble of boulders, a pair of bald eagles perched on one of the boulders.

"I want you to climb the outcropping and get a clear view, since our vantage is limited here. Approach cautiously."

"Of course!" Blossom answered, a little offended that Boomer is telling her what to do.

"Bubbles can go with you." Boomer suggested.

"Do I have to?" Bubbles protested. She had never liked outdoor activities like hiking and forest tracking.

"Blossom's senses aren't sharp enough and you're kibda loitering around. Go on." Boomer's comment offended both girls at once, but they both knew that he's right. Bubbles was not eager to get going, but she figured that she rather get it done with as soon as possible and hurried into the tall shrubs. Blossom followed behind her sister soon enough. Boomer watched as the two Powerpuff Girls faded into the foliage of the forest, and he honestly wondered if they will be alright.

"Did you just send those guys into the woods?" A husky feminine voice asked, and Boomer turned around to see the peridot-eyed girl coming up behind him.

"Yeah...and somehow I regretted it."

"Bubbles should be fine...but Blossom's is not build for forest tracking. At least Bubbles can speak to all living being."

"Seriously?" Boomer asked. Buttercup shrugged, knowing that her sister's ability is an ability that is best left alone. Boomer sulked a little at Bubble's ability, an expression that Buttercup finds particularly adorable. Buttercup honestly wished she could pinch his cheeks for being adorable. Instead, Buttercup patted Boomer's back.

"Things will be fine." Buttercup said as she walked away from Boomer. Boomer turned his head back to see her leave before facing towards the forest. Boomer knew that Butch's cunning and combat senses are perhaps the best among all his brothers, and he hoped that Blossom and Bubbles do not encounter his brother.

* * *

The hike to the formation took a good twelve minutes. Although the bushes was tall enough to hide her from view, it rustled as she moved through it, a nuisance she would never had to deal with in the mountains where bushes never grew this high. Behind, Blossom panted. Disturbed by the noise and movement, the eagles lofted themselves into the air. Bubbles slowed as they reached the outer boulders of the ring. She halted with her back against the rough curve of the nearest boulder and eased around to peek in toward the sheltered center.

"Looks like the area's clear." Bubbles whispered to her sister.

"Alright, let's go." Blossom decided to pull her sister back gently before stepping forward instead.

A gauntleted fist whipped past Blossom's face, barely missing her as Blossom jerked back. She flipped her arm forward and, with a quick circling motion, caught the tip of the attacker's fist and slapped it hard backward. The attacker stumbled, parrying as she hit his arm again. She ducked her body under the fists and lunged, and the stranger caught the blow as he spun his first downward. But the effort unbalanced him. He staggered backward to get out of her way. She leaped in, meaning to drive him to the ground, but instead she stopped, staring.

"Butch?" Blossom voiced her surprise. A young man faced her, his arms wrapped in a gauntlet of some kind. Despite his bloodthirstiness and desire to hurt her, Blossom hesitated as he went back into a fighting stance, as any proud warrior should.

"You're mine." The jadeite-eyed teenager said in a raspy voice. Within a split second, Butch appeared in front of Blossom. Blossom is unable to react in time, but suddenly Blossom felt a push before the sound of Butch's fist impacting something is heard. An immediate yelp reveales the identity of Blossom's savior.

"BUBBLES!" Blossom cried out as the sound of her sister being blown backwards is heard and she slams into the rock formation,causing the stone to explode from the force of the punch.

"That's one down for the count." Butch gives a vicious smile at the smoking debris.

Immediately Butch reflexively tilts his body backwards and twist his head to the left as Blossom's kicks tries to hit its mark. As the flurry of kicks continued, Butch tilts his head with the least amount of movement as he avoided each and every attempt to knock him out. Butch hops and danced away from Blossom,keeping his footwork light and agile. Blossom in turn did not expect Butch to have such extraordinary reflexes and spacial awareness. Butch lowers his left arm to hang near his waist,while drawing his right arm close to his chest. As Blossom watched the rocking, waving motion of Butch's left arm,she wondered how will she be able to pacify the clearly stronger Rowdyruff Boy. Suddenly a flicking motion caused Blossom to react by covering her head with her forearms, and her arm was blown back by the whip-like blow of Butch's jab.

 _That's no ordinary jab,_ Blossom realized. However before she can react, a barrage of fists are now flying towards her. Blossom braced herself as her forearms are bombarded by the blows. Suddenly Blossom was hit on the side of her head by a hooking blow to her right. Blossom blacked out for a moment,before regaining consciousness once more. Realizing that her defenses are breached, Blossom takes a deep breath and her color soon turned a paler shade. The sudden fusillade of blows stopped and Blossom took the chance to retreat back and allow her field of vision to return once more.

"Not bad...not bad at all." Butch smiled viciously as he showed Blossom the frozen tips of his gauntlets. Somehow, Butch was able to avoid having his arms frozen. Blossom knew that Butch will now try somethng else to get to her.

Blossom noticed that Butch is aiming his gauntlets at her, and she instinctively jumped away before the two gauntlets fired off several rectangular-shaped energy barriers,causing the woods behind her to blast violently apart. Blossom's vision is a little blurred and she knew that the blow to the side of her head is delivered with such force and precision that her bodily senses are adversely affected. The blow to her temple is meant to knock her out, and she _did_ get knocked unconscious for a second.

Butch immediately smelled her moment of hesitation and he rushed towards her and send a spear of energy towards her. Blossom blocked the spear-like projection with both arms and as it hits, it pried her arms open. Without a single doubt, Butch immediately landed a hooking body blow on Blossom's flank. Blossom felt as if a chunk of her torso was ripped out from her body, and she only barely managed to stand upright. Butch retreated, and started to circle around her. A series of jabs causes Blossom to clamp up once more, and she realized that the blows are much weaker than before. However, Butch's sadistic smile tells her another story; Butch is toying with her.

 _One more blow like that and I'm gone,_ Blossom thought to herself. Blossom always considered her fighting abilities to be decent,but the way in which Butch fights is particularly vicious and methodical; Butch uses her own defense against her. He coaxes her to cover up tightly, blocks her remaining vision, moves off angle, and then throws an unsuspectingly series of brutal punches. But not defending herself is just asking for it, for each one of his blows felt light wrecking balls hitting her forearms. And that hook...it is unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

Another spear of energy flies out from Butch's arm, and Blossom is forced to hold a defensive position. But instead of it blowing her defenses open, it forms up and clamps around her arms like an adhesive. Blossom is immediately pulled towards Butch and she lost her balance, allowing Butch to throw a shovel hook towards Blossom's approaching head. Blossom instinctively blow a breath of ice breath on his fist before firing her eye beam in a split second towards the approaching fist. The resulting steam explosion veered Butch's punch enough for Blossom to barely miss her head. However such was the strength of the punch that Blossom's cheeks was cut by the air pressure of Butch's punch.

The energy grip on Blossom's arm dissipates, allowing Blossom to dash away from Butch. Blossom finds that her arms are trembling from the blows, and her body is still feeling a little stiff despite the defenses of her battle suit. The readings on her display more than convinced Blossom that if she was wearing her old outfit, she would be out cold. The ferocity and primal intelligence behind every combat move that Butch throws is something she barely could match up.

 _Buttercup is a badass to be able to be his equal,_ Blossom can only wonder how on earth her peridot-eyed sister can fight on equal terms with this behemoth. She figured that it would take someone of Buttercup's caliber or a really awesome sucker punch to even have a fighting chance against such primal and honed fighting cunning and intelligence.

"It's that all you've got? Give me your best shot!" Butch boasted. Suddenly a loud zapping sound snaps Blossom from her inner thoughts. Butch's smug and sadistic smile changes to an expression of shock and surprise, caught offguard by a sneak attack. Butch's body is smoking and without even a single sound coming out from his mouth , Butch toppled unconscious to the ground. As Butch fell, Blossom saw the silhouette behind where Butch once stand.

"How's that for a best shot?" Bubbles stepped up behind him, staring down at him while patting the dust covering her body.

"Thanks..." Blossom thanked her sister but started to wobble. Bubbles rushed towards her sister, but Blossom stopped her in her tracks.

"Get Boomer." Bubbles took in a sharp breath as if disliking the curtness of her sister's command, shook herself, and hurried away. Blossom slowly takes her barely stable body to close in towards the unconscious Butch. Blossom pressed the point of her leg against the side of his neck. She waited as a hunter waits. In the silence, she had time to examine him more closely. Blossom turned her attention towards his arms, fully clad in large cestus-like gauntlets. A triad of wicked stud-like spikes on the front part of the gauntlet, followed by ring of spikes beneath the conch like structure of the upper portion of the gauntlet is visible, while Butch's arms were enclosed by rings at the ends of the gauntlet.

 _It's surprising how I survived that,_ Blossom wondered. Movement flashed in her peripheral vision as the two eagles settled at the height of the outcropping she'd meant to climb.

"Not your meal today." Blossom said to the birds, but her gaze strayed back to his closed eyes, slightly parted lips, and lean face. Despite Butch's much paler complexion and weak appearance, he looked mysterious and intriguing in a good way.

 _Tall, dark and handsome huh_ , Blossom joked in her mind. To be fair, Blossom do agree with her assessment, but the only thing that turned her off is his manners and also his excessive flirting. She took her foot off his neck and squatted beside him in order to take a better look. To be fair, she always believed that Butch would be an eye candy if he only ditched his tank top and his camouflaged is not to say that Butch's style is bad per se, but Blossom always find that a man is most attractive when they are properly dressed.

"How did such a hunk be such an ass?" Blossom asked herself as she prods Butch's cheek with her finger.

"Urgh..." Butch stirred, groaning, and she braced herself in case he came up fighting, but his chin sank back down and he fell still. She took a step back as Bubbles reappeared with Buttercup a step behind. Buttercup surveyed the sheltered clearing within the stones before whistling an "all clear!"

Only then did Boomer come inside the ring of rocks. The sapphire-eyed teenager paced around the unconscious man, examining him from every angle, then bent to look at his unconscious brother.

"He's unconscious so far." said Blossom.

"Being zapped by my _Blumenkranz_ should do just that!" said Bubbles eagerly.

"I don't know...he's a tough cookie." Buttercup voiced her concern, as the last thing she wants is for Butch to suddenly rise up to a roaring rampage.

"It should last. Remember the last time I accidentally zapped you?" Bubbles asked and Buttercup smacked her sister on the head as she blushed. This action invited a stare from Blossom, stopping Buttercup from doing anything further to Bubbles.

"Well, we need to do something about this right?" Buttercup reasoned with the rest, pointing at the unconscious Rowdyruff Boy.

"Can he be taken out of here before he regain his sense?" Bubbles asked, unsure as to how long Butch will remain immobile.

It was then that Butch opened his eyes.

* * *

Maybe their voices woke Butch, or maybe he was all along fighting his way back to consciousness. Butch's eyelids fluttered. Even that slight movement troubled his condition. With a hiss of pain, Butch woke up, opening his eyes. Blinking, his gaze shifted from one girl to the other and back again with a squint of confusion. The others are all looking at him, surprised that he is even awake. Butch tried to move with all his might, but realized that his body is still paralyzed. He gritted his teeth, making no sound, but sweat broke on his forehead despite the cold wind blowing over them.

"Um...right...I can't move. You know I can hear you sand idiots talking right?"Butch took in and released a breath, knowing that his actions to move his body is futile. For now.

"How did-he just survived a shock that would knock a monster out for days!" Bubbles said in disbelief.

"That damn island training..." Boomer facepalmed, lamenting that the toughest Rowdyruff Boy is now even tougher than before.

"Well, I ain't no normal rebel you Alawite asses! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!." Butch guffaws. Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and Boomer can see that Butch is still under the influence of drug. All of them can smell the unnatural sweet smell of the drug, but this particular one is unlike the others. Bubbles and Boomer are particularly disgusted by the smell, for their senses are perhaps the sharpest one among all present.

"What the hell...this is ridiculously strong!" Boomer held his hand over his nose and mouth.

"Him's new formula apparently. And I think it is messing with his brain. He's halucinating or something. He thought that I was Reneè yesterday." Blossom explained, her eyes still fixated on Butch.

"Wait...I heard that name before..." Bubbles voiced out as she heard Reneè's name.

"Who's Reneè?" Buttercup asked, not aware of its significance.

"Okay...that's bad." Boomer sensed the urgency and severity of the situation.

"If you dare touch her..." Butch growled,his eyes glowing faintly with simmering anger.

"What's going on? Bubbs? Bloss?Boomer?"

"She's Him's most powerful lieutenant...and..." Blossom struggled to inform of Reneè nature, but Boomer continued on for her.

"A cherished painful past, returning as a revenant in our present time." Boomer's choice of words and also his sorrowful inflection is not lost on Buttercup,and she ask no further.

"Reneè's no ghost, she's alive!" Butch roared, causing Blossom and Buttercup ti jump a little. Meanwhile, Bubbles noticed a disturbing development.

"Guys...Butch is moving his fingers. Do you guys want me to zap him another time?" Bubbles asked. Suddenly,two baseball bat-like projections appear from Boomer's hands. Boomer then grabbed both apparitions and touched them with each other, causing a loud zapping sound to come out from them.

"Let me do so, Bubbles." Boomer offered as he walked towards his brother.

"You traitor. Wait till Brick finds out about this." Butch snarled as he looked up towards his brother with eyes filled with disgust. On the contrary, Boomer's cold and callous eyes are now looking down on his brother.

"Yeah, wait till he sees you like this.." Boomer immediately prods both apparitions towards Butch's body, and the sound of electricity coursing through the paralyzed Rowdyruff Boy is audible to the Powerpuff Girls. Butch is now screaming in pain,causing the Powerpuff Girls to look away. In Bubbles' case, she had to cover her ears. The smell of smoke slowly penetrated the noses of the Powerpuff Girls and the sudden silence from both the zapping and the screaming caused the Powerpuff Girls to look back at the two Rowdyruff Boys.

Standing before them is a figure whose eyes are as cold as a winter's night and like a wraith is now looking down on the unconscious Butch, whose eyes are now just white in color.

"What are you looking at?" Boomer turned around and asked the three sisters.

"Um...nothing. Nothing at all. Isn't that right girls?" Blossom asked her sisters nervously.

"Yeap." Buttercup answered awkwardly while Bubbles nods her head.

Satisfied with their answer, or perhaps feigning ignorance, Boomer sits down on the ground beside his brother and covered his face with his palms, taking a deep breath that the Powerpuff Girls can hear even fron their location. The Powerpuff Girls looked at each other nervously, wondering if they had the strength to do such a drastic action on one of their own if one of them turned rogue like Butch did. Sadly, they knew the answer to that question; they can not. Suddenly a loud buzzing ring pierced through the silence, catching Boomer's attention and the three Powerpuff Girls picked up their phone. Blossom decided to be the one that picked up the call and as she answered the phone, her sisters and Boomer watched.

"Yes, mayor? Wait...slow down Mayor, I can't hea-what?" Buttercup immediately knew that something is very wrong. Blossom continued on the phone as the mayor's frantic conversation goes on.

"What do you mean that- Mayor, you need to calm down. Where's Ms. Bellum?"

"Ms. Bellum? What's going on in Townsville?" As the conversation goes on, Blossom nods her head as speaks on the phone. Bubbles and Buttercup are now looking at Blossom with unease and it appears that this conversation is only the precursor to something much bigger. Blossom cuts the call and turns her attention once more to her sisters and Boomer, and they knew that things had turned really bad.

"We need to get back now."


	45. Chapter 45: Trinisphere

Author's Note: Heya it's been a while, but being busy with work followed by an extremely bad illness caused me to not be able to write anything for the story. Anyway, here's the latest chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 45: Trinisphere

" _Time to leave._ "

Him's words were not what Break is expecting. Him is the one that instigated the whole encounter in the first place. The other members of Him's crew nodded and they were soon making the preparations to retreat. Despite their preparations, or because of said preparations, Him is still staring at the red-eyes teenager with its emerald green eyes, like a panther looking at its potential prey.

"Running away?" Break called out on the effeminate infernal being.

 _"I guess so, thought it is more like my time on the stage is over. I need to exit the stage to move the plot to the next chapter._ " Him reasoned poetically, crossing its arm as it said with a melancholic tone. Seeing the demon's behavior caused no certain amount of annoyance within Break, for Break finds the action condescending.

"Well, why don't you do an encore!" Break fired his eye beam and immediately Him swatted it away with ease and supernatural Him did not take into account that Break would dash in at the same time as the beam and is immediately punished for his foresight. With a thunderous body blow, the sound of cracking ribs and tearing muscle can be heard from Break's punch. However to Break's surprise,Him's expression is unflinching and the demon is still standing despite the brutal blow.

Seeing that Him is still standing, Break decided that more body blows are needed. Brick puts his body weight into every punch as he punched the demon, but the demon is unfazed despite the deafeningly cracking sounds of the ribs of the demon breaking one by one. The demon yawned for a moment, causing the crimson-haired teenager to jump back from Him.

 _What the hell?_ , Break wondered. Those blows are strong enough to take down even the toughest monsters, and Him's reaction to the blows is to yawn at it? Break is visibly uncomfortable by the apparent durability of the demon. Noticing the Rowdyruff Boy's discomfort, Him find it appropriate to explain itself.

" _Being pummeled by the Powerpuff Girls for many years make one more durable than most...that's definitely five ribs broken. One definitely pierced my lung. "_ Him said hoarsely but nonchalantly as it takes out its dress, revealing a particularly skinny and cleanly muscled body in very raunchy undergarments.

" _Oh dear...these do not look good at all. I need to do something about this._ " Him sighed. The indentation of Break's punches are apparent at the area where the body blows were dealt, and Him sighed at the sight of the indentations. Him moved its pincers towards the area where Break dealt his body blow. Him used the tip of its pincer and to Break's surprise, dug the tip of its pincers into its flesh. Him's mouth and wound on its side is flowing with blood as Him moved its pincer around and is soon apparent that Him is attempting to realign its broken ribs to its original position.

" _Hm...yeah, that's hits the spot. What if I twist it this way?_ " Him's arm twist around and several cracking sounds are heard.

" _Nope, that made it worse._ " Him said hoarsely.

 _What the hell_ , Break thought as he watched the demon's attempts to fix its own ribs and causing even more aggravating injuries to itself.

" _That saying...that feels extremely sensual. A new sensation! What a time to live for!_ " Him's own monologue's are as disturbing as it is brimmed with joyful optimism and love of life, all while digging deeper into its flanks.

"You sick-"

Break was about to spit out his words when Him cried out in realization and Him takes out its bloodied claw from its sides, smiling in glee. With a sharp pull of its pincers, Him pulled out several ichor-covered ribs out from the wound. Him continued on pulling out its broken ribs from its body as Break watched Him with disgust and revulsion. Him is looking at its broken ribs with an expression bordering on a sense of longing for the sensation it felt moments ago.

" _Hm...Wanna take a look at the ribs you've broken my dear little redhead?_ " Him asked Break before it tossed its broken ribs at the red-haired teenager. Break ducks down, letting the ribs fly pass his head. As Break stands up once more, he wondered how on earth is Him able to stand upright without a great portion of its ribs, the two gaping wounds from the demon's flank dripping down and pooling on the ground.

"Boss, the path is made. We can leave now." The Asian lady with the blue eyes informed Him.

" _Coming~. Please go on without me. I'll catch up."_

The two other individuals disappeared, as if they were just an image that was conjured up in a split moment. Him stares at Break with eyes that are not truly sane nor insane. If a word is to be said about how Him is watching the crimson-haired teenager, it would be depravity. Both individuals are now watching each other for any sign of movement, but Him appear to be the more relaxed of the two. Break knew that his time is limited, for he is only out here in Brick's body only because he is forced out by the demon's sorcery. Whatever is in the orb that went into Brick's mouth, it is causing a lot of problems in Brick's body. Break swears that the musculature is not functioning well, and it is only to the merits of Break's willpower that the body is not slumping down on the ground. Break knows that he does not have much time.

He has to do something or else.

" _Not bad...you're making all my senses a little duller. Not bad at all. And that helm...a nice touch._ " Him complimented on Break's ability before Him coughed out black ichor from its mouth. Despite the gravity of its injuries, the demon appears unperturbed and indeed Him appears jubilant.

Break knew that whatever threatened the host body is a threat to its own existence. For some reason, the dominant personality is shrouded within and this forced Break to be forcibly pulled to the surface. The visor of the helm glowed more brightly than before, and even Him can sense the atmosphere had truly become significantly oppressive. A blackish-red glow radiates like a flame from Break, and each splinter of flame that separates from the glow slowly hovered around Break. Break pointed his finger towards Him, and the splinter of hovering flame formed themselves into apparitions,each appearing as a large wolfhound-like dog with shaggy black fur, multiple red eyes, and a large, fang filled mouth. Each apparition turned their attention towards Him, awaiting the instruction of their master.

"Bite Him to death." The apparitions immediately darted forward towards Him and Break watched as each one of the apparitions attacked the demon with unbridled aggression.

 _Huh, not bad for something I scrounged up on the fly,_ Break thought to himself, pleased by the abilities he had just manifested.

Compared with Brick, Break is far more intuitive and creative when it comes to using their body's true abilities. By the virtue of being a subconscious personality, Break knew the absolute limits of the body and ways in which to use it to truly marvelous effects. This is also the same reason how Break is able to take control of Brick's body as he went into a catatonic state, for Break knew how to truly control the body despite the limitations. But Break knew that Brick is still essential for the body's survival, and is only barely able to keep it functioning the way it is. Break can sense that Brick's presence is but a weak pulse within him, and he is in a truly dire straits.

Knowing on of apparitions are doing a good job occupying Him, Break turned his attention towards the other unconscious people around the base. As they lay down sprawling unconscious around him, Break knew that this situation is slowly becoming an unteneable one. That leaves him with a decision that he needs to to do in order to keep things to a manageable level.

 _I need to get Him out from this plac_ e.

With a whistle, Break increased the tenacity of the attacks on Him, hoping that it would be enough to make Him retreat. That would be the best result in Break's mind, but the demon is known to be utterly unpredictable. True to Him's capricious nature, Break watched as Him smiled as ink-blach ichor flowed through the gaps of Him's teeth and out of its lips.

" _Feisty aren't we?_ " With a wave of its arms, the apparitions were flung off from Him. However to Break's benefit the apparitions are steadfast in their tenacity and junped back to the fray once more,determined to see their master's command to its conclusion. Relieved that the apparitions are more resilient and stubborn than he thought, Break whistled his commands and the growling apparitions attacked once more with greater tenacity. The demon weaved and dodged as the relentless attacks of the hound-apparitions continued to mount on.

The apparitions bit on Him ferociously like a vice wherever they could latch their jaws into the demon, causing even more wounds on Him. But contrary to the dire situation of the assault, Him appeared to be more relaxed than before and is in fact laughing it off.

S _omething's off_ , Break said to himself. It seems that herding Him out from the base appeared to be way too easy. Him's exuberant behavior suggest that Him is not taking the threat seriously despite its injuries. Him is for wanting of better words is enjoying itself.

Break watched as Him dissipates into a reddish pink fog, causing the apparition to lose their vice-like grip of their jaws on Him. As Break and the apparitions wondered where it went, a sharp amd shrill whistle resembling a catcall is heard.

" _Yoo-hoo, over here~!_ " Brick and the apparitions turned towards the direction of the entrance of the base. The demon appeared bloody and battered, but the exuberant confidence and excitement of the demon is unmistakenable. Seeing their prey once more, the hound-like apparitions barked and soon break into a ravenous stride towards Him. The demon smiled devilishly and laughed once more as it made its way towards the city.

 _God damn it_ , Break said to himself as he followed on their heels knowing that he needs to keep an eye out for any tricks up the effeminate demon's , Break and the hound-apparitions soon entered into the streets of Townsville and the chase begin in earnest. Despite Him's injuries, the demon is not slowing down as it is being chased .

" _What's the matter little doggies? Can't keep up with good o' me?_ " Him taunted as it takes its strides with an unearthly grace. The hound-like apparitions appeared to take offence to Him's provocations and doubled up on their chase. Break on the other hand is much more reserved. The taunt may be transparent, but the objective of the taunt is not.

The apparitions were unrelenting in their chase as they ran through the streets of Townsville at the heels of the injured scantily-clad demon. To Break's surprise, the apparitions are passing through the people and vehicles like a ghostly spectres, causing much chaos in the populace and vehicles veering off and causing accidents. Personally Break is surprised by the attributes of the apparitions, and he made a mental note on how these 'apparitions' only can make physical contact with their quarry. It also appeared that Him noticed this attribute as it breathe a wall of fire at the hounds. The flames passes thought the hounds and none of them were affected, and they passes through the eldritch flames as id they were not there. However, the flames caused even more property damage amd further panicking the crowd to a feverish frenzy. Break hovered above the panicking crowd, knowing that he is unable to calm the crowd down. To make matters worse, when Break entered into the crowd's line of sight, they immediately collapsed into unconsciousness or are driven insane by his appearance. These chaotic factors further aggravated the already dire situation of the pandemonium in the city caused by the pursuit.

 _Seriously, this is a shitstorm right now_ , Break thought to himself as he saw the peaceful realities of Downtown Townsville being torn down abruptly and violently by his pursuit of Him. If only Brick were able to see this string of events unfolding.

 _B...ak...c...e?_

 _What's that?_ , Break heard a voice in his head. The voice is a familiar boyish voice with a cold edge and Break knew the owner of the voice.

 _Break...c...he...e?_

 _Brick?_ , Break called out in his mind, while being mindful of the developing situation between the apparitions and Him.

 _What...g...on?_ , Brick called out and Break breathed a sigh of relief. He is glad that his host personality is alright and finally awake. However, the static-filled connection between the two personalities sharing the same body highlights the severity done towards their mindscape. Also, Brick's weakened state will only hinder his already limited scope of movement

 _Took you long enough to be awake. Him did a number on you, and I took over. Chasing Him around Townsville, but Him's up to something._

 _Him?_

Break sensed that Brick's presence is significant enough for him to be aware of some things. Within a blink of am eye, Brick is now able to see the world, albeit from one eye. Brick sees the demonic entity running through the streets in its lingerie with injured, open-wounded flanks while being chased by fourty hound-like entities,passing through all incoming obstacles like a phantom.

Meanwhile, the pandemonium happening on the streets a sight he had not seen in a long time. The citizens of Townsville are running frantically to escape Him, the hounds and also Break , whike others were falling unconscious on the scale of unbridled chaos happening before his eye only happen in war-torn nations, and Brick can inly be impressed by it all. To add to Brick's amazement, Him is severely injured and is on the run.

 _Wh...g...ing...on?_

 _The hounds are my idea, but the injured flanks are Him's idea. That crazy bastard pulled out his own broken ribs, calling it exciting,_ Break said with particular revulsion. It is understandable for Brick that Break is repulsed by Him's twisted nature, for Him's depravity knows no bounds. Him is not a personification of the dark desires for no reason. It was then that Brick noticed something about their surroundings.

 _Hold on, this road_..., Brick voiced out his familiarity of the streets of Townsville. the static from before is no longer present, allowing Break to finally hear Brick out.

 _You know where we're going, Brick?_

 _Yes, this is the main road towards Townsville Prison. And look, there's the walls_...

Break looked on and true to the Rowdyruff Boy's deduction, the black walls of the ominous Townsville Prison is now before them. Him immediately crashed towards the walls with all its might and the wall immediately crumbled down, causing the blaring sirens of the prison to howl out.

"God damn it." Break said as he watched the hounds entered into the breach one by one without a moment's hesitation. Brick knew that the prison may provide an advantage to Him, for his influence and machinations can turn the prison population against them. But letting him escape is also not a great option either. Brick and Break are forced to enter into the breach, knowing that they are entering into the lion's den.

As they entered into the prison courtyard, Brick and Break sensed that there is something odd about the prison's atmosphere. The uneasiness of both individuals within the same body soon brought them to the same conclusion.

"Brick...you sensing what I'm sensing?" Break asked the other personality for confirmation.

 _I know Break...I did not sense anyone at all in this prison._

Other than the blaring sirens, there is no prisoners out in the courtyard at all. Not even the guards in the gun towers surrounding the compound. Most disturbing of all, the prison is devoid of any other sound of living entities. The flags and warnings within Break and Brick are now raised within their minds. The hound-apparitions also stopped chasing the demon and are now looking around for any signs of danger, sniffing the ground and the air to discern the situation.

 _Hey Break, where's Him?_

"Good question...the hounds lost track of Him as well." Break answered back. Seeing from the hounds' reactions, Him is still present, as they were growling in frustration. But Break wondered where could the demon be.

Break _looked_ around the prison courtyard, taking very cautious steps as they approached the center of the prison courtyard. The unnerving silence within the courtyard is further aggravated by the apparent lack of sounds emanating from outside the prison, as if the prison is enveloped within its own reality.

"Are you strong enough?" Break asked Brick if he is strong enough come back to the surface.

 _No...for some reason there's something holding me back._

"There's no choice huh? Keep an eye out for Him alright?" Break suddenly realized what he had just said as the words escaped his lips, and Brick groaned.

 _Oh, I hate you right now._

They slowly walked towards the entrance of the prison complex, flanked by the hound apparitions. With a push of a door, Brick and Break smelled the sickly sweet stench of corruption staining every part of the interior, causing a gagging sensation in their throat.

 _Red Candy_ , Brick deduced.

"But I don't see anything resembling a prison riot or breakout." Break answered as he noticed that the interior is mostly intact. The only thing out of place are all the opened prison cells and the lack of a living soul around the facility.

 _Get the hounds to look around every cranny of this place. Can you do that?_

Break looked around the large prison complex and seeing Brick's reasonable suggestion, Break whistled and the hounds soon started sprinting in all directions, looking for something resembling Him. As the growling and barking pack went on their way, Break decided walk into one of the cells and take a seat in the bunkbed.

"Honestly, if it weren't for me, you're dead."

 _I know, and thanks._

"Him fed you something mighty strong, and it is meant to draw something out from you. Fortunately for you Brick, I'm the thing that surfaced instead." Break gave out a dark chuckle.

 _Maybe...that is what Him intended. You are a byproduct of what Him did to me._

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with that guy. Woman. It. Toaster. Whatever you want to call Him. It seems that he enjoy every single moment of everything. Even when things are not going its way." Break asked Brick, seeing that Brick is the one that would know the demon the best.

 _Him's just being Him. Him is sanguine but melancholic. Him's as depraved as he is calculating. Him's is like an open book but at the same time as unfathomable as the deepest abyss. Him's just incomprehensible as a being, but at the same time what can we expect from such an eldritch being?_

"Seriously, you have one messed up parent."

 _Well, we Rowdyruff Boys were born in the confines of this prison thanks to a mad chimp's hatred for the Powerpuff Girls. Snips, n' snails, n' puppy-dog tails. With a dose of Chemical 'Hex'. And we are resurrected by a transsexual demon via a demonic ritual. Of course we have messed up parents._

Both individuals were now laughing, seeing that both of them were products of what normal people would call witchcraft. However, their laughter were soon interrupted by a cacophonic laughter consisting of a high-pitched and shrill women's voice and a deep male's baritone echoing throughout the prison hallway. Brick and Break immediately got up from the bunkbed and as soon as they exited the prison cell, they saw Him standing before them.

" _Hello Brick and Break!_ " Him is ecstatic at the appearance of the Rowdyruff Boy. The two personalities are now glaring at the demon, both knowing that the demon intentionally made itself present for a most important thing in their mind can be summed up at one question; _How did the demon know that Brick is now awake?_

"How?" Break asked for both their sakes.

" _Brick's aura is not the same as yours,my dear alternate personality. I know my boys well._ " Him shrugged. Him's breathing is no longer labored and its voice no longer hoarse, and that alarmed Break. The demon is no longer struggling from its wounds. The ichor from the flanks of the demon is no longer flowing out from the wounds, as the bleeding had became a black crust on both the demon's flanks.

"He's healing..." Break whispered to Brick.

 _Him heals best when things are more messed up. Whatever that is causing that situation here is something really messed up,_ Brick explained.

"But what is happening here?" Break looked around as the area slowly took on a reddish pink hue. Him levitated a few inches above the ground, looking around before taking a deep breath. A sudden overbearing and oppressive atmosphere soon descended upon Brick and Break, causing their body to break out in an involuntary cold sweat. The silence from before is now filled with the anguished screaming and howling of countless people, causing a surrealistic haunted atmosphere. Him spreads its arms out to embrace the inevitability of something only Him can see or understand.

" _The apotheosis of a new divinity on this earth had begun._ " The way in which Him mentioned the absence of a human presence within the complex is particularly dark despite Him's happy tone. Brick and Break are now certain that Him had done something dastardly to all of them. Worse of all, the phenomenon is slowly affecting their concentration.

Several snarling noises were soon heard, and Him looked around to see several dozen snarling wolfhound-like apparitions looking at Him. As more growling, snarling and barking noises permeated throughout the room, Brick and Break realized that the animal-like sounds signaled the return of the hounds from their search. Or perhaps, they were attracted by the unnatural phenomenon happening in this prison ward like a pack of wolves to a herd of sheep.

"Attack!" Break called out, and the apparitions soon mounted their offense. Brick and Break decided that this opportunity to keep Him busy will be utilized optimally. As Brick and Break watched on, the apparitions dogpiled on Him and the swirling mass of ferocious apparitions is a sight to behold. However, Brick and Break felt that something felt a little off when the hound attacked and mauled on the demon. Something felt bizarre. Something _is_ wrong. Suddenly, the apparitions dissipated without any warning, and Him is no longer at the center of the dogpile.

" _And you would be right._ " Him's whisper pierced into their ears like an electrifying bolt, causing Brick/Break to reflexively dart away from the source of the voice. However, it was not fast enough. A body blow connected to their body, and Brick and Break experienced a sudden ripping sensation on his left flank. The impact of the blow caused the teenager to spin in mid-air before violently slamming down on the ground head-first.

As Brick and Break rise up slowly, they can sense that their breathing is deeply affected. As they looked on at their flank, they saw the surreal sight of a chunk of their flesh taken out from their body and the open wound is now bleeding profusely. It takes an unreasonable amount of strength to pierce through a Rowdyruff Boy's body, let alone ripping a chunk out of their body. Fortunately for Brick and Break, their superhuman regeneration is already at work trying to mend their wounds.

" _There will be a role to play for my little_ Hades. _Your blood will be the catalyst for the next step."_

The word 'Hades' once again caused great discomfort in Brick and Break felt the uneasy feeling welling up within his alternate personality. Him's expression turns into a more stoic expression as it looked upon the piece of flesh that it had ripped out from the Rowdyruff Boy. Him lets go of the flesh and soon the piece of flesh is now hovering before the demon. The ground below Him soon glowed and several circular patterns and lines soon appeared on the ground. Him started to mutter an eldritch incantation and the atmosphere is enveloped slowly but surely by a swirling tower of reddish pink clouds.

 _Th-those runes..._ , Brick realized that the pattern looks like a ritual of some sort. Suddenly Brick felt as if he was being ripped out from his bodily fiber and he started screaming.

"Wh-what the?" Break sensed Brick's agony, before Break also felt the same sensation. Break gritted his teeth and withstood the excruciating sensation as the incantation and the glowing of the ritual ward grew more intense. Break realized that the thing that Him forcefed Brick is now coming to fruition. The cacophonic voices from the demon soon resonates throughout the atmosphere and the howling anguished voices from before increased in intensity. The eldritch symbols on the ground soon glowed white and Him stopped its incantation, and it appears that the ritual is completed.

" _And now for the_ pièce de résistance." Him smiled wickedly as it started walking towards the teenager as the crimson-haired teenager is clamping his head and howling in pain.

As Him drew closer, a dark object slowly materialized at the heart of the teenager's chest. As the dark object grew larger, it is apparent that a dark portal had manifested on the teenager's chest. The swirling vortex soon revealed a dark red glowing object hovering within the center of the portal, glowing ever slightly brightly with every pulse emanating from the object. The ground below the teenager is now cracking apart and several pinkish red lightning drawing out from the portal struck the ground, shattering as each lightning bolt comes to blow with the ground.

Him is unable to hold its glee and a wide rictus soon etches itself on the demon's by the unnatural phenomenon emanating from their chest, Brick and Break can only watch as the demon as it kneel down to face the fallen teenager, an expression of something fulfilled evident on the demon's face.

" _You know, I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time now. But I don't think you knew that didn't you?_ "

"Wh-wh-..." Brick and Break asked, and they realized that they can hear both their voices speaking out at the same time.

" _The Trinisphere appears to be well-developed. All those juicy emotions absorbed by your body is just so succulent._ " Him reached out into the portal emanating from the Rowdyruff Boy's chest and slowly but surely started intruding its arm into the portal. Brick and Break can only watch as as almost the entirety of Him's arm entered into the hole that materialized from their body.

" _Let's see here...almost there...A-Ha! Got it!_ " Him exclaimed and with a forceful pull, Him pulled the glowing red orb out of the Rowdyruff Boy's body. Both Brick and Break suddenly fell down on the ground, and they both felt as if something important was ripped out from their existence. As the Rowdyruff Boy's crimson eyes turned glass-like, Him looked down upon the teenager.

" _I will admit that I was afraid of you, but holding out against the terror is worthwhile._ " Brick and Break noticed that Him's body were trembling, and there is a hint of fear in the demon's voice.

" _But now that I have gotten what I came for, I need to go for_ _another appointment._ " Him slowly waved as a reddish fog soon enveloped the effeminate demon.

"W-W-Wait..." Brick and Break finally found the strength within them to turn around and started crawling, not wanting to let the effeminate demon off the hook.

" _Toodles._ " Him waved before the reddish pink fog dissipates, and the demon is now gone. Brick and Break can sense that their breathing is getting shallower, and the strength within their body leaving them. As the prison slowly turned back to its original hue, Brick and Break realized that they are losing consciousness.

"Damn it...we've lost Him." Brick called out, but he soon realized that his counterpart is not answering him. Brick soon realized that Break is no longer with him. With Break's presence gone, Brick suddenly felt the burden of his injured body hitting his senses like a wrecking ball. Brick soon realized that this is what Break had to deal with when he is unconscious, and Brick started to appreciate the alternate personality a little more. As the blood started to pool from his wounds, Brick started chuckling.

"Shit...I lost." Brick said, before passing out.


	46. Chapter 46: A Dangerous Game

Chapter 46: A Dangerous Game

[Somewhere in the Midwest, 3.30pm]

"What about Butch?" Bubbles asked the others, seeing that Butch can snap back into action at any moment. Blossom and Buttercup looked at each other with unease, not knowing what to do about Butch. However, Boomer calmly walks towards his brother, and soon the two brothers are staring at each other.

"Boomer." Butch snarled at his brother, his eyes filled with disgust. Boomer on the other hand looked at his brother with sad and stoic cobalt sapphire eyes. Boomer slowly hold his brother's head in his palms, and closed his eyes.

"Yes, yes I am."

Without any warning, the air surrounding the teenagers are ionized in a second and Boomer's hair soon stood up like those of a porcupine. Suddenly a pillar of lightning soon descended upon the two Rowdyruff Boys, and the Powerpuff Girls are forced to shield their eyes from the dazzling flash of light. However, the Powerpuff Girls are unable to shield their ears from the loud booming sound of a lightning strike. As the flash of light slowly dissipates, the Powerpuff Girls take their hands off their eyes and were greeted by a circle of scorched earth. In the center of the epicenter of the scorched earth are the two Rowdyruff Boys, both smoking from their bodies.

"Boomer, Butch!" Blossom called out as she rushed towards them. What she saw is a sight she can never forget. Butch is utterly unconscious, with his eye whites showing while smoke escapes from his mouth while Boomer's eyes are closed and a bitter frown and downturned mouth is visible on the usually cheery Rowdyruff Boy. As Boomer moves his brother's arms over his shoulder and rises up, Blossom could only watch as Boomer slowly opened his eyes.

"Solved the issue. Let's go." Boomer said to Blossom, and Blossom can not fathom the utter iciness of Boomer's glare. Blossom is stunned for a moment by the ruthlessness of the Rowdyruff Boy's action on his own brother as he walked past her with his brother slung on his shoulder. Blossom turned around and noticed that her sisters were also shaken by Boomer's expression as he walked past them. Noticing that the Powerpuff Girls are looking at him funny, Boomer turned his head towards them.

"So...you're leading the way right, girls?"

* * *

[Somewhere near Townsville, 3.45pm]

The Powerpuff Girls are flying in an arrowhead formation towards the direction of Townsville, accompanied by Boomer carrying Butch on his shoulders trailing shortly behind. Buttercup take a glance back at the Rowdyruff Boys and her concern is not lost on Blossom. Among the Powerpuff Girls, Buttercup is perhaps the one that is closest to Boomer. Seeing him in such a distraught state is not something they are all used to.

"He's the only one that can keep Butch down for the count." Blossom assured Buttercup as her memory of how Boomer coldly electrocuted his brother once more in order to immobilize and knock him unconscious is fresh in her mind.

"Seriously, did you see Boomer's eyes?" Buttercup asked her copper-haired sister.

"Yeah...never knew he got those killer eyes on him." Blossom answered. Blossom never knew that Boomer can be ruthless, for the trait of ruthlessness is not a trait associated with the sand-blonde teenager.

"I can't even...I mean...how could he do that to his brother?" Bubbles joined in the conversation, and the other two Powerpuff Girls knew that it is something they can never do to their own flesh and blood.

"I have hypersensitive senses you know. Your whispers might as well be shouting to me." Boomer sighed. The girls are now silent, forgetting that Boomer is the one with the sharpest senses among his brothers. The Powerpuff Girls were caught by surprise. Boomer closes in on them, with his brother in tow.

"Sorry." Blossom apologized.

"Don't be." Boomer knew that they meant no harm, and forgave the Powerpuff Girls.

"But...why?" Bubbles mustered the courage to ask her blue counterpart. Boomer looked at Bubbles, and he took his time before he answered her.

"We are a special group. We shared foxholes and hold each other in dire moments. We have seen death and suffered together. From this day to the ending of the world, we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. And so let it be if anyone were to take my brother's life, let it be me and no one else. My brothers would have done the same to me." Boomer's stoicism shook their core values.

The Powerpuff Girls dare not ask further, knowing well that Boomer had said something very deeply profound and dark for the three girls. Boomer realized that he had made them even more uncomfortable than before, but he knew that it is best to just keep the silence between them for the time being. This continued on for a while, but as they draw closer to Townsville Boomer felt that something within him is shaken to his core. His face contorted itself into an expression of uneasiness and anxiety.

"Boomer?" Buttercup asked, seeing that Boomer is now even more distraught than before. Boomer's eyes widened in fear as he realized what had gone wrong. Immediately Boomer bolted into a loud crack of lightning bolt and soon races off towards the direction of Townsville. The Powerpuff Girls immediately sped up, trying to catch up to the sand-blonde teenager. However he was just too fast for them despite Boomer carrying his brother on his shoulder. Within seconds, he is out of sight.

"What the heck?" Buttercup called out, wondering what caused Boomer to act in such a manner. However, Bubbles answered her sister instead by pointing ahead.

"That."

As the city of Townsville slowly comes closer to their view, the Powerpuff Girls are unable to comprehend the sight before their eyes. Above the city, an ominous cloud of reddish pink clouds is upon Townsville, with the clouds forming into a face of a figure they are all familiar with, smiling wickedly at the city below.

" _Him._ " Blossom voiced out their thoughts. Without a moment's hesitation, the three Powerpuff Girls burst towards the city.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, Townsville, 4.00pm]

Boomer set his course towards a particular direction where he sensed his brother. As he navigated through the skyscrapers, Boomer's heart is pounding louder with every second. It is already painful enough for him to hurt one of his brothers the way he did, but something in him knew that something had happened to Brick once he saw the malicious form of Him's face in the dark clouds above Townsville.

As Boomer finally comes closer towards the place that calls on him, Boomer's state of mind is even more chaotic than before. He can not believe it, or to be exact he will not believe it; Boomer is now directly on the course of Townsville Prison.

The place of birth for the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Of all the places..." Boomer saod to himself as he stopped above the prison complex. Boomer looked around and his hypersensitive senses are telling him that the prison is surprisingly empty.

All but for one single heat signature at the main block of the prison complex,the body heat of one individual slowly fading away.

"A heat signature?" Boomer said in surprise as he wondered who on earth is injured and left for dead. Or is this a trap setup by the prisoner?

 _No...why would they want to trap anyone if they are no longer in prison?_

Shaking his disbelief, Boomer immediately descended down upon Townsville Prison like an arrow descending down from the skies. As Boomer breaks through the roof, he saw a sight that he does not want to see at all. Lying down on the ground below him, Boomer sees a red-haired teenager lying down on the ground. The redheaded teenager appears to be very pale,and his lips are now almost blueish in color.

"Brick!"Boomer called out in shock as he descended right next to his fallen brother. As he lay Butch down on the ground he watched in horror as the sight of both his fallen brothers numbed him emotionally. To make matters worse, he can smell the same sickly sweet stench of Him's infernal drug from their bodies. Boomer's eyes glowed with a icy fire as he picked up Brick.

"Come on... _come on_...don't be dead man. You're way too stubborn for this..." Boomer slapped his brother's face to ellicit a response from his pale brother. Fortunately,Boomer noticed Brick's chest rising up and down,and Boomer breathe a sigh of relief. But it still does not change the fact that Brick need immediate medical attention.

" _Hello there, my blue-eyed child. You're late._ " A disturbing voice spoke, catching the attention of the sapphire-eyed teenage boy. Boomer looked up to see a crimson being with a widow's peak and emerald eyes is now looking down on him, clad in a pastel pink long-sleeved open-necked button down shirt, exposing its chest and abdomen and a black bell bottom that clings to Him's legs and butt. Boomer puts his brother down before rising up to meet the demon's eyes."What did you do to my brothers?"

" _Oh nothing much, they just got some tasty treats from me. Want some?_ "

Him showed its pincers to Boomer, revealing a small cobalt blue orb at the tips of Him's pincer. Boomer immediately covered his mouth and nose, overwhelmed by the sickly sweet smell of the unnatural substance. Him showed an expression of mock disappointment before turning its wrist. The orb disappeared in a blink of an eye, and yet Boomer is still covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

" _Suit yourself._ " Him shrugged.

"Stop the charade, Him...what the hell do you want with us?" Boomer's voice is devoid of any emotions, but one can sense that the tranquil calm is a prelude to a violent storm.

" _Charade_ _? If I'm playing charades I wouldn't be here. I've been_ _waiting here for you for a while now... it'_ _s never fun to wait for someone. Watching Brick's life fade away is not the most exciting thing to do._ " Him cooed.

"You left Brick for dead?" Boomer's trembling voice cuts the demon's line short, angered that the demon is messing with him. Instead of being offended by Boomer's response, Him appears calm and took a short glance at the pale red-headed teenager before returning its attention at Boomer.

" _Watching Brick fading away is_ _fun while it lasted._ " Him answered.

Him's arm reflexively blocked Boomer's lightning-fast kick before the Him realized that it was under attack. The sound of Him's claw cracking caused a mild expression of amusement on Him's face. Him's eyes traced down Boomer's leg, encased in greaves with interwoven sheets of plates with several wing-like projections covering several small thruster-like nozzles on Boomer's calves, with a smile on its face.

" _Ooo...all you boys go fanc-_ " Him is immediately met with a shocking experience as thousands of volts channeled through its body via Boomer's leg. Another knee blow to Him's flanks caused blood to spurt out from the wound. Him's head is soon met with two bat-like energy projections and Him was propelled into one of the cells with such force that the prison cell collapsed upon Him. With both arms holding his Battlers and his legs clad with Mojo Jojo's new technology, Boomer is ready to exorcise the demon to the fiery pits where it Boomer channeled his eletrogenic powers within him,he knew that he will need all the tricks he can-

 _Swush!_

Boomer's body immediately dodged the boulder that came out from the rubble,the boulder flying just a hair's breadth away from his body. As Him emerged from the rubble, Him's flank are stained with black stains, and the demon coughed out a spurt of black ichor from its mouth.

 _"Great...my wounds are opened again. And I took the trouble to dress it up._ " Him said with disapproval.

However, Boomer did not give the demon a chance to even take a breathe as Him was slammed with several blows from Boomer's energy bats and each blow hits with a deafeningly loud electrical stungun-like boom. The smell of burnt flesh can be smelled in the air as the blows increased in intensity. Him is clearly surprised by the speed in which the blows are dealt to it, for Boomer's blows are able to somehow evade Him's defensive attempts. At the same time, Him is unable to land a blow on Boomer in any way whatsoever. Boomer did not give Him a single ounce of mercy, as he used both Battlers and also his kicks in an unseen storm of kicks and bat attacks. Him's head and body jerked in an unnatural manner as the blows are dealt to its body, and before long Him appeared to have float off the ground from the blows and was held in place in the air.

 _Die,_ Boomer's mind blared with the single word, his mind focused on the words like a lightning to a lightning rod. With every blow the sand-blonde teenager is slowly losing all semblance of thought as he lets his body moved on its own. The cold calmness of his state of his mind is contrasted by the sheer brutality of Boomer's actions. Despite the thought, Boomer is unable, or to be exact, not willing to think of anything else otherwise.

Boomer, in his state of mind, failed to see that Him's expression is slowly turning into an expression of boredom. With each blow, the demon had slowly started to make subtle movements that reduced the impact of the blows. A little twist of the neck, a little deflection of Boomer's energy bats using the carapace of its claws, a little twist of the hip to mitigate Boomer's kicks. In a masterful deceptive manner, Him is slowly negating Boomer's blows while pretending to be affected by the Rowdyruff Boy's blows. The initial exaggerated recoil of Him's body as a result of Boomer's attack is now slowly turning into more of an act without Boomer's realization.

" _Alright, time's over._ " Him grabbed both of Boomer's energy projections in its claws, snapping Boomer out from his trance. Before Boomer can register how Him stopped his attacks, Boomer felt a sudden shock through his nervous system, causing his already hypersensitive senses to violently overload on his senses. Boomer falls limply on the ground, not knowing why his body is not moving at all. Boomer cringes his face, trying his best to move a muscle but to no avail. As Boomer struggled, Him slowly trots towards the paralyzed teenager, before kneeling down on one knee. Boomer can only grunt as he glared at the demon with spite.

" _Here, let me help you up._ " Him offered politely, before grabbing Boomer by his short hair and pulled him up to the demon's eye level.

" _There you go,_ _don't say I didn't help._ " Him's face is met with a spit, and the demon wiped the spit off its face, and wiping its polite demeanor along with it.

" _Don't get too ahead of yourself, boy. If I wanted to, I would already snapped your neck from the beginning. I had played enough games with you, and it is time for me to get what I wanted from you."_ Him's voice is a deep growling male baritone, showcasing his utter dominance over the Rowdyruff Boy. Him's emerald eyes are like a panther about to strike at a stunned deer.

Boomer's eyes are a mixture of both fear and spite, as the conflicting thoughts of his own survival and his desire to avenge his brothers intermingled in his mind. Boomer clearly do not want to go out like this. Somehow, he wished that there is something he could have done to prevent this fate or perhaps an intervention from a higher existence to get him out of this situation.A sudden bolt of energy blows up on Him's back, answering Boomer's sincere wish. The attack annoyed Him, and the demon turned around to find out what caused the attack. Floating from the hole from the ceiling of the prison block, Him saw three familiar figures floating above it. The figures are all clad in similar armored outfits, but each are colored differently from the other. A waist-length copper-haired young woman is looking down upon Him, flanked by two other young woman, one with a short, undercut dark jet hair and the other with yellow-straw blonde pigtails.

" _Ah, the Powerpuff Girls!_ " Him exclaimed joyfully.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, Townsville, 4.30pm]

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup sped towards Townsville as fast as they could, and as they watched a city in chaos they wondered where did Boomer flew to. As they searched the streets of Townsville, they realized that it is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"God damn it, in the rate that it is going it will take an obvious explosion for us to know where he is!" Buttercup said in frustration.

 _Boom!_

"As you were saying Buttercup?" Bubbles poked at Buttercup.

"Shut up." Buttercup bit back at Bubbles.

"Where's the sound coming from Bubbles?" Blossom asked the pigtailed teenager.

"It sounds like it is coming from...the Townsville Prison?!" Bubbles' own deduction surprised even herself,but the acoustics of the prison is unmistakeable to the Powerpuff Girl.

"Townsville Prison?" Blossom and Buttercup said in unison.

"Yeah...that special ringing from the prison bars is rather unique." Bubbles shrugged,and both her sisters will not question her reasoning.

"Well, let's go." Blossom beckons her sisters and the Powerpuff Girls made their way towards the Townsville Prison.

To their surprise upon arriving at the Townsville Prison, they saw the damaged prison complex and they knew that they are at the right location. As they draw closer, they are within visual range of seeing one of their most dreaded nemesis overpowering Boomer. The unmistakeable tall and lanky silhouette of the effeminate crimson-colored avatar of darkness is plain for all the Powerpuff Girls to see,amd the pincer arms only confirmed its far from where Boomer and Him is Brick, whose condition appeared to be particularly bad. Seeing the situation, Blossom figured that they needed a particular approach to the matter.

"Okay girls, we need to fig-"Blossom's advice was cut short as Buttercup will not let Him proceed further with its action.

Buttercup's arms are soon enveloped with swirling vortex of fire and within a split second, she swing her arms and fired a yellowish-green fiery crescent projectile towards Him. The projectile made contact with Him and it exploded.

"Buttercup!" Bubbles called out in surprise while covering her on the other hand closed her eyes and breathe in deeply, knowing that this is how this confrontation will start; with them being the aggressor. The demon turned around and there is an unbridled amount of excitement and exhilaration in its expression as it exclaimed out in joy.

"Ah, the Powerpuff Girls!"

"Not so fast, Him!" The leader of the Powerpuff Girls called out, her copper-colored hair flowing freely with the wind as she looked down upon Him with her rose-colored eyes.

" _Blossom."_ Him acknowledges the leader of the Powerpuff Girls before turning its head to face the pig-tailed Powerpuff Girl with light-blue eyes.

 _"Bubbles."_ Him acknowledges the joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls before facing the last Powerpuff Girl.

 _"And last but not least, have expected the blow came from you, Buttercup."_ Him acknowledges Buttercup as the effeminate figure noticed the smoking hands of the peridot-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"There's more where that came from." Buttercup looked at the villain with burning eyes.

" _Of cour-_ " Him's face was suddenly hit by a beam attack from Boomer's own eyes, surprising even the Powerpuff Girls themselves. However as the smoke dissipates, Him escaped with nothing more than some superficial damage to its face. Him turned its attention back towards Boomer.

" _Fine. You want it dirty...I'll give you dirty._ " Him smiled viciously before Him suddenly kissed Boomer in the mouth. As Boomer struggled and the Powerpuff Girls watched, the demon held on the kiss for a moment before it separates its mouth from Boomer's own mouth. Him opened its mouth once more and to the shock of the other Powerpuffl Girls, Him bit into the Rowdyruff Boy's shoulder and pulling out part of Boomer's trapezius wih its jaws. Boomer screamed in pain as the blood gushes out from his wounds. Buttercup and Blossom watched as the demon turned to their direction and looked at them with very crazed and savage eyes. Bubbles looked away as she dare not look at such a bloody scene unfolding before her Him's mouth flowed with the mixture of Boomer's crimson blood and Him's own black ichor, the demon spits out the piece of flesh upon the ground.

"You sick fu-" Buttercup was about to complete her sentence when the effeminate demon shouted out.

" _Catch!_ " Him called out to the Powerpuff Girls before throwing the Rowdyruff Boy towards the Powerpuff Girls. Bubbles was the first to spring into action to try and catch the Rowdyruff Boys, but she was pushed back by the mass of the Rowdyruff Boy and she slammed out from the prison complex.

"Bubbles!" The other two Powerpuff Girls called out to their sister as they turnedaround, and the distraction caused was sufficient enough for Him to close in on the distance between Blossom and itself.

" _Let's play._ " Blossom turned around to the soure the cacophonic voice to see a pair of emerald eyes looking back at her. Blossom is immediately blinded by the shot of the beams from Him's eyes, and Blossom sensed an impact on the back of her head followed by a sudden acceleration towards the ground. Blossom soon felt the hard surface of the ground hitting her face and body.

"Blossom!" Buttercup cried out as Blossom crashed to the ground.

Buttercup accelerated towards the demon, only for the demon to dissapear out of 's instincts however forced her body to instinctively lean back, causing Him's kick to barely miss its mark. At the same time, Buttercup lashed out a forward kick and it hits its mark. Using the recoil from the kick, Buttercup distanced away from the spot and dashed down towards the ground of the prison complex.

"Well, well, well." Him complimented Buttercup as it descended down on the same level as Buttercup.

The demon is unfazed by the attack, and Buttercup recalled that the Demon felt no pain in its eldritch body. Buttercup analyzed the demon and noticed that the demon is wounded heavily. Somehow Him's ribcages appeared a little sunken and the chest of the demon is indented in as well,and Buttercup knew that her kick would had broke at least Him's is amazed how Him is able to talk to them, let alone engage in a fight with them.

"Freeze!" A voice called out and Him is hit by a gust of freezing wind. Him managed to sway enough that only one arm was frozen. The demon looked around and saw that Blossom had finally regained her bearings and is back in the fight. Before Him can regain its composure, several electrical plasma orbs soon rained down upon Him. Several massive explosions erupted where Him stood, causing the ground to collapse on itself. Not taking any chances, Buttercup activated the swirling vortexes around her arm and igniting it in a bright yellowish-green flames. Buttercup threw several Bombers crescents into the rising tower of fumes and causing further chains of explosions.

"Regroup!" Blossom called out to her raven-haired sister and both sisters immediately flew upwards and out of the prison complex from the hole in the ceiling. As they gathered around Bubbles,they watched the prison below them with a sense of apprehension.

"No way's Him's gonna be defeated by that attack right?" Buttercup asked her sisters, knowing that Him's constitution is in a class all on its own.

"No, of course not." Blossom answered curtly. Blossom may not had fought against the demon in a long time,but her memories of their fight against the demon is never won with brute strength.

"Brick and Butch are still down there. And Boomer's not in a good shape either." Bubbles pointed out. Blossom and Buttercup turned around and recognized the telltale signs of a cranial concussion on Boomer, for his sapphire eyes are hollow and dazed. The gaping wound on his shoulders is now bleeding profusely, causing the already pale Rowdyruff Boy to become almost transluscent. To make matters worse, Boomer appears to be trembling uncontrollably and the sickly sweet smell of the Red Candy-like drug is now emanating from his body.

"Him must have forced it into his mouth during that kiss." Blossom deduced, knowing that it is the most plausible moment to force the drug into Boomer's body.

"Tsk... forgotten about the boys." Buttercup cursed.

"We can't reach to them if Him's down there." Blossom said as she tried scanning through the rising cloud of dust and smoke.

" _If you're looking for me, I'm up here~_ " The Powerpuff Girls were taken by surprise and they turned upwards to see the effeminate villain looking upon them with crossed arms. To the girl's surprise,Him appeared to be almost unfazed by the previous attacks.

"HIM!" The Powerpuff Girla cried out simultaneously.

" _You've grown up to be such fine young ladies. I'm glad that this will not be a walk in the park for me_ _. But right now, I would have to take my leave, as I got work to do._ "

"Hold on, we're not done with you-" Before Buttercup could finish her line, Him waved at the Powerpuff Girls before dissapearing in a cloud of reddish pink fog. As the girls watched the fog dissipates, Buttercup flips the bird at the general direction of where Him dissapeared before their eyes.

"Damn...Him's still the same as he was years ago."

"And Him's back for real." Blossom answered, knowing that this will be a very dark time to come.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, Time Unknown]

"Are they going to be alright?"

Bubbles asked as she watched over three screens showing the other Rowfyruff Boys. On one screen, Brick is now lying down in the ward with life support systems attached on the crimson-haired teenager, encased in a healing tank. On the other screen, Butch is trapped in a coffin-like contraption that continuously pumped Antidote X to neutralize and seal the Rowdyruff. The last screen showed Boomer lying down with his body wrapped and lying down on one ward bunks.

"Unfortunately, their situation is unchanged since the last time you asked." Professor Utonium answered,flanked by the other two Powerpuff Girls.

It has been a day since the incident at the Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force known as TOCTSeF, the specialist crime unit created to deal with the Lunatics is reeling from Him's sudden appearance in the TOCTSeF base as well as the reported mass dissapearance around Townsville. Fortunately for Townsville the Lunatics did not take any further action to exploit the instability, giving the TOCTSeF forces and the Powerpuff Girls a breathing space to ease the chaos that erupted from the pandemonium.

"But the brothers...What the hell Him did to them?" Buttercup asked as she looked at the screen.

"The blood test showed that they're under the influence of some variant of Red Candy. But what exactly is the main effect is not so easily pinpointed. Their body biochemistry is definitely affected,but it is not causing any terminal side effects. Based on your descriptions girls, it appear to have a psychoactive effect on Butch at least. But for the rest of the boys, it has a neurological effect of unknown magnitude, shutting down most bodily functions save the most basic ones."

"Maybe it part of the same thing?" Blossom posited, and Professor Utonium scrolled through the biometric data of the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Could be. Neurological conditions can often lead to hallucinations and also misperceptions of their bodily senses. Despite this state, the brain is somewhat awake, with cerebral neurons firing with the same overall intensity as in wakefulness." Professor Utonium moved his fingers and several more holographic displays appeared before the Utoniums, showing several readings on the screen. The images of the three Rowdyruff Boy's brain are now alit with markers that showed neural activity throughout their brains.

"So...they're dreaming?" Bubbles asked, pointing towards the holographic image of Brick's brain. Professor Utonium's face showed an honest surprise, as the explanation is as simple as it is descriptive.

"Yes...you can think of it as dreaming."

"I wonder what are they dreaming about..." Buttercup asked as she watched the footage of Boomer's body twitching on the bed. Judging from the twitches, it appeared to be a very involved dream.

"Can't we just wake them up?" Buttercup asked, but the professor shook his head.

"Unfortunately dear, it doesn't work that way." After Professor Utonium's explanation, the room descended once more into silence.

Professor Utonium is not oblivious to his daughter's state of mind, for Bubbles and Buttercup them are deeply affected by the state of the Rowdyruff Boys. Professor Utonium can see that Bubbles is watching Brick with more attention, while Buttercup is doing her 'worried' frown as she watched Boomer. Professor Utonium had seen the girls grew up and had known every single quirk and tics of the Powerpuff Girls in various emotional states. Professor Utonium would not have thought that those ruffian boys would bond with two of his little angels in such a way. It seems only Blossom is the one least affected by the Rowdyruff Boys' condition, but she is affected in a different way.

As Professor Utonium takes a seat, he slowly observed the copper-haired girl and noticed that Blossom is already deep within her 'think tank'. When she is deep in her thoughts, Blossom had the tendency to glance to her right with her left hand covering her mouth. Of course, Blossom is not aware of her tic and Professor Utonium decided to leave her to her own device. Professor Utonium knew that he is but a background character to the plight that the girls are facing in their minds, unable to console them despite his desire to do so. But Professor Utonium puts his faith into his girls, for that is the most important thing that he can give them in this juncture in time.

 _Speaking about putting faith...It should be about now that Blossom's mind will come up with something_ , Professor Utonium looked at his watch. Professor Utonium knew his daughter well enough that her intelligence and problem-solving skills would take her exactly three minutes and fourty-five seconds to connect the dots and come up with a plan of some sort.

 _In five...four...three...two...one..._

"That's it!" Blossom's face lit up, and she thought of something that could help the situation. Bubbles and Buttercup looked upon her with a bewildered expression, while Professor Utonium feigns his surprise. Exactly on the mark, Professor Utonium thought. Of course, as a loving father, Professor Utonium will play the part of initiating the course of letting Blossom explained her train of thought.

"What's it, Blossom? Mind sharing with us?" Professor Utonium asked, knowing that listening is also part of making a relationship work, especially with one's own children.


	47. Chapter 47: Enter Sandman

Chapter 47: Enter Sandman

[Unknown Location, Unknown Time]

Deep within an unknown realm, a sleep-deprived senior in a sleeping blue-striped gown and a night cap with a long pointed top accompanied by a small ball of some sort at the end is now edging towards his bed,his face etched in a wide smile. His blueish purple skin further exacerbate the bags under his eyes, and his blood shot eyes are focused only on one thing.

A bed.

"Now the Sandman can hit the hay! Ah think Ah'll sleep an extra hour a day." The gruff and deep voice of the individual exudes tiredness and relief at the same time. This gentleman's name is the Sandman, the purveyor of sleep and good dreams.

It has been a long day for the Sandman, for he had been engaged in his duties to put people to sleep almost continuously for the past twenty hours. Fortunately for him, Sandman had been getting more sleep for the past few years since the invention of the smartphone and tablet, for people are intentionally getting themselves more sleep-deprived. Less people willing to go to sleep allowed Sandman to have gaps in his schedules where he can just take am hour-long nap or two.

And in the world of the Sandman, a hour-long nap is a long time indeed.

As he climbed into his bed, he noticed that something is definitely off. He looked around suspiciously and he realized that the source of his suspicions is much more obvious than he thought it would be; a hole in his ceiling. As he wondered how on earth the hole on his ceiling is even possible given the realm that he is residing in is out of bounds of most mortals, a young woman's voice cuts through Sandman's bewilderment.

"Hello there Sandman."

"Who? What? Huh?" Sandman jumped out of his bed and blurted out, surprised by the presence of a voice, and a young woman's voice in his chamber. He turned around to see a young slender woman with very shapely legs and arms, and waist-length reddish brown hair looking at him with reddish rose-colored eyes. The young woman is clad in a amarath-colored sleeveless turtleneck and off-white colored pants, and her hair are tied in a long flowing ribbon.

"How are you ?" Another cutesy girlish voice asked, and Sandman turned around to see a curvaceous straw-yellow pigtailed girl with zircon eyes looking at him, dressed in a white flowery dress.

"How? When?" Sandman is now even more distraught than before, realizing to his horror that these young women looked oddly familiar. He could not snap his fingers in time to defend himself, as the Powerpuff Girls appeared too quickly for him to defend himself.

"You haven't forgotten us right?" A husky female voice asked, and Sandman turned once more to face a short-haired woman with an undercut and bright neon green hair highlights breaking the monotony of her black hair. With her black halterneck and olive-colored cargo pants and bangles, she exudes a certain edgy look.

"Powerpuff Girls?!" Whatcha girls' doin' here? I haven't earned your ire! Ah don' do no bad things no more, for them smartphones and tablets caused it all!" The Sandman responded in fear, his jittering obvious to the Powerpuff Girls. The Sandman is afraid to look at the little girls that had caused him to not fall asleep for ten years straight. Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup looked at each other, and Blossom decided that she will be the one that will be speaking to the mythical being.

"Sorry for breaking into your home, but there's no door to your home. Mr. Sandman...we need your help. Please." Blossom breathe in deep, not realizing that their first encounter had caused such emotional trauma in the Sandman's mind. Blossom approached the bed, stopping only a few inches from the bed. Blossom knew that it is best to speak with honesty if they were to get the Sandman to assist them. Blossom made it a point to say the magic word, and hoped for the best.

"Help? From good o' me?" The Sandman came out from his panic as he realized that the girls meant no harm, but his distrust is still present on his face.

"Yes...we got a situation...and you're the only one we can ask." Blossom informed the master of dreams, and the Sandman can see that Blossom is sincere in her requests.

As he looked at Bubbles and Buttercup, he sensed that they are all depressed as well. For the proud and strong Powerpuff Girls to ask help is uncalled for, and asking their former enemy for help is something he would never thought he will see in his life. Despite his past experiences with the girls, he knew that they always had the best interest of the people at heart. But even then, he rather hear them out first before he decides to help them or not. The Sandman takes in a very breath before exhaling it all out.

"Alright little girl, tell Sandman 'bout it." The Sandman relented, despite his anxiousness. Besides, he is afraid of what the Powerpuff Girls would do to him if he , his past action of forcing everyone in a permanent slumber is a selfish act he did at the heat of the moment, and the girls did set his act right (albeit with a traumatizing event so that he will never do it again).

Blossom in turn takes out a tablet, and the Sandman leaned forward to see what is being displayed. The tired old man saw pictures of three young men, and it appeared that they are not in the best condition. Two of them appeared to be injured and not awake, while the other appeared to be confined within a holding device.

"Ah can see the problem no doubt. Even with the one's that 'awake'. They're 'n Dreamland fer sure, but this' somethin' complicated. There's dreamin' and then there this kind of dreamin'. Ah call it 'Dream Traps'." The Sandman said as he yawned, unable to contain his fatigue. He points towards Butch as if to make a point.

"Complicated?" Blossom asked, noticing that the Sandman is pointing towards the only conscious Rowdyruff Boy.

"This one...he may be awake, but there's no mistake. He's dreamin' of a time, where his old memories at its prime." The Powerpuff Girls were surprised that the Sandman knew that Butch alone is the one hallucinating among the Rowdyruff Boys. Blossom then told the Sandman about Butch's odd behavior, and also the apparent diagnosis that their minds appeared to be in a dream-like state. After taking in and digesting the information, the Sandman spoke once more.

"Yeap, if they ain't wakin, they ain't livin nor dyin', and that's a whole lot of grievin'. They're lost within their own noggin', searchin' for somethin'." The Sandman replied

"Searching for what?" Buttercup asked as she approached the Sandman.

"Redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, absolution...depends on the person, everyone's got their own concern." The other girls are now looking at each other, not sure what to say about the situation. Blossom however is one of the very few people whom the boys had talked about their past in Syria. That in itself is a whole can of worms, and who knows what else the boys have stored up within them.

"Seeing the boys, they're definitely searching for something really bad." Bubbles points out towards the monitor focused on Butch. The Sandman jumped, surprised that the blonde Powerpuff Girl is now behind him.

"Goodness girl, don't just pop out like that!"

"Sorry." Bubbles apologized. Blossom and Buttercup are not even surprised, for Bubbles always seem to have the lightest step and an uncanny ability to appear out of nowhere.

The Sandman looked at the footage of Butch and saw that Butch's eyes are sullen and dark, and his glass-like stare of the usually proud teenager looking at the monitor is disturbing to say the least. Among his brothers, Butch is the only one that is truly conscious. However, his hallucinations is much more dangerous, as he proved to be a hazard to both others and himself. To make matters worse, he had not slept since he came to consciousness. Thus alone among his brothers, he was bound within an Antidote X restraining device. As the Sandman digested the information, Blossom looked on and started wandering in her thoughts.

Blossom in particular is disturbed by the thousand-yard stare of Butch's jadeite eyes, as she had never seen such a detached stare before, as if it is peering through her soul for the sins that she had done. Blossom is reminded by Nietzsche's word that if one gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into remembered where the line is from, and she remembered that the line before mentioned about those who fights with monsters might take care lest they thereby become a monster. But in her mind, Butch is no monster nor an abyss. Butch is a living being created by an extraordinary circumstance, and his flawed upbringing is exarcebated by the cruelties of the real world. She honestly wished she can hug Butch and say that everything is going to be alright like the time they did so in the infirmary. He just need someone to give him the warmth hos soul needs.

 _Blossom, this is not the time to think about that,_ Blossom shakes her head to snap herself out of her thoughts. She noticed that the Sandman is now conversing with her sisters. It took Blossom a while to know what they were talking about; Red Candy.

"They have this sickly sweet stench that is rather repulsive for us and the boys." Buttercup explained.

"If I were to say the exact smell, it is like the mix between a highly sweetened artificial cotton candy mixed with fragrant apples, burned sandalwood, fragrant bougainvillea, ripe peaches, and the weird metallic smell of gold." Bubbles added and the figure's half-closed eyes are now opened wide. Bubbles and Buttercup looked at each other before the dark-haired girl asked the Sandman.

"Um...what did we say?" Buttercup asked.

"Ah'm surprised you girls are able to pick up the smell in the first place. Normal mortals can't smell emotions." The Sandman strokes his beard as he mentioned the point as if it is the most obvious reasoning there is.

"The what now?" Bubbles was caught a little offguard by the exhausted-looking Blossom aught offguard by the Sandman's answer.

"Emotions? What the hell?" Buttercup is definitely wondering if the Sandman is just going off on a tangent.

"Hm...it'll be hard to explain. It's like explainin' colors to a blind person. But, they ain't plain, and they've got on it a special season."

"Great, so we found out that we can smell emotions...whoopie. Him sure outdid itself this time." Buttercup sighed. The Sandman is visibly shaken by the very mention of the effeminate demon's Sandman shook his head in lament, as if stating that he should not had taken up this task.

"Him's bad business...Ah ain't wanna be a part of messiness ."

"Say what!?" Buttercup shouted, causing the Sandman to jumped out of its bed before landing back in it. The Sandman saw the displeasure and disbelief of the green Powerpuff Girl.

"Ah...Ah don't want no trouble in my life. But Ah want to be at peace." The Sandman said out truthfully, and the Powerpuff Girls saw their only chance of helping the Rowdyruff Boys slipping with every second. The Sandman felt a pull from his sleeping gown and he turned to see Bubbles looking at him in the eye with her pleading zircon eyes.

"So you can't help us?" Bubbles asked, her voice having a slight tremor of sadness in her tone.

The Sandman is hardpressed to refuse such sad and beautiful eyes asking him for help. He turned towards Buttercup and he too saw that the toughest Powerpuff Girl's lips are trembling despite showing everyone a strong front. As Buttercup's peridot eyes waters up a little, she slowly closed her eyes before turning away from the Sandman. His answer it seems is much more hurtful to the girls than he thought. Blossom puts her hand on Bubbles' shoulder, and the blonde Powerpuff Girl is now looking at her rose-eyed sister.

"It's okay girls. We can't force someone to help us if they don't want to. We need to respect his decision. Come on girls, let's go." Blossom said with a downbeat voice. The reddish-brown haired girl turned towards Buttercup's location, and after a few moments, Buttercup faced her sister. Buttercup's eyes are red, and it appeared that she is holding up her tears. The green-eyed Powerpuff Girl wiped her eyes and walked towards her sister. The three Powerpuff Girls soon levitated upwards, and as the Sandman watched, the three girls flew out from the gap in the ceiling.

"Well, that didn't feel good." The Sandman said to himself.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.30pm]

"Well, that's a whole lot of nothing."

Buttercup is not in a good mood, and Blossom and Bubbles can tell. A large bag of Lay's potato chips is in Buttercup's embrace, and as she took every bite of the chips, she cursed and grumbled. Blossom knew how frustrated her sister is, but she dare not say anything for it is she who suggested meeting the Sandman in the first place. False hopes are infinitely worse than despair, for it made people's heart leap for a moment in joy before plunging them down deeper into the abyss. As for Bubbles, she is now hugging Octy tightly on her bed and being very silent.

"At least we tried Buttercup." Bubbles said softly, and Buttercup was about to say something but instead she held back her tongue. Buttercup scratches her head in frustration, and only realized a moment later that she used the hand dirtied by the artificial flavoring of the Lay's chips to scratch her head. Buttercup groaned, and she puts the bag of chips on her bed before she heads to the bathroom with a tower in her hand.

"I'm taking a shower." Buttercup said before closing the door with a slam. Blossom jumped a little at the sound of the slamming door, but Bubbles did not even react to the sound at all. The sound of the water showering down can be heard from inside the bathroom, and Blossom decided to get up from her bed and sit on Bubbles' bed.

"There, there. We'll figure something out." Blossom hugged her sister, and Bubbles leans on Blossom's chest while holding Octy in her arms. Bubbles sniffles a little before a small sob can be heard. Blossom pats her sister on the shoulders to console her, and offering her chest for her sister to do whatever she wants to do with them (and she hope that it will not be filled with snot and saliva from any excessive crying). Blossom rests her head on Bubble's head, and hoped that it helps.

"But...what can we do?" Bubbles whimpered, and Blossom have nothing to say to her sister. Instead she opted to pat her sister's head and tightened her hug around her sister.

Meanwhile, Buttercup is standing in the shower before her lips pouts and she slowly close her eyes. The water continue to flow over her naked body on the shower while the steam continues to surround the whole bathroom. Buttercup shoulder's slumped down, and Buttercup's head is facing down as the water rained down on her head. Buttercup breathe in deeply, but she felt a lump in her throat which made her breathing a little difficult. Buttercup slammed her first on the walls of the shower.

"Damn it.." Buttercup cursed softly as she lets the water runs down her face.

* * *

[Sandman's Sanctum, unknown time]

Despite the return of peace and quiet in his sanctum, but the Sandman's heart is anything but peaceful. The Sandman could not believe that the three little rascals had also turned into three very stunning young women, and showing him their vulnerable natures. The Sandman felt that the fates had given him an unfair situation to face, and he decided that he needs a cup of water down his throat. He can't possibly sleep if he's filled with worries. The Sandman snaps his fingers, and a glass of water soon appear. Grabbing the floating glass of water from the air, the old man gulped it all down in one shot.

"Damn Powerpuff Girls...they really don't give an old man like me any rest huh?" The Sandman lamented as he snaps his fingers once more and rests on the rocking chair he had summoned up. As he rocked on the chair, he can't help but to imagine the faces of the Powerpuff Girls once more in his mind. Save for Blossom, the other two girls are visibly distraught, and that is something he is not used to seeing with his eyes. The joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls being so sad and the toughest fighter of the Powerpuff Girls being so vulnerable.

"Filled with regrets, Sandman?" A voice interrupted the Sandman's thoughts. Realizing that another person had entered into his sanctum without noticing, the Sandman reminded himself to better increased the security of his sanctum. Sandman turned around the the source of the voice in his sanctum and sees a person in a long-sleeved black trenchcoat with a hood over its head, obscuring the facial features of the person. Both of the stranger's hands are rested in the trenchcoat pockets, and as the stranger takes out one of its hands from the pocket to wave at the Sandman, the old man saw that the hands of the stranger is covered in a matching black glove.

"Who're you and how'd you get in here?" The Sandman snaps his fingers once more, and a pump-action shotgun soon appeared from thin air before the Sandman grabbed in and points it at the stranger. The stranger stopped in its tracks, putting its hand back to the pockets of its trenchcoat.

"Can't we solve things like civilized people?" The stranger speaks out.

"Civilized people don't sneak into another person's home." The Sandman answered before pumping his shotgun, showing that he meant business.

"But you listened to the Powerpuff Girls despite them breaking into your home."

"They don't act suspicious like you!" The Sandman retorted, and the hooded stranger sighed. Taking both hands from its pockets, the stranger soon pulled its hood back and revealed its face to the old man of slumber, and the Sandman's eyes opened wide at the sight of the individual.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The Sandman asked, for he recognized who the stranger is. The mysterious figure chuckled before walking closer towards the rocking chair.

"Now that you know who I am, I would like to make an offer you can't refuse."

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, Night time]

 _It is late at night, and the lights in the Powerpuff Girls room are turned off. The three girls are sleeping in the same bed, for they desired the company of one another for this one night. As the unconscious blanket tug of war happened throughout the night, we are shown what each of the girls are wearing when they sleep. Blossom is clad in a light pink short-sleeved pajama, revealing her midsection whenever she turned around. Bubbles on the other hand is wearing a frilly nearly-translucent one piece white night sleep dress, and Buttercup is just wearing an undershirt with spaghetti string shoulder straps dropping down her shoulders and fitting female boxers._

 _What I would give to be lying in bed with and-Ahem._

 _Sorry about that._

 _The Narrator can always dream right? And no, the FBI will not get me as I am needed to continue on narrating._

 _Anyway, suggestive images aside, as they slept on their eyes started to move rapidly under their eyelids as if they were in a dream of sorts. What could be going on in their minds as they fell asleep? Let us see shall we?_

 _Let's see here...forming some thought bubbles here...a little fluff there, and voila!_

 _Thought balloons form above the Powerpuff Girls' heads, and as they slowly merge into a single large balloon, in which the girls appear, floating against the white background. They looked at each other, an expression of surprise on their faces. Their voices echo slightly, as if they are speaking to each other across an empty stage._

* * *

"Hey, what are you two doing in one of my dreams?" Buttercup asked, perplexed that her sisters are in the same dream as her.

"We're all in each other's, or so it seems." Bubbles answered, resting her cheeks on her index finger. Blossom on the other hand recognized the dream for what it is.

"Girls, we're doing it again. We're dream-travelling again." Blossom explained, and as she looked at herself and her sisters, she realized that they are all clad in their sleeping outfits. The reddish-brown haired girl never really understood this power of theirs for they had only used it once against the Sandman, and never come to use it again. Why did it take their exact outfit into the dream world is something she will never know.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that we got this power!" Bubbles said excitedly.

"Yeah, me too." Buttercup said with a smirk on her face.

"But why are we using that power now?" Blossom voiced out her concern.

"Hey guys, this is like that time when we fought against the Sandman!" Bubbles voiced out the obvious, and Blossom rolled her eyes instinctively. Bubbles noticed her sister's reaction and she pouts in annoyance before slapping her sister in the arm.

"Ouch!" Blossom cried out in pain from the slap that her pigtailed, blue-eyed sister inflicted on her.

"Ouch?" Buttercup asked. Blossom did not get Buttercup's question initially, until she realized that she had just felt pain in her dreams. Buttercup smirked again when Blossom realized this fact. Blossom hates it when one of her sisters is better on the uptake of things as compared to her.

"Huh. That's really odd. You felt pain." Bubbles points out the obvious once more.

"So...this is not like the dream thing we had when we were kids." Blossom's mind started to move once more, the cogs within her head trying to figure out what is going on with all of them.

"You'd be right lil' Blossom." A grouchy, gruff man's voice is heard, and the Powerpuff Girls turned around to see a sleep-deprived man in a sleeping gown and a night cap looking at them with reddened gray eyes.

"Sandman?" The Powerpuff Girls said at once, and the old wizened man bowed.

"Yeah, the one and only, but I did not expect you all to sleep so slowly." The old mythical being jested.

As the Sandman looked at the Powerpuff Girls, he realized that the three little urchins that had once caused him a fright are now grown young women with some amazing bodily assets. He clearly did not expect to see them in their sleeping outfit. Blossom's outfit is the most plan and unassuming of all, but her loose and flowing hair is particularly elegant and her slim and slender figure shows through her clothes. Bubbles on the other end is a much more sensual figure, her shoulder-length hair resting on her shoulders while wearing a near translucent single piece frilly night dress, showing her rather shapely breasts and white panty. The Sandman tried to look away from Bubbles only to come face to face with Buttercup in her spaghetti-string shoulder strap, with one strap falling off her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Buttercup finally asked, and the Sandman is glad that he will be able to look at some other place than their bodies.

"Well, Ah got my reasons." The Sandman said without revealing too much.

"Wait... if you're here...that means you'll help us?" Bubbles asked.

"Ah guess s-" Suddenly the Sandman's face is buried within two soft and plump objects and the old man soon realized that his head is now in between Bubbles' breast. He felt a pressure from behind his head as the Powerpuff girl embraced him tightly into her chest.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Bubbles is overjoyed that the Sandman is helping them, and the Sandman is also somewhat overjoyed for he is now having a blissful sensation. However the blissful sensation soon turn into a suffocating nightmare as he realized that he can't breathe. Fortunately for him, Buttercup managed to pull the man away from her sister's embrace before he was smothered to death.

"So...since you're helping us...can we get them out? Like how we got out from your plot last time?" Buttercup asked as she leans forward, and her undershirt drooped down a little. The Sandman immediately realized what he had just seen, for the toughest Powerpuff Girl may not be wearing any lingerie, and seeing her with her fitting boxers really made him wonder how did these girls all grew up so quickly. He decided to look at her in the eyes less he ends up dead.

"Well, you ain't da masters of their dreams, and nothin' as it seems." The Sandman informed the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"What do you mean by that?" Blossom asked, perplexed by his words.

"Let me show you 'round, and perhaps you'll understand what's happenin' on the ground." The ground under the Powerpuff Girls and the Sandman soon lights up in a bright blue-ish purple glow and soon they are all enveloped in a pillar of light. The Sandman soon started chanting and the Powerpuff Girls soon realized that they are now in one of those magic rituals.

 _Exit Light, Enter Light..._

 _Grain Of Sand..._

 _Exit light, Enter night,_

 _Take my hand,_

 _We're off to Never Never-land._

The old man turned away from the Powerpuff Girls and snap his fingers. The girls were caught by surprise as they all appeared in a rather dark and cloudy area, lightning striking out from the clouds to break the monotony of the darkness once in a while. A stark environment than the pure white background that they just came from.

"Where are we?" Blossom asked.

"This place's where nightmares and night terror are born. Look up, and see what's airborne." The fatigued old man pointed upwards towards the clouds. As the three Powerpuff Girls traced the direction that the Sandman is pointing at with their eyes, they were soon met with an unbelievable sight. Three large orbs are hovering above them, and each orb has filaments of energy hitting the inner part of the orb while the outer layers are continuously being struck by the lightning emanating from the dark clouds above.

"What is that?" Bubbles asked.

"Those orbs are not toys. These are your boys." The Sandman answered, causing the three Powerpuff Girls to turn their attention towards the old hunched man.

"What the hell? You're telling me that they're those three darn orbs?" Buttercup pointed at the orbs while facing her sisters, her voice showing her disbelief.

"More like what's inside them." Blossom points out and Buttercup squinted her eyes before she realized that there is a human-like figure within the core of each of the spheres. Buttercup lowered her arm down, and continued to look at her sisters and the Sandman, clearly expecting an answer from them. However, Blossom is now unusually quiet as she looked up at the three orbs in the sky.

"How do we even get to them?" Bubbles asked the question that is in the Powerpuff Girls' mind, but Blossom and Buttercup refused to voice out.

"It's easy to get in, but the chances of gettin' out is rather thin! Ah can't join you in this plan, but Ah'll can help you ram in there like a van!" The Sandman explained, and with another snap of his fingers, the girls are enveloped in an translucent orb. The orbs are slowly floating up, and as the Powerpuff Girls struggled to get out from the orb the Sandman waved at the trapped girls.

"Wait, what are we supposed to do!?" Blossom voiced her thoughts and the Sandman smiled at them.

"That's a thin' you girls need to find out, for you girls need to go all out." Before the girls could ask the Sandman further, the three Powerpuff Girls are propelled towards the orbs with breakneck speed. The acceleration of the orbs forced them to be pulled backwards on the walls of the orb, causing them to grit their teeth. As each of the translucent orbs made contact with the larger orbs in the sky, the filaments of energy coursed through the surface of the orbs causing the orbs to merge. Soon, the smaller orbs faded into the larger orbs seamlessly.

As the Sandman watched, another figure soon appeared next to the Sandman.

"Everything's in order I assume?" The figure asked, causing the Sandman to turn around.

"Yeah, everything's like the deal, and Ah hope that you'll not squeal." The Sandman answered, his voice filled with unease.

"Fair enough. I'll leave the girls to you." The figure turned around and as the Sandman watched, the figure waved its hand to bid farewell before fading away into the darkness. The Sandman turned his attention back to the three orbs in the sky, and hoped that whatever he had agreed to will all work out for both himself and the Powerpuff Girls.


	48. Chapter 48: Caught In A Dream

Chapter 48: Caught In A Dream

"What is this place?"

Blossom remembered that she was shot towards the orbs in the clouds, and now she finds herself in a location that she is clueless about. She looked down and noticed that she is no longer dressed in her pajamas. Instead, she is now dressed up in a a desert yellow shirt with a dull brownish yellow cargo pants. Somehow for some reason, she is also barefooted.

Blossom is perplexed by her surroundings. She finds herself standing in the middle of a road, surrounded by a war-torn city unlike any other. The streets are littered with debris, dust and rubble and the smell of burning flesh and gasoline filled the air. The buildings are in various stage of destruction, and several of the buildings are ablaze in roiling flames. The burnt-out wrecks of vehicles of all kinds from bicycles to main battle tanks can be seen sporadically on the streets, while several craters on the streets are filled with water. The most unusual aspect of the city however is the lack of any human being, for there is not a single soul spotted in this city.

"Seriously...where's everyone?" Blossom looked around and take her first step in this surreal environment. However as she landed her foot on the ground, a gunshot sound can be heard and the ground at the tip of the foot that just landed sprout out from the ground. Blossom immediately tries to pinpoint the sound, and as soon as she spotted where the shot originated from, she went on to fire her eye beams at the sniper's location.

But nothing came out from her eyes.

"Oh shoot!" Blossom realized that something is wrong and immediately ran for cover. Several more shots missed the copper-haired teenager as she ran towards the closest building. With a quick rolling jump, she managed to hide behind a wrecked van. Several shots pierced through the van, while other shots ricochet off the dented surface of the van. Blossom is forced to lie down on the ground as the fire intensified. She wondered why her eye beams are not working until she remembered the Sandman's words.

 _Well, you ain't da masters of their dreams, and nothin' as it seems._

"Right...I'm not in a normal dream." Blossom reminded herself, and she noticed that the gunfire had stopped. As soon as she realized that the incoming fire had stopped, she rise up and lean on the wrecked vehicle. Blossom takes in a breathe of deep air, relieved that the firing had stopped for the time being. However, her relief was short-lived as she heard another chorus of fire from a distance. However, she heard another chorus of fire and she realized that the sniper and whatever it is that the sniper is shooting at are engaged in a firefight. Slowly and surely, the gunfire between the two sides are getting closer, and she wonder if it will stop and leave her in peace.

A skidding sound and a loud thud beside her dashed Blossom's hope, for it informed Blossom that she had unexpected turned around to see a person wearing a checkered black and white scarf wrapped around the person's head and neck, with a goggles covering the eyes. The person appeared to be a very young person, but upon closer inspection Blossom noticed that the young person is wearing a bandolier of grenades and holding an assault rifle. Blossom is reminded of Middle Eastern militias as she observed the young man reloading his rifle.

 _Right, how can I be this oblivious? This is a Middle Eastern warzone,_ Blossom figured out why the scene is particularly familiar, and she recalled that she had seen these kinds of scenes from the news when they reported political instability in the Middle East. As Blossom looked at her unexpected guest, she noticed that the person appeared to be someone no older than twelve years old at least. The young person turned her attention to Blossom and started to speak to Blossom in Arabic. The person's voice being a rather youthful but rough boy's voice, and the manner in which he is speaking to Blossom felt rather rude. Blossom may not be as omniglot like her sister, but she knew if someone is chastising her for being here.

"Excuse me? I'm not here because I want to!" Blossom cried out loud, surprising the young fighter.

"You're American?" The young fighter asked the Powerpuff Girl, and Blossom recognized the accent as an American accent.

"Yeah?" Blossom answered the young boy with a perplexed look. Blossom begin to wonder if being American would be the difference between life and death in this forsaken place. The young boy is now looking at Blossom, and she wondered what's going on. The boy takes his goggles off, and two pristine jade eyes looked back at her. For some reason, Blossom find the eyes looking at her particularly soothing but she had no idea why it was so soothing in the first place.

"Sorry to break it to you lady, but you should've left Aleppo when you had the chance!" The young man said to Blossom as he edges his rifle from the corners of the wreck and fired his rifle at the general direction of the sniper's location in controlled burst.

"Like I can-" Blossom tried to explain, but she soon felt a pull on her arm. She noticed that the boy's eyes are frantic and there is a sense of urgency.

"No time to explain! RUN!" Before Blossom can even say anything, she felt a pull on her arm, and within seconds the two individuals are now running for their lives as more gunfire peppered down upon them. As Blossom looked back, she noticed that there is a trail of smoke flying towards the wrecked van, and soon the van burst into flames. The shockwave of the explosion caused the Powerpuff Girl and her unlikely savior to be hurled into another building. Blossom grazed her arms and legs on the ground as she skidded on the rubble, and soon the sound of rising whistling in the air is heard before the thunderous sound of explosions erupted around them. Blossom closed her eyes as she felt a coat of dust raining down on her, and her surroundings trembling with every explosion.

"JUST STAY DOWN LADY!" The young boy yelled out.

"I AM STAYING DOWN!" Blossom yelled back as she covered her head with her arms. For Blossom, being vulnerable like a normal human being is a particularly harrowing experience, and she wonder if this moment will be her last.

The accompanying sounds of whistling sounds and loud explosions continued on with the sound of pulverizing masonry. The cacophony of sounds only stopped after a few minutes later, and the silence of the empty city is once more permeating throughout the area. As Blossom rise up, she is utterly covered in dust and sand, and she pats them off her body. As Blossom looked out, her eyes spotted several large craters where the wrecked van was present moments before.

"Whoa." Blossom is unable to contain her relief for that is one of the closest calls she had as the devastation brought forth against them is enough to convince Blossom that if she is not careful in this dream world, she would meet her end very quickly.

"Whew, you're real lucky lady. If I'm not around, you're be dead."

"Thanks-" Blossom turned around to thank her savior, but as the boy pulled down the the cloth wrapping the lower half of his face, Blossom's mind soon flared up as the facial features of the boy surprised Blossom enough that she froze for a moment. As the boy pats the dust off his shoulders, he realized that Blossom is now looking at him. The boy soon felt uneasy at the continuous stare of the Powerpuff Girl.

"Um...Is there something wrong? Am I injured?" The boy asked as he looked around his legs and his back to check for injuries. At that moment, Blossom voiced out the reason for her surprise.

"Butch?"

* * *

Buttercup finds herself in a club, but this is not exactly a club she is familiar with.

The club setting appears to be from another age, as the decoration of the club is particularly old-fashioned, lamps with metal shades strung with beads lighting up the club in a dramatic manner, and on each table rests a specially designed brass lamp with beaded shade. Carved and inlaid wooden screens, tables and chairs add decorative touches reminiscent of furniture that Buttercup find in antique shops. In addition, the club is full of tile and wood work representing opulent French colonial design. Intricate zellige tile patterns accenting the fireplaces and the risers of the central stairway while tadelakt in muted colors cover walls throughout the club, and the floors are set in hand made terra cotta tile.

The music permeating in the club is also much more classier, for at the side of the stage an ensemble consisting of trumpets, trombones, clarinets and saxophones with a drummer and pianist are playing the night away, providing the accompaniment to the dancers on the dance floor. The sound of their music is a little hectic and playful, with a syncopated sound that gives the music being played in the club a frantic but beautifully controlled sound. The people dancing on the dance floor are all dressed in a fashion that Buttercup recognized as those from a much older thing that Buttercup finds weird is that her surroundings are in monochrome shades of black, whites and grays like a silent movie. She rubbed her eyes several times to make sure that what she is seeing is not due to something in her eyes.

"Where am I?" Buttercup asked herself as she walked around, clueless about the nature of the world she finds herself in. As she walked around the area, she noticed a large mirror beside her and she turned towards the mirror. To her surprise, she realized that her environment is not the only thing that has changed.

Buttercup is wearing a peculiar style of dress as compared to her undershirt and boxers that oozes old-fashioned. Buttercup's knee-length dress is straight and loose, leaving the arm bare without any strap at all and dropped waistline wrapped by a sash. Her silk stocking is held in place by garters and her feet are covered with black Mary-Jane ankle strap button shoes. Her hair is bobbed with a cloche hat, and her eyes are rimmed with kohl and accentuated by her needle-thin eyebrow penciled in dark and blushed cheeks. A long beaded necklace dangled around her neck, while two bracelets are worn on her wrists.

"Great...just great. I'm wearing a skirt." Buttercup groaned. She hated wearing skirts and looking girlish, and now she is faced to face with the two things that she hated.

"Lookin' swell, Lady!" A passerby said followed by a catcall. Buttercup blushed for a moment, before she felt a sense of annoyance. She was about to give the passerby a piece of her mind until she reminded herself of the Sandman's words.

 _Well, you ain't da masters of their dreams, and nothin' as it seems._

Buttercup breathed in deeply, before exhaling out. Buttercup reminded herself that she is now in a world with laws that she is not aware of yet, and she is forced to hold herself back. Buttercup bit her lip as another man catcalled her, for it is hard for the proud Powerpuff Girl to swallow her pride. She decided that it will be a good time to find a place for herself to sit down and observe this world better. Buttercup walked towards the closest table to the center of the club, hoping to get the best vantage point for her observations.

As Buttercup approached the chair, one of the waiters in a white dinner suit and a bowtie pulled the chair and gestured her to sit down. Buttercup takes up the offer and takes a seat, while leaning her legs to one side. Buttercup is particularly uncomfortable with the dress, for she had not worn any dress since she was allowed to wear pants at the age of seven and never looked back. Also, wearing a skirt made her feel more vulnerable as she needs to be aware of the angles of her legs when she sits down to prevent people from seeing her underwear.

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure miss. Any giggle water for you?" The man asked, and Buttercup had no idea what the waiter just said.

"I'm fine with a juice. Any juice will do." Buttercup informed the waiter, and the waiter bowed before walking away. Buttercup looked around, looking for more clues about the place that she is in right now. The band ensemble played several more tunes, each varying in intensity and complexity. Buttercup could not help herself in being absorbed into the music, as there is nothing much to do. The waiter soon returned and puts a glass before her, and Buttercup can smell the liquor in the drink.

"Wait...I ordered juice didn't I?" Buttercup asked the waiter, as she recalled that she did not order any alcoholic drink.

"Yes miss, you did. " The waiter said without any hesitation. Buttercup then realized that 'juice' may be a lingo for a type of liquor.

"Thank you." Buttercup thanked the man, and the waiter soon went on his way to serve his other customers.

 _I need to be really careful of what I say here_ , Buttercup takes a mental note as the slang of the period is something she needs to be aware of. If Bubbles was here with her, perhaps she could understand the slang that were used by the people in this dream world. But Buttercup understood that her sisters may also be experiencing the same problems with their own world as well. Buttercup turned her attention towards the dance floor and saw that the people are dancing in a manner that she only see in very old black-and-white movies accompanied by a very lively syncopated but instrumentally exciting music piece being played by the big band at the side of the stage. Buttercup finds herself enjoying the music a little more than she would like, despite not knowing the genre of music well.

"Hey there doll, wanna ring-a-ding-ding?" A grouchy voice snaps her from her musical enjoyment, and she comes face to face with a rough-looking man. The man is clad in a dark gray suit with white horizontal lines, with a white shirt within and a black tie. His fedora hat had the same pattern as his clothes, with a white band wrapping around the base of the hat. His face is toad-like with pencil thin moustache resting on his lips, eliciting a particular sense of atavistic roughness that can be best described as unsavoury to the Powerpuff Girl.

"Get lost." Buttercup is not planning to entertain this man, especially when she can't understand him at all.

"C'mon doll, you look real bored." The man reached for Buttercup's hands, but Buttercup immediately grabbed his finger and pulled it backwards, causing the man to yelp out in pain.

"I mean it." Buttercup is visibly ticked off, but she decided to let go of the man's finger.

"You're one hell of a bearcat. But I'll teach you a lesson in manners." The man suddenly grabbed Buttercup by the wrist, and Buttercup decided that the man had asked for it. In a swift and fluid motion, Buttercup grabbed the drink she had order and slammed the glass into the man's head, causing the glass to shatter, the cut from the glass and also the sting of the alcohol on his wounds made the man screamed out in pain. The man let go of her wrist, and Buttercup soon realized that the man is not alone. Several other men stood up from the tables around her and she knew that this will be a very messy situation. As if to accentuated the severity of the situation, the ensemble stopped playing causing everyone to turn their attention towards Buttercup and the men.

"No one hurts the boss. Not even a dame like you." One of the men walked up to Buttercup, and Buttercup decided to stand up from her chair. She knows that if anything happens, at least she is already set to run away. She moved one of her arm slowly towards the bottom of the table and the other towards the chair, preparing herself for the worse situation.

"Well, glad to be the first then." Buttercup retorted, but she knew that she is outnumbered by ten to one, if she excludes their toad-faced friend on the ground rolling around in pain.

Buttercup is now observing her surroundings, seeing how she can get out from this slowly deteriorating situation that she had put herself into. Flying would be convenient if she could fly. She tried for a moment, but soon come to terms that for some reason she is unable to fly. Buttercup decided to assume that she can't use any of her powers either, and is now relying on her own body and reflexes for combat. She smirked, knowing that training with Antidote X allowed her to know her non-superpowered limits.

The other men are now slowly surrounding her, and each one of them are ready to pounce at the slightest command. Buttercup decided that she will not wait for that to happen. Buttercup hurled the chair at one of the hoodlums, causing the chair to break up contact with the hoodlum. Distracted by the sudden attack ,Buttercup moved her other arm under the table and flipped it upwards, blocking their line of sight. The upturned table soon started moving, and one of the thugs managed to react and give the command.

"Get her!"

The upturned table soon started to pick up speed and the hoodlums are now chasing after the table. The ensuing chaos caused the club to enter into a state of pandemonium. As clubgoers run away from the spinning table, the frustrated thugs pushed the crowd away in their attempt to get to Buttercup. For some inexplicable reason, the band continued playing back as if they needed to accompany the ensuing chase with their brand of music.

"I know this song!" Buttercup recognized the tune as 'Anything Goes'. Buttercup however finds herself struggling to run and she decided that the skirt needs to have some 'modifications'. As she continued running she grabbed the sides of her skirt and ripped it, allowing her to have better mobility. She rolled the table hard enough for it to have the momentum to move on while she continued to tear at the other side of her skirt. Being able to move as freely as she wanted, she smiled knowing that she is ready to execute her next improvised part of her plan. With a smooth flow of movement, Buttercup ducked low enough for her to safely roll under one of the tables and hide under the table.

"Damn broad!" As the thugs continued to chase the rolling table that continued rolling out from the dance hall, they failed to realized that the Powerpuff Girl is no longer behind the table.

"Dumbasses." Buttercup snickered as she crawled out from under the table. However, she stopped in front of a pair of legs in the midst of the chaotic situation. She cursed as she is not expecting one of the goons will be left behind to see if she is still in the club. A boyish chuckle from the figure in front of her Buttercup caught her off-guard as she recognized the laughter.

"Those are some nice moves, gal." The soft-spoken voice of the man sounded more like a whisper, and the man offered her a hand. Buttercup looked up and she saw a young man with a slickly combed hair and boyish androgynous facial features looking down upon her in a horizontally lined light gray shirt with folded sleeves and a dark grey vest and trousers. As she grabbed on his hand, she is unable to suppress her smile. Once the young man pulled her up, Buttercup finally voiced out her thoughts.

"Boomer!" Buttercup called out, glad that she had found a familiar face in this weird dreamworld.

"Wait...how'd you know me?" The young man asked Buttercup back. Buttercup then realized that this is going to be a really awkward situation. Before she can explain herself, a loud yell can be heard piercing through the whole dance hall.

"HEY THE BROAD'S OVER THERE!"

Both Buttercup and the young man turned around to see that the thugs had just reentered the dance hall, and this time they are armed with submachine guns. Buttercup immediately grabbed on the young man's arm and started running. The Boomer-lookalike was pulled along and soon both Buttercup and the Boomer-lookalike are now running in the same direction. The thugs immediately opened fire, and now Buttercup and her unwitting running partner are now trying to run and also dodge the flying bullets. As she looked around for a place to get out from the building, she saw a window next to a bunch of tables and chairs. Seeing her chance, she pulled him over and make a run towards the window.

"Wait, where are you going?!" The man asked the Powerpuff Girl as the raven-haired girl picked up her speed.

"No time Boomer, let's get out of here!" Buttercup's attention is now on the window in front of her, and the young man realized that the woman is planning to crash through the window.

"Wait hold on, hold on, HOLD O-OOOOOOOOOMMMMMMAAAIIIIIIIGAAAAWWWWWDDDD!" The man cried out as Buttercup covered her head with one of her arms and broke through the window with the young man in tow. As the shards of glass shatter outwards, the two teenagers are descending downward and the asphalt road below is now coming closer to both their view. Buttercup closed her eyes and hoped that somehow it will all work out.

Fortunately for the black-haired girl, she suddenly felt a soft but rough sensation wrapping around her as she sinks into the weird surface. She slowly opened her eyes and soon found herself in a bed of hay. She turn towards her unwilling partner and his eyes are now wide open with fear and relief. Boomer patted himself on his chest and also his stomach and after looking around to know where he is, the young man with the fair eyes and hair scolded the raven-haired girl as they lie down on a truck filled with hay.

"YOU'RE LOONY YOU KNOW THAT?!" Boomer yelled at Buttercup, causing her to jerk back in response.

"Better that than being dead I guess." Buttercup answered the sand-blond teenager as she pats away the hay on her dress.

* * *

"Huh, I'm no longer wearing my sleeping gown."

Bubbles looked at her white dress that replaced her gown before she found herself surrounded by a blood-covered savannas as far as the eye can see. The skies above her are as red as the savannah below with black clouds breaking the monotony of the red monochrome color. Bubbles recognized this particular landscape as that of Brick's mind, for the intimidating atmosphere is very similar to Brick's own.

"Huh...it kind of make sense." Bubbles said to herself. The savanna really matches Brick's predatory presence, for it is both majestic and also wild as Brick's own personality. As she toiled through the thick red grassland, she wondered if she will be able to find Brick. After what seemed like a protracted amount of time, Bubbles finally reached the end of the savanna.

What greeted the eyes of the Powerpuff Girl is a vast white sand dune which contrast starkly with the red landscape, with mangled and mutilated bodies scattered across the dune with weapons sticking out like tombstones for the fallen. She looks up to find that the skies are darkening above her, giving a rather ominous sign. The skies above her hummed with dull thunder sounds, and Bubbles decided to enter the sand dune. As she took her first step on the sand dune, several lightning bolts struck some of the weapons littering the dune. Bubbles jumped at the loud lightning strikes, clearly caught by surprise.

"This place is messed up." Bubbles said as her unease about this dreamscape grew with every moment. Soon enough Bubbles felt a few droplets of liquid hitting her face. The pigtailed Powerpuff Girl looked up to see even more droplets of water drizzling down on her. As she wiped the droplets off her face, she realized that the droplets are particularly warm. She turned her palm around to see a streak of dark red liquid on her hand. The metallic smell of the red liquid allowed Bubbles to identify the liquid for what it is; Blood.

"What the-?" Bubbles' surprise was soon cut by the sudden torrential downpour of the red liquid upon the whole dune, soaking the pigtailed girl in blood and as she looked around in shock, the blood downpour soon started to stain the white sands a deep crimson.

A heavy downpour came down upon the battlefield, soaking the pigtailed girl in rain water and as she looked around the blood started to wash off the bodies and stained the white sands a deep crimson. Bubbles started running as hard as she can, trying to seek shelter from this freak phenomenon. She continued on running as she looked around for shelter. It was not long before she saw a mesa in her sights, and she decided that the mesa may have some place for her to take shelter from this weather phenomenon. As Bubbles draws closer towards the mesa, she realized that she may have underestimated the size of the mesa. The steep nearly vertical cliffs of the mesa looms above the Powerpuff Girl and she breathed in deeply.

"This sucks." Bubbles cursed, as she is now soaked in blood as she looked up the vast cliffs above her.

"I would agree." Another voice echoed her opinion beside her.

"I mean...it is quite hard to climb up this thing right?" Bubbles answered the voice without much thought.

"Yeah, and it is not easy to hold on the cliff walls when it is wet with this blood rain." The voice once again agreed with her. Bubbles nods her head in agreement. It is very hard to climb a vertical cliff when it is wet, especially when there is no safety harness to hold them if anything goes wrong. The moment when Bubbles' realization of the unknown stranger settled into her consciousness happened in a split second, and she immediately turned around to see a silhouette of pure shadow looking up at the steep mesa cliffs with its pure crimson eyes. Bubbles was about to scream out loud when she realized that the silhouette has the same physical characteristics as Brick. The figure has its arms crossed and its eyes are looking up the cliff to see how to navigate.

"Brick?" Bubbles asked the mysterious figure with a tinge of nervousness.

"Nah, I'm Break or at least what's left. Brick's missing." The figure carelessly answered the pigtailed blonde.

"Wait what?" Bubbles is confused, not expecting this kind of situation to pop up here in this dreamscape . The figure turned around and offered its hand in a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Bubbles. Heard a lot about you."

"Right..." Bubbles takes his hand, and the dark figure shook her hand firmly before letting go.

"Anyway, I found somewhere we can take shelter until this blood rain stops. You're coming right?" Break asked as it points out towards a cave-like crevice in the walls of the cliff and started walking towards the crevice. Bubbles reluctantly followed along, as there is no alternative cover to the blood rain and she doesn't want to be soaked.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 7.30am]

"This is odd..." Professor Utonium said to himself as he takes a look at his watch.

It is now 7.30am in the morning, and it should be about now that he would have seen Blossom coming down the stairs to have her breakfast. Blossom is always the earliest to rise, while her sisters would take a much longer time to get up and prepare themselves for the day. The square-jawed man of science had took the trouble to prepare the girl's favorite breakfast meal of pancakes and waffles today, for he believed that his little girls need all the little motivations that they can get. The last few days had been rather stressful for the girls as the presence of the evil overlord known as Him in the city of Townsville is enough to cause the already strict curfew to become more like a lockdown throughout the whole city. This had caused much interruptions in their social lives, and as budding young women this is slowly taking a toll on their well-being.

"Hm...I should check up on them." Professor Utonium said to himself as he gets up from the chair.

Professor Utonium slowly walks from the kitchen table towards the living room, and he wondered if the girls are perhaps too tired and decided to just sleep in. It happens from time to time, but it is always prudent to check up on the girls. After all, their health is of particular interest to the professor. Due to their unique bodily composition, any illness that the girls experience may mutate into a pandemic of epic proportions and he would hate to have the Powerpuff Girls as 'patient zero' of the virus that wiped out humanity.

The man takes a few steps up the staircase before walking on the hallway towards the Powerpuff Girl's room. The professor decided that he would also activate J.E.E.V.E.S just in case he needed its help.

"How may I be of service, sir?" J.E.E.V.E.S inquired in its British accent.

"Well, I just need you to be on standby, that's all."

"Very well sir." The artificial intelligence acknowledged its role. The professor finally reached the room of the Powerpuff Girls, and knocked on the door gently.

 _Knock-Knock-Knock!_

"Girls, it's time to wake up for school!" Professor Utonium called to the Powerpuff Girls. Seeing that there is no response, the professor decided to knock harder on the door to elicit a response from the Powerpuff Girls.

 _Knock-Knock-Knock!_

"That's odd." Professor Utonium said out loud. He finds it odd that the girls did not respond to him after the three knocks. He tried knocking once more, but once again there is no response. Professor Utonium's unease grows within his chest and he wondered what on earth is going on in there. He rests his ear on the surface of the door to try and pick up any sound from inside the room.

"Girls? GIRLS!" Professor Utonium hollered from the top of his lungs. But still no response from inside the room. That is the exact problem. There is _no_ response. Usually the Powerpuff Girls would give him a response no matter what, even if they are very ill. If they are ill, he would usually hear a very weak and agonized sound calling out to him. Looks like this is not a normal situation at all.

"Shall I open the door, sir?" J.E.E.V.E.S asked Professor Utonium for his consent to open the door. Professor Utonium nodded his head, and the door to the Powerpuff Girl's room swings open. Professor Utonium entered into the room and he noticed that his three little angels are all sleeping in one bed, Blossom's bed. He switched on the lights in the room, and as soon as the room is lit up Professor Utonium draws closer to the slumbering Powerpuff Girls.

"Girls?" Professor Utonium called to his girls as he finally reached the bed. The Powerpuff Girls are lying in their bed in a state of utter rest. Professor Utonium slowly puts his fingers on Blossom's neck, followed by Bubbles' neck and lastly Buttercup's neck. He realized that something is very odd with their pulse, for it is much much lower than usual. The professor looked at his girls to discern what is going on with his girls, his heart pounding faster with every second. He then noticed something unusual about his girls and he called out to his artificial intelligence system.

"J.E.E.V.E.S, give me a status report on the girl's vital signs." Professor Utonium puts his finger lightly on the eyelids of the Powerpuff Girls as J.E.E.V.E.S is compiling the information that Professor Utonium had requested from the computer system.

"It appears that they are in a deep REM-Sleep sir, but otherwise it does not look like they are in any serious danger." J.E.E.V.E.E.S answered. However Professor Utonium's expression is anything but calm.

"No...they are in trouble alright. They had just used their Dream-traveling powers and they are trapped. Execute Protocol Ninety-Eight."


	49. Chapter 49: Lost In Dreams

Chapter 49: Lost In Dreams

"How'd you know my name?"

Blossom covered her mouth, knowing that she had just blurted out his name. To make matters worse, he is holding a gun and she is devoid of her superpowers. The young boy aimed his rifle at her, and she realized that if she did not do something about the situation, she might get shot by the Rowdyruff Boy,

"I...ur...heard about you. And your brothers...um...are good fighters?" Blossom knows that her attempt to lie is so pathetic that she will be shot for it. Butch's aim is still not moving away from her, and she wondered how will she be able to defuse the situation.

"Butch! You alright?" Two boyish voices called out to the raven-haired tween. Butch and Blossom turned around to see two young person appearing from within the building, and Blossom is surprised once more by the appearance of figures she recognized.

The carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy Brick is wearing his long unkempt hair loose like his younger days as compared to tying it up in a ponytail. The young boy is wearing a vest with multiple pockets, each filled with a clip of ammunition. Behind his back is a long rifle with a hunting scope on it. The camouflaged patterns on Brick's vest and pants is clearly contrasted with the black short-sleeved shirt he is wearing. Behind the leader of the Rowdyruff Boy is the third member of their brotherhood, Boomer's cobalt blue eyes and sand-blonde hair marked him out easily, with Boomer's clothing attire consisting of a bulletproof vest and bandoleer of ammunition clips over a dark blue shirt and light brown pants.

"Brick, Boomer!" Butch called out to his brothers. Blossom soon noticed that Butch lowered his rifle a little. Seeing that there are now three Rowdyruff Boys, Butch lowering his weapon did not lower down the chances of something bad happening to her. With three reckless younger Rowdyruff Boys, anything can go wrong.

"So who's the broad?" Boomer asked, offending Blossom in the process. Blossom glared at the Rowdyruff Boy with such intensity that the blonde balked back.

"I'm no broad, I'm Bl- Blair!" Blossom quickly thought of a name on the spot to prevent herself from blurting out her real name.

"Blair huh?" Brick said dismissively, his condescending manner of addressing her also puts Blossom off.

"At least acknowledge my name damn it!" Blossom yelled at Brick, causing Brick to jump back a little. The long-haired Rowdyruff Boy soon turn towards his black-haired brother for an explanation.

"She knows our names." Butch said to his brothers, and their eyes all lit up immediately. Blossom can sense that knowing their real name is something of a big deal and that is the cause of this whole standoff.

"No one here is supposed to know our real names. No one except her. And this lady is not her." Brick voiced out Blossom's suspicion, and the redhead pointed towards her as he finishes his line.

"But she sure sounds like an American. Maybe she knows us from the news or something. So Blair, where are you from?" Boomer pointed out, and Blossom is glad that Boomer was the one that made that connection. At least now she know she can blather her way if she needs to do so.

"Townsville?" Blossom blurted out, hoping that it all made sense to the three superhumans in the room.

"Ah...that city. Well we did do a lot of things there. People are bound to remember us if they're from that stupid city." Brick realized how 'Blair' would know about their existence. Blossom is glad that somehow the leader's train of though had led down that particular direction. The other brothers looked at each other before they turned their attention to her. Blossom breathed a sigh of relief, as that helped establish her shaky alibi to something plausible.

"So what do we do with her, Brick?" Butch asked his brother.

"Well, just bring her to our camp. She'll know what to do." Brick suggested to his brother before taking his gun from his shoulders and aimed the rifle at Blossom. Blossom is clearly not fond of guns being aimed at her. Especially when she knows that she had lost her superpowers in this world.

"Wait...hold on, what are you doing?" Blossom asked nervously as a sweat flowed down her temple.

"You're coming with us. If you're up to something funny, I'll shoot you myself. That or my brothers will open fire." Brick reasoned with the Powerpuff Girl, and she can tell that Brick is not joking.

Blossom held her hands up high to show the Rowdyruff Boys her submission to their terms. Brick then tilts his head sideways and upwards to gesture to the copper-haired girl to move. Blossom started to turn arou d and she can feel the touch of a tube behind her back. The group then started moving out from the ruined building towards a hole in the wall.

As Blossom and the Rowdyruff Boys moved through the abandoned and damaged buildings, Blossom can see that the Rowdyruff Boys are talking to each other and bonding like how brothers would. There will be times where Butch would pick a banter with Boomer and they both would start fighting before Brick interjects and stop the fight. At other times the three brothers are joking with each other and their laugh is rather contagious,causing Blossom to smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Brick noticed Blossom smiling and prodded the gun at her back. The situation become tense once more and they continued on moving through the makeshift corridors made through the buildings.

Soon enough, Blossom can see a group of armed men guarding what appears to be a checkpoint. The men spots the group and they raise their weapons against them. However when the boys appeared from behind Blossom, the men relaxed their guns. The men and the boys started speaking to each other in Arabic, and it is clear to Blossom that the Rowdyruff Boys and these group of armed men are allies. The boys appear to be asking for directions or whereabouts of something, and the armed men pointed towards a direction. The boys thanked the armed men before moving out once more.

Once they had passed the checkpoint, Blossom comes face to face with an encampment and she can see that the encampment is comprised of many different kinds of people. Children are running around and playing while the elderly are preparing a meal. The women and men however were engaged in various task, from sewing to repairing their weapons. Blossom watched the inhabitants of the camp as she walked past them, amazed at their efforts to normalize their lives despite the conflict. Blossom and the Rowdyruff Boys are now directly in front of a door, and Boomer walks up to the door and knock in a specific manner.

 _One, two. pause. One. two three. Got it_ , Blossom memorized the knocking sequence just in case she need to use it in the future.

"Yes?" A muffled voice is heard over the door.

"Renèe, we've got something for you." Brick informed the person in the room.

Blossom immediately knew who she is about to meet, and as the door to the room opened she is face to face with a young, youthful brunette woman with a fair complexion, braided waist-length hair and sky-blue eyes. Blossom's mind registered the woman with the shapely arms woman for who she is, however unlike the Reneè she knew, the Frenchwoman before her does not have a scar on her face. The Frenchwoman is dressed with a black tank top with suspender strapped over her shoulders, holding her dark brown pants in place, emphasizing her shapely arms and slender frame. The Frenchwoman walks up to Blossom and offered her hand for a handshake.

"Hello, I'm Renèe Delacroix, acting commander of the 54th Free Syrian Army Foreign Volunteers."

"Hi...I'm Blair Keane." Blossom shakes the Frenchwoman's hand, improvising on the spot to prevent any suspicions from setting foot. Satisfied with her introduction,the brunette turned her attention towards the Rowdyruff Boys.

"So...what's this? Mind explaining to me why she's here?" Renèe asked them in a kind but authoritative manner. Blossom can sense the air of authority from the Frenchwoman.

"She know our _real_ names." Butch is the first to voice out his concerns, causing Reneè to raise her eyebrow.

"She said that she's from the same city that we grew up in and have heard us as us, but I still don't trust her." Brick added his point of contention with Blossom's knowledge.

"So if you don't trust her,why did you bring her to me?" Renèe reasoned with the boys,and Blossom understood that they usually do not bring people that they are suspicious of to their base of operations.

"Well, I was thinking that we x=can leave her out there. I-I mean, if she's a spy,would it be more valuable that we interrogate her first?" Brick explained his rationale,and Blossom cursed inwards. If her understanding of movie interrogations were to on point, she will be subjected to some rather grueling torture. This is utterly a very bad situation for her.

"Okay...leave her with me. You are all excused." The female commander said to the Rowdyruff Boys.

"What?!" The three boys cried out at once before each one of the Rowdyruff Boys try to reason with their commander. But with a wave of an arm, Renèe silenced them at once. Blossom had never seen the Rowdyruff Boys being silenced with a wave of an arm, let alone being silenced. The woman stared at them sternly, and the three displeased Rowdyruff Boys walked out from the room,but not before the brunette called out to the last Rowyruff Boy that was about to leave the room.

"Butch,can you close the door for me? And please do it gently, please." The sky-blue eyed commander asked the raven-haired child. Despite his displeasure, Butch complied with her instructions and closed the door gently as he exited the room.

Once the Rowdyruff Boys left the room, the brunette Frenchwoman pulls a chair in front of Blossom. Blossom watches the chair for the moment before turning her attention towards the braided woman. Renèe smiles at Blossom and gesture her to take a seat. Blossom had no reason to refuse the seat,and she sits down on the chair awkwardly. The sky-blued eyed woman takes the pistol that she had holstered on her hip and pulls another chair and turning it around. Renèe sits on the chair facing against Blossom, resting her arms on the backrest of the chair. The woman cocked her gun as her sky-blue eyes of the Frenchwoman gaze into her rose-colored eyes.

"So tell me..."

* * *

[Unknown Location, The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, Unknown Time]

"...Who are you?"

Fennec asked as she gaze down from an elevated walkway towards a twenty-feet container in the heart of the warehouse, surrounded by a circle of runes and incantations drawn on the ground. Several dozen men are guarding the container at the periphery of the circle, each guard surrounding the container restless and uneasy despite being armed with overwhelming firepower. Indeed, it is this feeling of unease that Fennec is here observing the container. Him had personally asked Fennec to look for 'it' in the historical area of Downtown Townsville and to bring it back. But every Lunatic is feeling uneasy over the presence of 'it' for a single reason; 'it' can not be controlled. Taking it into custody had caused the Lunatics several dozen of their men, and it is only through the magic circle that 'it' is contained.

 _For now._

"My guys can't keep this 'thing' here forever." A large, burly man takes his spot beside the braided brunette. As Fennec take notice of the grizzled man with the white hair and beard, the man is looking at the enclosure with a certain amount of unease. If the most battle-hardened Lunatic is feeling a little jittery, it means that this 'thing' within the container is something downright formidable.

"Him had informed that we can let it loose as part of the spearhead." Fennec relayed the orders that she had received from their leader, but she expect a certain amount of resistance from the Russian mobster.

"That thing as part of the spearhead or as _the_ spearhead?" The Russian tried to clarify with the Frenchwoman as he lights up a Cuban cigar in its mouth. As the lighted match meets the cigar, Fennec turns away from the container.

"Just see to it that Operation Luna is in track, Medved." Fennec informed before she walked away from the Russian. The Russian takes a puff of its cigar before looking down upon the container at the heart of the warehouse.

 _This will be a very tough plan to execute_ , Medved thought.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.00am]

Professor Utonium is now monitoring the vitals of both his girls and the Rowdyruff Boys at once. Amazingly their brainwaves are in synch with each other and the square-jawed man clenched his jaw at the discovery. This is not what he was expecting, and he honestly believed that his girls are just being reckless by utilizing that ability of theirs. A knock on the basement door alerted Professor Utonium of the arrival of the other person that cared about the girls and the boys.

"Should I let her in sir?" J.E.E.V.E.S requested for the professor's permission, and Professor Utonium nod his head. The door open gently and a pixie-haired woman with gray eyes and glasses in an office suit stood at the staircase aghast by the development of this situation.

"I came as fast as I can! How are the girls?!" Lilith Morningstar asked as she rushed down the stairs. As she made her way towards the Professor, she looked up towards the monitor and saw the superhumans being bound to their beds. Butch, being the exception, is now talking out loud in his containment chamber.

"So far they are stable, but I don't know for how long." Professor Utonium tried to maintain a sense of calm in the room, but his hands are clenched tight.

"And...the boys?" Lilith's voice is brittle and filled with a looming dread.

"That is where I find their reactions interesting." Professor Utonium zooms in onto Butch, the only one among them that is somewhat awake. The professor turns on the volume for Butch's ward and Lilith and Professor Utonium are now hearing his ramblings.

"Seriously, that woman knows our real name. I think we should not leave her alone with Renee." Butch's face is filled with concern.

"What's...going on?" Lilith pointed out as she observed the odd rambling behavior of the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy. Professor Utonium did not answer the woman and continued observing Butch's erratic ramblings.

"I mean come on, Brick! Isn't it far too convenient that a girl like her so happen to come from Townsville and knew all about us?" Butch suddenly flares up, and his displeasure is obvious for all to see. Both Professor Utonium and Lilith shared glances before turning their attention once more on Butch.

"Boomer...you're right, she does look like a Blossom, if Blossom's as attractive as her. Seriously, I bet that she has some fine- OWH! WHAT'S THAT FOR BRICK!?" Butch cried out loud, and continued on rambling as Professor Utonium finally turned down the volume of the display. The square-jawed scientist soon turn around to face Lilith.

"It seems that his hallucinations started a few hours back, and somehow I believe, against all odds, he had met one of my girls in his hallucination. To make it all particularly odd and interesting, Blossom's brainwaves and Butch's are exactly identical as of this moment. The same can also be said about the others, and this has made me conclude that the possibility of my girls being inside the Rowdyruff Boys' dreams is very, very high."

"You mean they are all sharing the same dream?" Lilith could not believe what she is suggesting to the professor, but the professor closed his eyes and nod once before opening his eyes once more.

"It is very likely. Butch is essentially in a waking dream for wanting of better words, but the other two boys are unconscious since they faced off against Him. I need further study to know why Butch is the only one that is having a hallucination instead of being in a deep state of unconsciousness like his brothers. It will be the key to understanding this big problem." Professor Utonium posited as he watched the neurological activity of Butch and Blossom, and he only got one thought in his mind at that moment.

 _What on earth are you experiencing now Blossom?_

* * *

Blossom and Renèe are now looking at each other in silence.

 _How do I answer that question properly,_ Blossom thought to herself as she stare back at the pair of sky-blue eyes gazing at her. Despite her rather charming exterior, Blossom can sense that the woman is looking at her as if she is a fox ready to bite her throat if she dare say anything that will not satisfy her. It does not help that the woman is now holding a pistol in her arm that can be used to shoot Blossom at any given time. If Blossom had her superpowers, she would scoff off at the bullets from the pistol. But this is not the real world. This is the dream world where the rules of reality are not applicable.

 _Why do normal people get superpowers in their dreams while I get downgraded_ , Blossom thought as she reflected on her current situation.

"So...let me ask again; _who are you_?" Renèe increased the pressure,and Blossom can sense the underlying intimidation.

"My name's Blair Keane and-" Renèe immediately interrupted Blossom before she can complete her cover story.

"That's not what I mean. I want to know what are you doing here." The Frenchwoman's sky-blue eyes are now a little more icier than before.

"I'm lost?" Blossom hoped that it will be the best reply she can use,but she is not that naïve to believe that it will work.

"No foreigner will stay behind unless they are fighting for or against Bashar Al-Assad." Renèe points out and Blossom can see Reneè index finger is slowly moving towards the trigger.

 _Fudge_ , Blossom cursed inwardly.

"So, let me ask more specifically; _Who are you affiliated with_? Jahbat al-Nusra? Peshmerga? Daesh? Al-Quds? Tiger Forces?"

"What if I were to say myself?" Blossom challenged the lady, and the lady seemed to like the unusual response of the Powerpuff Girl. But unknown to the cold-hearted woman, Blossom is near her wits end and was trying out her reverse psychology tactics. She hoped that by antagonizing the woman in front of her, she will get a contrary response. If she fails, Blossom is doomed. But she is willing to risk it all.

"Who dares wins." Renèe smiled as she stood up from her chair, and walked towards Blossom.

With a swift motion, Renèe aimed her pistol at Blossom. Blossom's eye widen at the sight of the barrel, but at the same time she remain it is because of fear or courage,Blossom does not know. The few seconds that passed after that are some of the longest time that Blossom had ever experienced in her life, for she can feel every fiber of her body screaming to react within her, but all she knows is that inaction is the only thing she can do. Blossom's eyes are now looking at the cold ruthless eyes of the woman whom influence shaped the Rowdyruff Boys to the present day.

The sound of the clock ticking in the room is audible to everyone in the room, and every tick of the second hand of the clock only heighten the tension within the room. Reneè looked at the rose-colored eyes of the young woman before her and she is impressed by her courage in this particularly trying time. Despite having a gun aimed at her, the copper-haired girl is still able to look at Renèe without even flinching or begging for her life. The rose-eyed girl may be trembling, but the eyes looking back at her own are eyes of someone that have seen intimidation all her life,but had managed to stand up to it. Not because of bravado or foolhardiness, but because of who she is. Eyes without any deceit or self-interest. Eyes that are crystal clear in what it believe in.

Renèe recognized those eyes for what it is; resolve. The braided brunette breathed in as she lowered her pistol. Blossom was surprised by the sudden deescalation of the situation.

"You win." Renèe breathed out as she pulled back her gun, holstering her firearm back into its holster. Blossom breathed out finally, for she was holding her breath all this time. But between the two, the older woman is the one with the pounding heart. Renèe gave the rose-eyed girl a smile of acknowledgement.

"I will let you stay for a while. But if I see anything suspicious, that will be a bullet in your head. Do you understand?" The Frenchwoman walked towards the door and open it up, only to be faced with three peculiar young boys falling into the room sideways.

"Oh shi-"

"Whoa!"

"Crap!"

"Done eavesdropping boys?" Renèe asked the three individuals as they got up. The three Rowdyruff Boys are nervously looking around before they answered her.

"Yes Ma'am..."

"Good, can you three show her around the place? I need to attend a briefing." Renèe walked past the Rowdyruff Boys and moved away from the three little boys and the teenage girl. The three boys turned their attention to the Powerpuff Girl once the older woman is out of sight.

"Damn! You're one tough lady!" Boomer's voice barely contained his excitement and his cobalt blue eyes are now focused on Blossom.

"Yeah...your heart is real calm." Brick acknowledged Blossom's bravery.

"Seriously, you must have really though you have superpowers or something if you're that calm!" Butch chimed in, and Blossom admittedly agreed with the raven-haired boy. Somehow, her time of crime-fighting had honed something in her that allowed her to function in such a situation, and believe that she will make it through no matter what. But Blossom really need to remember that in this dream, she is not the Blossom that she know. In this dream, she is Blair Keane, the normal American teenage girl.

"Heh...I honestly thought I was a goner." Blossom smiled nervously. She felt her arm being pulled and to her surprise, Brick is now leading her out of the room.

"Come on! We're show you the cool stuff!" Brick said in an excited manner, and soon dragged the copper-haired girl. His strength caused her to unwillingly follow his lead and soon she is trailing behind the carnelian-haired child.

"Yeah!" The two other Rowdyruff Boys cheered, and soon the three little boys and their teenage charge are now moving out.

Blossom could not help but to think of the three little boys before her as being rather adorable, three very excited and hyper little Rowdyruff Boys. If it were not for the fact that she knew who they were and where she is, she would had never thought anything else about the three Rowdyruff Boys. But these boys are child soldiers, and they are in one of the worst war zones of the twenty-first century. The situation around them appear to be somewhat dire, as bandaged men and women are a common fixture as much as the guns that they carry. However, she can see that they are all trying to live despite their horrid situation and Blossom can only marvel at the resilience of these people. Many of the men and women appeared to be non-Arabs, and Blossom is reminded of Brick telling her of unit that the Rowdyruff Boys and Renèe were stationed in. The same sight continued on as the Rowdyruff Boys lead her up the stairs and as she passed through the stairs, even more fighters are loitering around with their weapons at the steps.

 _So this were the mercenaries that the boys fought with_ , Blossom thought. Blossom's heart is slowly burdened with the empathy for the fate of these people, and she struggled to keep herself strong.

"Anyway, here we are! The most awesome sight of Aleppo!" Brick informed Blossom and as Brick and Blossom passed through the open doorway, she soon find herself looking at a sight that took her breath away.

"Isn't awesome?" Butch said to the teenager, not aware that she is covering her mouth in shock.

"Yeah, this is pretty badass!" Boomer chimed in once more.

Contrary to what the three little boys saw, Blossom saw a city that was once both a living museum and a breathing city being swallowed up by the barbarity and savagery of the war. The old souqs, alleys, minarets and buildings of both ancient and modern designs are now a mess of boulders and corrugated iron sheets pocked with bullet holes and artillery craters. The city is almost unrecognizable, with towers of burning smoke rising up from various neighborhoods and the sound of gunfire and bombings echoed in the air every few minutes. An ancient citadel over a hill watching the city flashed with occasional fire towards the city below. However what broke Blossom's heart is the sound of a bird singing in a hollow and sorrowful tune as if mourning for the city that was once its home.

"Yeah...kinda bad...a...ur..." Brick stuttered as he heard the sound of sobbing. He looked up and realized that Blossom's cheeks is now flowing with droplets of tears and her rose-colored eyes are now blending in with the reddening eyes from her tears. Brick and Boomer looked at each other as they struggled to react to this particular situation. Both are exchanging glances and decided that they will keep quiet and let the girl cry. She must have been through a lot, they thought.

Alas, their plan was ruined the very second Butch opened his mouth.

"Hm...the view must have been been so badass that she cried huh?" Butch said nonchalantly, and both Boomer and Brick slapped their brother in the head.

"OUCH! WHAT DID I DO?!"

"Dumbass..." Brick and Boomer muttered at once.

* * *

[Unknown location, Unknown time]

A crimson figure is sitting cross-legged in mid-air in a dark room, its injured flanks illuminated with glowing pink runes. Several other locations on its body also had runes glowing on it. As the figure is deep in its meditation, a ray of light shined behind the the figure, causing its eyes to open up and glowed with a bright emerald glow.

"Looks like those Rowdyruff Boys did a number on you, Him." A nasally female voice poked at the demonic overlord. Him spins on its axis slowly toward the source of the voice. Him is soon facing a brunette with waist-length braided hair with a scar on her cheek looking at the effeminate overlord with her sky-blue eyes. The female moved towards the closest wall and started leaning on the wall with her arms folded and her legs crossed while she is standing.

" _Not really. How are the preparations going about Renée?_ " Him asked in its cacophonous voice.

"Everything's accounted for. The Trinisphere that you took out of Brick is now being incorporated into the 'thing' we took from Fort Marks. As for the Candy production, we have managed to hit the amount needed for the 'thing'. Medved and Murciélargo are ready to mobilize at any moment, while Ananse and Lòu Fú are ready to provide the intelligence and logistical support for the operation, respectively. " Fennec gave her report of the progress to the transgender demon.

" _Good, good. Having taken that machine from under the military base sure helps in our plans. What about that guy?"_ Him asked his most trusted lieutenant for further updates.

"That...that one's restless. If we keep 'it' in for any longer, we'll lose our men trying to contain 'it'."

" _Well, let it out for a while. No one likes to be cooped up for long._ "

"What about the teenagers?" Fennec asked, and Him knew that she is refering to the six teenagers that are the most likely to foil their plans.

" _My dear, that is why I did what I did and why I suffered this wounds with Brick and Boomer."_ Him let it sink into Fennec's mind before her eyes opened up.

"Blood magic." Fennec voiced out her thoughts.

 _"Yes. Blood magic. They never realized that if they made contact with my blood, they made their little minds vulnerable to my influence. It also helps that the Rowdyruff Boys ingested my more purified Candy product in their system. Right now they should be experiencing their most vivid emotions in perpetuity._ " Him reasoned with a smile on its face, and the runes on its body glowed stronger.

"Butch and the Powerpuff Girls did not touch your blood." Fennec pointed out. Him made a clicking sound with his tongue as he finds his lieutenant a little unimaginative.

" _F_ _or Butch, it is solely because I did something a little something fancy. For the girls, their_ _goody-two shoes nature will prompt them to help the boys. For the girls, they knew that they need to enter into the boy's mind to get them out. But will they get out? Will the boys want to get out? Will they trust the boys once they seen their darkest side? Will the boys trust the girls if they intrude? Will the girls be trapped in the boys' mind? Not to mention that they will be experiencing my blood magic if they entered the boys' mind."_ Him turned around once more, its back facing Fennec.

"But-" Fennec's concern was cut by Him's high-pitched voice.

 _"It does not matter if they succeed of fail, for anything that happens between the girls and the boys will all be beneficial to us._ " Him explained his reasoning, and the idea disturbed the brunette lieutenant.

"So it doesn't matter if they succeed?" Fennec asked, biting her lip slightly.

" _It doesn't. It doesn't matter if they fail either. It doesn't matter where the emotions flow, just that it flows. Just see to it that the rest of our plan will proceed as scheduled."_ Him started cackling before it went into a maniacal laughter. The runs glowed even more as the laughter began to crescendo.

"Very well." Fennec bowed down before exiting the room. As Fennec closed the door behind her, the laughter of the demon can be heard through the door.


	50. Chapter 50: Sweet Dreams

Chapter 50: Sweet Dreams

"Jumpin' out of that window is real scary! Please don't do that again..."

The fair-haired teenager toned down his voice and informed the Powerpuff Girl, but it appeared that she is now recalling the action of them jumping out of the window. If it were not for the coincidental appearance of the truck below the window, both Buttercup and the Boomer-lookalike would be jumping from a five-storey building down to the road below. Buttercup instead opted to chuckle before laughing out loud.

"There's always something else that will be way more fun!" Buttercup is still filled with an adrenaline rush in her system, and she turned her attention towards the young man with an uncanny appearance to Boomer. It was unfortunate that she can't see his eye and hair color in this gray monochrome world, or else she would have known if this is the true Boomer or someone else. However, to her surprise, the other teenager is looking at her as if she is crazy.

"You're one bearcat, y'know that?" Buttercup raised an eyebrow at Boomer's remark, knowing that the slang is utterly odd.

"Heh, better that than being a doormat. What's your name anyway? I'm Buttercup." Buttercup decided that it is best to introduce herself and ask him for his name, as calling him Boomer again may not be in her best interest. She extends her hand out in a handshake, and seeing that there is no harm Boomer shakes her hand back in a firm handshake.

"The name's Tommaso Calvatoni, or Tom for short."

"Sounds about right, Boomer." Buttercup slipped, calling the young man by the name she is used to call his real-life counterpart.

"How'd you know my nickname?" The young man asked Buttercup.

"Um...I dunno? Just a lucky guess?" Buttercup shrugged, knowing that it is best to not go too deeply into the specifics for this situation. Tom raised his eyebrows with great suspicion, but soon decided to let the issue rest for he had a more pressing question to ask the raven-haired woman.

"Anyway what's a kitten like you doing in a place like that? You sure don't suit a place like that." Tom asked Buttercup.

"Can I still call you Boomer?" Buttercup asked, and the boy finds that there is no harm letting her call him by his nickname. Buttercup continued on once she got the greenlight to call him Boomer.

"Um...let's just say I'm looking for someone, alright Boomer?" Buttercup decided that it would be best to keep things as vague and yet plausible as possible. It will be less awkward than saying that she is looking for him and his brothers.

"Right..." Tom's voice informed Buttercup that he is not entirely convinced with her explanation.

"What about you? What are you doing there?" Buttercup asked, trying to throw the ball back at Tom's court.

"Well, I'm there because of a job." Tom looked away from the Powerpuff Girl, and the Powerpuff Girl felt that there is something that the teenager is hiding. But since he did not prod deeply into her own reasons, she decided that she will not prod into his matter as well. There will be a time for that, but it will not be now.

Despite all that, or because of it, Buttercup is concerned about the state of affairs in this dreamworld for it appears that the inhabitants of the dreamworld are not exactly the same as those in the real world. It will be tough for her to bring Boomer back to the real world if the world that he is dreaming of right now is considered as his 'real' world. As both of them lied down on the hay, she looked around to see that the buildings around her reminded her of the old historical parts of Townsville that her history teacher showed her to explain the Roarin' Twenties era of American history.

"So, which part of town are we in now Boomer?"

"Well, right now we're at Little Italy. Here's where we make our stop. Come on." Tom got up and moved towards the end of the truck while Buttercup followed shortly after. Both Tom and Buttercup moved to the end of the truck and waited for the truck to stop for a moment before hopping out of the truck. As they landed on their feet, several strands of straw fell out from their clothing. Boomer and Buttercup patted the rest of the straw from their body and they find themselves in the middle of the road in a bustling street.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways." Tom informed the Powerpuff Girl. But instead, Buttercup scolded the young man.

"Hold on a second! You're gonna leave me out here in the middle of the night? I don't even know where I am!"

"Geez, you're a whole lot of trouble y'know that?" Tom can't help but to be drawn into this argument.

"Well, I got you out from that place didn't I?" Buttercup shouted at Tom.

"I didn't want to get out from there to begin with, you broad!"

"Then why the hell did you help me up, you idiot?!"

The commotion between the two individuals attracted the attention of the other passerby and they all watched as the two started to banter with each other. There are a little 'oohs' and 'ahhs' as the two came up with rather stinging remarks with each other. As the intensity of the banter increased between the two, the size of the crowd around them only grew larger. Some of the audience soon started putting up bets to see who will win at the end of the day, and it seems that the whole incident is slowly reaching a boiling point.

"Seriously Buttercup, I don't know about you, but you are the manliest woman I've ever met!" Tom points towards her, and a vein popped on Buttercup's temple.

"At least I got more balls than you Boomer!" Buttercup called out on the teenage boy, her teeth clenched as she deliver her insult with much venom. The crowd started cheering for Buttercup, and the whistling sound of the crowd only made Tom blushed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT LADY'S FULL OF FIRE TOM! YOU'VE GOT NO CHANCE!" One of the person in the crowd called out. Tom's cheeks turned a darker shade at the remark and he turned towards the direction of the man that gave that remark.

"SHUT UP, TESSIO! THIS AIN'T YOUR FIGHT HERE!" Tom yelled back at the man, and Buttercup realized that this is Boomer's own neighborhood. Perhaps this is something she can use against him. Looks like it is time to use her feminine assets one-o-one.

"YEAH AS YOU PLAN TO WIN BY LEAVING A POOR GIRL LIKE ME IN THE STREETS OF LITTLE ITALY BY HERSELF! WHAT A CHAMPION YOU ARE!" Buttercup yelled out and stomp her feet before she stopped. The crowd grew silent, and Tom realized that something is not right. Buttercup's lips started to tremble before her eyes started watering. Boomer realized what she plans to do, and he needs to stop her before it goes out of hand.

"HOLD UP THERE, DON'T YOU DARE DO THAT TO ME! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Tom tried to call her out, but he realized that the crowd is now booing him. Buttercup started sniffing and soon she started to wipe her eyes with the back of her hands. There were several cries of sympathy from the crowd, and before long several elder women came out from the crowd to comfort the raven-haired girl.

A chubby dark-haired woman soon embraced Buttercup in her arms and the woman whose arms are now embracing Buttercup hissed at Tom in what Buttercup recognized as Italian. Soon the other women who were out there to comfort Buttercup started scolding Tom in Italian, and Tom soon tried to reason with the women to no avail in Italian as well.

"Yeah, you're one dumb stick if you're planning to dump a gal like her in our neighborhood!" Another man called out to Tom in his heavy Italian accent.

"Aww...folks...come on...don't just take her..." Tom's attempt to plead to the crowd was drowned by the boos and hisses of the crowd.

As the crowd started pecking on Tom, Buttercup is now smirking under the cover of the woman's arms. She may not be the most girlish girl she know, but when the situation called from push to shove, she got what it takes to get it done. At least now she'll get to find a place to lodge in for the night. Buttercup watched as the young fair-haired young man with the fair eyes looked around him in distress, and Buttercup knew that soon enough, he will bow down to the peer pressure of his own neighborhood. Toom closed his eyes and his lips started to tremble in annoyance, and soon Buttercup got the answer that she wanted from the teenage boy.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'LL BRING HER BACK TO MY PLACE! HAPPY?!" Tom yelled, his face utterly a darker shade of gray from the embarrassment and his annoyance coalescing into one. The crowd cheered when he yelled, and the chubby woman soon started to speak to Buttercup.

"There, there now young lady. Tommaso here will house you for the night." One of the ladies informed Buttercup.

"YOU BETTER DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS GIRL HERE, TOMMY! OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!"

"YOUNG LADY, IF HE SO MUCH AS TO TOUCH YOUR MAIDEN SKIN, GIVE A SHOUT AND HE'LL BE SWIMMIN' WITH THE FISHES!" One of the person in the crowd called out, and the other chimed in with their own threats if Tom dared to do anything to Buttercup, followed by a chorus of laughter. Soon enough, the ladies let Buttercup go and beckon the Powerpuff Girl to go towards fair-haired teenager. As she walks closer to Boomer, she gave Boomer a mischievous wink and Boomer realized that he had been hoodwinked by the raven-haired girl. She then pulled him down for her to be able to whisper to him.

"I'll be in your care, Tommaso Calvatoni." Buttercup whispered with her husky voice. Tom's face immediately reddened at her whispering to his ear, and the crowd cheered once more.

"You're really going to kill me one day." Tom Calvatoni mumbled, and Buttercup smirked as she heard him.

"But not tonight." Buttercup jested.

"Come, my home's this way." Tom pointed towards an unassuming building made out of red bricks and external metal fire escapes jutting out of it, before he turned and walked towards the apartment. The crowd continued to cheer and holler as Boomer made his way towards the apartment.

Buttercup followed shortly behind and by the time she arrived, he had opened the gates into the apartment lobby. Both of them entered into building and as Boomer closed the gate behind them and cutting them off from the view of the crowd, Buttercup looked at the rather antiquated doorway before her but noticed that unlike the ones she had seen before it is rather clean. She then realized that during this time, it is not an antique yet. Tom walked past her and opened the door and he entered in first. Buttercup trailed behind the sand-blonde teenager and she is greeted by a rather small lobby with a stairs to their left. Tom led the way by entering the staircase and as both teenagers took their steps, Buttercup looked up to see Boomer's bottom moving with every motion of his legs moving around to climb up the rickety staircase. Surprisingly enough, Buttercup finds the motion rather captivating in its own way. The journey upwards soon stopped as Tom exited the staircase and into the apartment hallway.

"My home's this way." Tom gestured towards his right towards the end of the hallway. Tom and Buttercup walked all the way to the end of the hallway and Boomer faced towards the left door and took out his keys and opened the door knob. As the door swings open, Boomer flipped the switch to his home and the house is illuminated by the white light from the light bulbs above them. Buttercup welcomed herself into his home, and as the fair gray-eyed boy closed the door behind him, Buttercup is greeted by a particularly simple but nicely decorated home, with simple wooden chairs and a white tablecloth covering the dining table. The kitchen appears to be in the same area as the living area and it appears to Buttercup that the dining area, kitchen and living room are essentially the same area. Boomer Leading down from the living area is a small hallway leading up to two rooms at opposite ends and with a bathroom in between the two rooms.

"You take this room over here. Mine's that way. Make yourself comfortable." Tom pointed towards the room on the left first before pointing towards the room on the right. Boomer entered into his room and soon the sound of drawers and cupboards opening are heard. Buttercup took a step into the room and struggled to find the light switch to light up the room. As soon as Buttercup found the switch, the bulb lights the room ans she saw that a simple bed and a wardrobe is present in the room along with a mirror about the same height as herself. However other than that, there is nothing else in the room.

"Hey, Buttercup!" Tom called Buttercup.

"Huh-Oofff!" Buttercup turned around only to have her vision impeded by something white. Buttercup pulled the object away from her face and was about to yell at him before she looked down to realize that she is holding a few buttoned-up pajamas in her hands. She looked up again and Tom is scratching his head as if he failed to do a good job.

"Anyway,you can't possibly sleep in that outfit. Use some of my own clothes first, I'll get something for you first thing in the morning. Hope Mama Valentina can help me with that. Anyway, I'll be heading off to bed. See you tomorrow." Tom explained and he closed the door gently behind him. Buttercup did not expect him to just go to bed just like that, but Buttercup can feel the fatigue even in this dream world.

"Good night Boomer." Buttercup said softly as she closed the door to her room. Buttercup walks towards the bed and as she slowly undress, she throw the clothing that Tom gave her on bedpost while leaving the clothes that she took out on the floor. Leaving only her underwear on, she slowly wear the shirt on before lying down on the bed and looking up at the off-white ceiling.

Though her faith in her sisters are stronger than any belief in the world, she is deeply concerned for her sisters as she lie down peacefully on the comfortably soft bed. This has always been something that the girls shared, a 'sense' that allowed them to know if the other are in trouble. The nature of the trouble is however is something out of their grasp, and they are not psychics in any way whatsoever. Right now, Buttercup can sense that Blossom and Bubbles in a whole lot of trouble. Buttercup is unable to wrap her head around this particular logic for she expected trouble when she entered into this dream. Barring the gangsters in the club, everything else has been just plain simple and easygoing.

In fact, this should be a _good_ dream.

"But this is too good to be true." Buttercup thought out loud, knowing that things are often more than meet the eyes.

Unbeknownst to Buttercup, Tom is leaning his back against the door and and he facepalmed at the particularly odd situation. Tom's mind is now playing tricks on him, tempting him with a slowly undressing Buttercup and he is definitely bothered by the sequence of images playing around in his mind.

"Tom ,snap out of it." The sand-blonde teenager shakes his head, trying to take the image off his mind, but then another voice in his head answered for him.

 _You're a a man, not a saint._

* * *

The next day, Buttercup woke up to the sound of the bustling streets of Little Italy and the ray of sun warming up her face. Despite this being a dream, she is amazed how she managed to sleep in her own dream. Buttercup felt that this situation is not realistic at all, but she will have to find a way to get the Rowdyruff Boys back and also get out from their dreams.

"Huh...good point." Buttercup said to herself as she the possibility of the dream world she is in now can be a combination of the three Rowdyruff Boys' dreaming at once flashes in her mind.

"So...the princess' awake?" A voice is heard and Buttercuo turned around to see what appeared to be Tom wearing a newsboy cap with a folded sleeve shirt and a vest. It was then than Buttercup realized that Tom had opened the door to her room without her realizing about it.

"Urgh...give me a few minutes will you? " Buttercup groaned. She is never good with mornings, and this also applies to dreamworlds apparently.

"C'mon, get yourself ready and join me for breakfast." Tom threw a bunch of clothes on the bed, and Buttercup recognized a few dresses. She leaned forward and grabbed one of the dress, opening it up to realize that it is exactly her size.

"Where'd you get these?" Buttercup asked Tom, curious how he managed to get these dresses.

"Mama Valentina manages to get your measurements somehow when she hold onto you last night. She's amazing that way." Tom said with a hint of amazement in his voice. Buttercup soon recalled the chubby woman who held her last night, and she took a mental note to thank her later if she met her. As for Tom, he is surprisingly amazed by the girls' body measurements, as she had never seen a girl with such a well-proportioned body. Of course, he can never say it out loud but a man is allowed to imagine the fabric wrapping around the body of such a well-proportioned woman. He honestly wished that he was her dress, so that he can feel her body. Her breast, her waist, her hips. Fortunately for Tom, Buttercup did not realize that he is fantasizing about her body.

"Right." Buttercup said dully as she scratched her head.

"Anyway, the shower's that way," Tom points out to his right, "Anything else?"

Buttercup stared at Tom for a while after he had asked Buttercup if she needed anything else, and Boomer stared back at the Powerpuff Girl. Both are looking at each other with Tom being the one that is enjoying his view a little more. Buttercup look sublime despite her morning looks, and her peridot-colored eyes sparkle brilliantly from the reflection of the sunlight. Her short hair is untidy from her night sleeping on the bed, yet somehow it only served to enhance her rustic looks. The buttoned-down shirt that she borrowed from Tom as a makeshift pajama is oozing out a particular allure that Tom is unable to take off his mind. He never knew that a girl wearing only a man's shirt can be so sensually attractive, and he swear to himself that he will never wash that shirt ever again.

"You stared enough. Give me a few minutes will you?" Buttercup grumbled, and Tom realized that he had spend a little too much time viewing the raven-haired girl . Tim gives a shrug with a charming smile before walking away towards the dining area.

Once Tom left, Buttercup finally allowed herself to turn red. She clearly did not expect for Tom to treat her this nicely and seeing her first thing in the morning. Especially when she had literally caused him to buckle under pressure to stay the night with Tom. Buttercup did not realize it then, but this is the first time she had worn a shirt that was offered by a guy. And slept in it to boot. To make matters worse, she had only worn the shirt and her panties to sleep. Fortunately for her, the blanket covered the bottom half of her body. Buttercup realized that she is dressed as if she had just spent the night doing 'something' with Tom. Buttercup realize that Tom did not take advantage of the situation and did 'things' to her when she is defenseless and alone. His gentlemanly behavior is further enhanced by the fact that he had taken the trouble to find some women's clothing for her before she is awake so that she will be able to dress up for the morning and more. Even though he had gotten dresses for her, which she usually dislike, but Buttercup appreciated the gesture by the sand-blonde teenager. And Boomer cooked breakfast? That's very charming in its own way,and she had a small spot for such fantasies in her mind.

 _Enough with this, I need to get ready,_ Buttercup decided to get herself into the bathroom.

After a quick hot shower and dressing up,Buttercup walked out towards the dining area. The dining area is actually part of the kitchen and it has a rather rustic feel to it with its antiquated appliances and furniture, each made out of a dark wood that Buttercup is not familiar with. On the table, a serving of frosty coffee granita and a fresh,buttery brioche roll is served and a cup of hot caffè latte smoking on the table. Buttercup can pick the aromas from the breakfast with her nose and her heart skipped a beat at the simple but delicious aromas.

"Ah, finally done with-" Tom called out to Buttercup, but was soon stunned to silence.

Buttercup is wearing a spartan light grey one-piece dress with a white collar but Buttercup's womanly charm can be seen over the dress that she is wearing. Her bobcut hair and elegant neck is complimentary to her smooth jawline. As she looked at him, Tom can see that her natural peridot-colored eyes are crystal-clear and her eyelashes are long and well curved. Her bodily proportions are rather athletic and well-proportioned,with her breast not being too big or too small and they are rather shapely. Her legs are surprisingly well proportioned and he see no fault in any way.

"Um,are you alright?" Buttercup's voice snaps Tom out of his daze, and he shakes his head before answering her.

"Sorry about that. Anyway, let's eat." Tom gestured for them to have breakfast.

As the two teenagers went on having their breakfast, Tom stole a few glances at Buttercup. If Buttercup care to not open her mouth,she would be a perfect lady in every sense of the word. The mannerism in which she eats the brioche and sips on the coffee is surprisingly elegant. Tom wondered how can a woman be more beautiful without makeup and the trapping of jewelry and nice clothing, but Buttercup managed to show him how that works. Buttercup also stole a few glances at him and finds him surprisingly charming in a rustic way in that outfit of his. Somehow seeing Tom a.k.a Boomer in anything but his normal hoodie is a real treat for Buttercup and honestly Boomer suited his particular look. Suddenly a whistling sound can be heard outside the window and Tom turned to see a short-haired strawberry blonde teenager looking at them with his reddish brown eyes. Buttercup's eyes opened wide as she realized who she is looking at. Tom groaned a little as he realized who had just seen him with a girl in his apartment unit.

"Lookie here, Boomer's with a lass!" The young man with an uncanny resemblance to a short-haired Brick called out to Tom, albeit the person is speaking with a Scottish accent. Buttercup is perplexed by the sudden change of accent for the Rowdyruff Boy, but soon realized that this is a dream world. Things are never as it is in the real world.

"Yes,very strange." Another figure soon appeared behind the redhead,and Buttercup can not help herself but to notice that the second person looking at her has the appearances of the jadeite-eyed Rowdyruff Boy. His hair is combed back, and he appear to be wearing a dark green shirt with black pants with suspenders. His accent is particularly odd, and Buttercup is reminded of a mix between a Russian accent and a Jewish accent.

"Brick,Butch...leave me alone. It's not as it seems."

"A beauty like her with a guy like you? It sure is not as it seems." The black-haired person pointed out before moving on down the metal-grated stairway outside Tom's apartment window.

"You better tell us about the lass later, a'ight?" The red-haired person said before following the other individual, and the sound of laughter can be heard from both individuals as they continued on chatting. As the voice of the chatter fade away, Tom sigh before he takes a sip of his latte.

"Who're they?" Buttercup asked. Despite knowing who they are in real life, but in this artificial world it is wise to know what role they play.

'That redheaded Scotsman is Ryan O'Grady or Brick, as his hair is the color of bricks. The other person's Aleksi Werstein, or known as Butch. He's a Jewish butcher in Little Moscow,hence his nickname."

 _Huh all I saw is a shade of gray...am I color-blind in this world?_ , Buttercup realized that Tom is explaining colors to her despite her being unable to see anything other than shades of black, white and gray. The Powerpuff Girl is also particularly intrigued by this particular dreamworld for the three Rowdyruff Boys appeared to be not related at all in this world. Anyway, she decided to pry a little bit more to find out how this 'Boomer' got his nickname.

"So how about you? How'd you get your nickname?" Buttercup asked out of curiosity.

"Well I'm a construction worker for bridges." Tom explained without any further explanation,and Buttercup let it rest as the slang of this times are a little weird for her.

"If you're a construction worker for bridges, you'ld have out of place in a club right?" Buttercup asked, her curiosity piqued by his profession. Tom froze for a moment, and he thought for a while before answering the Powerpuff Girl, which Buttercup finds quite endearing. If only the real Boomer was this adorable.

"Well...I snuck in actually. Wanted to have some fun in the club." Tom laughed nervously as he admitted to Buttercup.

"Heh, and you got me instead." Buttercup smiled.

"Yeah, I did. And I'll be honest, I'm at the verge of regretting meeting you." Tom gave a rather cheeky smile, and Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

"What made you change your mind?" Buttercup asked.

"How'd you looked like when you woke up and how you look like now made it all worthwhile." Buttercup immediately slapped Tom's arm, causing the blonde-haired teenager to jerk in response. To Tom's surprise, Buttercup is blushing a little now and that made his heart skipped a beat. Buttercup honestly did not expect the Boomer in this dreamscape to be such a smooth talker and a flirt. However Buttercup started laughing and Tomsoon joined in the laughter. The day is starting off in a surprisingly good manner in this dreamworld, and Buttercup felt the sweetness of this blissful dream.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville]

"This is really weird." Lilith said.

"I would agree." Professor Utonium replied.

Both of them had been observing the teenagers for a while now, and Butch's ramblings are the only indicator of what is happening in Butch's dream-like hallucinations and Blossom's brain activity. As they watched the actions of the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy and the other monitors recording the brain activity of the other superhumans, they are able to deduced a few things happening inside his dreams. Firstly, Butch is roleplaying several roles, and somehow he is identifying himself as both Butch and also a person named Aleksi, complete with an accurate and grammatically correct Kievan accent and usage of Russian and Ukrainian dialects.

Secondly, it appears that Blossom and Buttercup are in two separate dreams, as their brain waves are very distinct from each other. Buttercup in particular appeared to have her ability to see colors deactivated in her brain activity, and Professor Utonium wondered what could cause such a particular brain activity to be triggered within Buttercup's brain. Boomer and Buttercup apparently are having a particularly pleasant dream and among the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls, the pair appear to be the one with the easiest time in their dreams.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, each one of the Rowdyruff Boys are interacting with the Powerpuff Girls on many different fronts. Butch for example has several different layers of brainwaves, which by right is not possible but the monitors are tracking just that particular impossible situation.

"It seems that the boys are all linked to each other's dream in their particularly unique capacity, while the girls appear to be linked to a specific boy's dream. That would explain the readings. However, the presence of Butch and Boomer are surprisingly absent in Brick's dream. This is a very peculiar interaction that needs further understanding and observation." Professor Utonium posited as he monitored their brain activity.

"So the boys will need to get out at the same time for them to stop dreaming?" Lilith asked the professor.

"It could be, but I am not sure. However, the girls may run the risk of being too absorbed in the boy's dreams. So far Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup appear to be aware of their presence in the dreams. But I'm afraid that this may erode the longer the girls spend more time in the boy's dreams. Butch's also slowly running out of time, as his brain wave is slowly becoming more erratic and whoever is in his dream will be most at risk."

"I sure hope that they will all be able to wake up." The pixie-haired district attorney voiced out her best wishes as she watched Butch acting more and more like a lunatic, rambling to himself and having two different accents. Professor Utonium can see that the district attorney is particularly concerned about the Rowdyruff Boys, and as a parent he can understand her adult fears.

"I hope so as well." Professor Utonium looked at the display of their brain activity with great unease.


	51. Chapter 51: Cracked

Chapter 51: Cracked

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville. 12.30pm]

Three days had passed since the Powerpuff Girls entered into the Rowdyruff Boys' dreams and Professor Utonium is hard at work to make a device that allow him to see what his little girls are doing. Barring the readings from the medical equipment, Professor Utonium's only other source of the condition of his girls are the three living weapons; Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar. The three Magi systems are able to monitor the girls while the professor get himself some rest and so far, the three living weapons are able to perform their duties admirably.

"Hello Magi." The square-jawed man enters into the ward where his three girls are lying down. His jet-black hair is a mess, and stubbles are now growing over his chin. Dark bags formed around the professor's eyes, and judging by his white and blue horizontal striped pajamas, the man did not sleep a wink the night before. The man dragged his feet towards the Powerpuff Girls, yawning as he moved closer.

"Greetings Professor." The three Magi answered.

"Any updates on my girls?" Professor Utonium asked the Magi.

"Blossom is holding on." Balthasar updated the Professor. in a proud and regal baritone voice. Professor Utonium opened a holographic display and Blossom's biodata is now visible to Professor Utonium. Balthasar is correct, for it appears that she had a heightened heart rate and neurological activity in her brain consistent with having a bad dream. It also appear that she is now in a much more unstable state as compared to her sisters. The Rowdyruff Boy known as Butch also exhibit the same pattern of neurological and physical activity, and Professor Utonium take note of the Rowdyruff Boy's deteriorating condition.

"Buttercup appears to be happy, and her state of mind is particularly tranquil." Melchior said in his reedy and elderly voice, and another display opens up before the Professor marks down Buttercup's status. Among all her sisters, Buttercup is perhaps the most stable and her brainwaves is not showing any distress.

"Bubbles' anxiety is building." The most youthful and energetic among the Magi voiced its concern to Professor Utonium, and Professor Utonium acknowledged the Magi's observation. Indeed, the heightened sense of anxiety and unease is obvious to Professor Utonium's eyes.

"Thank you." Professor Utonium voiced his thanks to the three Magi.

"Professor, you need to rest if you are to help your daughters." Melchior voiced out his concern for the man of science, as it appear that he can collapse at any moment from his fatigue and distress. Professor Utonium wiped his baggy eyes with the back of his hand, and shrugged his fatigue away.

"It's hard to rest when they are my world. If only I can see what my girls are dreaming about, then I'll know what I can do." Professor Utonium answered with a weary smile. Professor Utonium walks towards each one of his daughters and kisses them on their forehead. Professor Utonium wanted to believe in his girls, but he can only bear this burden of seeing his daughters being unconscious and not knowing when they will wake up, or if they will ever wake up.

* * *

Blossom have been in this city for the past week, and it had been somewhat dull since her near-death experience in her first foray into the Rowdyruff Boy dreamworld.

One of the things she had learned about this world is that the Brick, Butch and Boomer had taken the _nom de guerre_ of Athos, Aramis and Porthos names that the Rowdyruff Boys used are not lost on Blossom, for Blossom is an avid reader of classics books. It is appropriate that their namesakes matched them so well, and when she first heard of the names Blossom smiled inwardly as she had newfound respect for their tastes in books.

Another thing she learned is that war is a drawn-out affair with long lulls of inaction followed by intense and brutally short fights. So far she is fortunate that the fighting had not erupted in the area surrounding the neighborhood, but everyday Blossom can see the casualties coming in for treatment and the sound of bombardment can be heard ringing dully in the background. Renee's decision for Blossom to be seconded to one of the militia units under the brunette's control is still underway, and the Frenchwoman had informed her to take it easy before the decision is made. Right now, all Blossom could do is to just sit around on her bottom. The waiting however is another torture upon itself. Blossom knows that for each second that she is idle, the window of getting out from the dream becomes even smaller than before. Time may be relative in this world, but it is still time nonetheless.

 _I hope that the girls are able to snap out of the dreams and not get swallowed by_ _their dreams_ , Blossom thought to herself deapite knowing that her sisters are struggling to break out from the Rowdyruff Boys' dreams. Blossom can sense it in her bodily fiber that the girls will need every help that they can get to snap out from the Rowdyruff Boys' inner demons. Judging by Butch's unstable dreamscape and how the Rowdyruff Boys lived their lives,Blossom shudder to know what inner demons are inside Brick and Boomer.

 _Then there is this feeling that I'm being watched._

The uncomfortable feeling within Blossom distracted the fiery copper-haired teenager from her own depressing thoughts. Blossom glances through the corners of her eyes before finding out the source of her unease.

 _Ah, right. Kids._

Several little children are staring at the fiery redheaded girl from a distance, too shy to engage with her as she sits alone. Blossom is aware of their presence, but she decide to ignore them. If she walked up to the children, they will scatter and not be near her. Children are simple beings, but these children are not like other children. These are the children that experienced the true savagery of war and how it can take anything away from them at an instant. That also made them suspicious of anything new, for every new thing is a new stressor for the little ones. If Bubbles is here, she would had won their hearts with her sweetness. If it is Buttercup, she'll somehow be a pal with the kids in no time. As for Blossom, she honestly lack the skills in in getting along with kids.

Blossom watched with the corner of her eyes as one of the children breaks off from the rest and slowly approaches her. A little boy with a light khaki complexion and curly dark brown hair is now a feet away from Blossom and he squats in front of her while looking at her with his hazel eyes.

"Yes?" Blossom asked the little boy, doing her best in giving a good and gentle little boy stared at Blossom for a whill before the little boy points to his ear.

 _He's deaf,_ the rose-eyed girl realized.

She points at him before extending her index and middle fingers at each arm before tapping the right pair of fingers on the other pair before opening up her remaining fingers and rotate her wrists, showing her palms towards the boy followed by a shrug. Blossom points towards herself and taps her pair of fi gers once more on her other two fingers followed by her cupping her hand before releasing it. Blossom hoped that he is able to understand what she is trying to convey to him as she voiced out the words in English. Or to be exact American English. Blossom had only learned this American Sign Language phrases from Bubbles in order to ask people what is their name amd providing her own name.

To her surprise the little boy saluted her,followed by a shake of his fist,with a thumb pointing towards her direction. However the other gestures of the boy's sign speak and the movement of his mouth is lost on Blossom for she is not familiar with his particular sign language. A hand soon rest upon the child's shoulder and both Blossom and the boy gaze up to see the braided female French commander looking at both of them. The light blue-eyed lady soon started to sign to the little boy and to Blossom surprise,the woman and the boy are now moving their arms in a rapid and fluid movement.

"Islam said hello and he's curious about your rose-colored eyes. He wonder if you're sick or something." Renèe interprets the sign language for Blossom. Blossom paused for a moment before realizing that Renèe is waiting for her response and the Frenchwoman is acting as her interpreter.

"Oh. Um...I'm born with it. But it's not harmful at all." Blossom answered and Renèe's hands are moving around as she communicated with the boy. The little boy replied in response and his arms moved around before he stopped his signing. The militia commander signed back before the child waved farewell and ran off to his friends. Renēe shook her head,followed by a sigh and a smile on her face.

"Well, little Islam finds your name particularly odd but beautiful. A blossom so to speak." Renèe's remark is particularly on mark, and Blossom acted coy at the name. Blossom realized that she accidentally signed her real name, and she tried to improvise on her blunder.

"Well I was trying to sign in American Sign Language as I mouthed the word...guess that came out wrong I guess." Blossom tried to laugh it off while scratching her head. However she understood that this excuse will not hold water.

"Hm...in this case,I'll give you the codename Blossom." Renèe decision surprised Blossom.

"Sorry?" Blossom is caught offguard by Renèe icalling her by her name.

"Well,you do have a rather outgoing personality and willing to take the first step in communicating first. That and you do look beautiful. My men will find it easy to relate." Renèe gives a reassuring smile with a wink.

Blossom is particularly uncomfortable about how Renèe came to her conclusion,for it is exactly how Professor Utonium chose her name. However, thing became sour as Blossom saw the Rowdyruff Boys bumping into the two women as they were discussing Blossom's code French commander wonder about Blossom's expression before she heard a familiar crimson-eyed child voicing out his mind.

"What." Butch is not amused at all by the codename.

"Blossom?" Boomer asked in confusion.

"Really?" Brick's expression is deadpan,but his displeasure is simmering within him and it shows in his faintly glowing ruby eyes.

"Now that we have a good look, she does look like someone we know. A _big_ someone that we know." Boomer points out as he bends down to take a good look at Blossom. Butch on the other hand is staring at the rose-eyed teenager with two murderous eyes. The raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy is now shivering, his teeth chattering, and his face swelled and changed its colour.

 _Crack!_

Blossom noticed that the world just flashed green for a moment as the unnatural cracking sound is heard. The sound of the crack is glass-like, and Blossom knew the sound is not normal as all the glass in the building had been blasted away. She looked around and to her alarm, she saw a crack in the fabrics of reality as improbable as that sounds. The world's green tint is now getting more prominent and the world around her is cracking a little more than before, and this development alarmed Blossom to no end. As small shards of reality falls down on the ground, Blossom's unease grows.

"Aramis?" One of the militia asked. Everyone's attention is now upon the raven-haired boy with the jade green eyes as he holds his head with both his hands. Butch kneels down on the ground and immediately Brick yelled out for help.

"MEDIC! WE NEED A MEDIC!"

"What's wrong bro? Hey,talk to me!" Boomer is now by his brother's side and as Blossom watched, Butch's eyes are now nearly glass-like and lifeless.

 _Crack!_

The cracks upon the dream world are weakening Butch, and Blossom knows it in her heart that Butch is at his limits. The jadeite Rowdyruff Boy's expression slowly contorts, revealing the suffering he is experiencing within him. Butch screamed out and everyone within the vicinity of the Rowdyruff Boy covered their ears in pain, the earth beneath them shaking violently as the scream continued on. Butch's muscles started to enlarge, and Blossom had seen this before once upon a time ago; Butch is going berserk.

"Shit! He'll attract the enemy!" Brick called out to his sand-blonde brother, who immediately covered Butch's mouth. Butch is now struggling as the pain slowly takes over his mind, causing him to lash out against his blue-eyed brother. With a single elbow strike, Boomer is thrown across the room towards a wall, and Boomer crashed into the wall. Brick rushes toward Butch's side to calm Butch down, with force if necessary. Butch's eye whites are now a faint tint of green and the veins around his eyes are now turning a very dark purplish green. Brick grabs his brother's arm, but Butch's response is to grab Brick's face with his hands and slamming his brother down on the ground.

Butch stands up and leave his now unconscious re-haired brother on the ground before several more militia sprang into action to stop the rampage of a superpowered boy. Blossom watched as the little Rowdyruff Boy took down men twice or even thrice his his size with characteristically violent attacks and counterattacks from one arm and his legs. With every strike, Butch shows that he have enough strength to throw a man across the room, towards the ceiling or crashing down on the floor.

 _Crack!_

 _This is bad,_ Blossom is reminded of how the physically strongest Rowdyruff Boy fights and the precise reason why Buttercup has grown to be such an outstanding counter specialist. Several of the militia are now on the ground holding on their injured body parts, and Blossom shudder to know if they had any internal injuries. But the time that the men and women bought is enough for Brick. The carnelian-haired child kicked his berserk brother in the groin with all his might. The blow was such that Butch is launched upwards and slams upwards towards the ceiling before Butch falls down on the ground. As Butch tries to get up from the floor, Brick pounced upon his brother and sits on Butch's back while pulling his arm backwards in a submission hold.

"Do you always have to act this way when you're distressed?" Boomer finally got himself out from the wall he was slammed into. The murmurs of disbelief and fear that slowly descended upon the camp is obvious for Blossom to see. Rather than being fearful of their powers, the other inhabitants of the camp appear to be familiar with the Rowdyruff Boys' superpowers. Butch's eyes are still lifeless and vacant despite his eyebrow frowning with anger and pain.

"Seriously that blow gave me a bloody nose." Brick scolded his brother as he pulled his brother's arm further, a line of blood coming out from Brick's nose.

"Honestly, I wish I could smell Butch's craziness a mile away." The sand-blond spits a mouthful of blood from his mouth.

Blossom's eyes widen, as she was struck by a revelation; Blossom was reminded of a vital information that she had always known, but had never thought about it in this world. Blossom wished that her realization is just a misplaced paranoia, but at the same time if it is as she suspected, it will put a whole new meaning to the whole situation. It will be the key in helping the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls to get out from the dream world. Blossom did the only thing that can help her find out the source of all this problems; she takes a sniff.

"Something's wrong,he smells...sweet." Blossom's expression darkened as she picked up the smell of a sickeningly sweet smell that made her nauseous. The disgustingly sweet smell of cooked molasses and cotton candy that permeates from the Rowdyruff Boy overshadows the other odors in the room. YeahBoth Brick and Boomer looked at the Powerpuff Girl with their eyebrow raised before Boomer decided to sniff his immobilized brother.

"She's right. Butch smells like cotton candy and some syrup...I think I'm gonna be sick." Boomer covered his mouth, trying his best to not puke on the spot. Brick frowns even more once he smelled what Blossom and Boomer picked up with their nose, and covering his nose with his other forearm. The other individuals sniffed the air, but Blossom can see from their expression that they are unable to pick up on the dastardly odor.

Blossom is amazed and frightened by this discovery; amazed that she can smell the Candy odor, but frightened by the fact that only superhuman senses can pick up on the smell. Blossom now questions on whether her superpowers are truly gone in this dream or are actually suppressed by whatever it is that is tormenting Butch. Blossom wondered how on earth was she not able to pick up on the scent when she first met Butch where suddenly another thought dawned upon her; Butch is bound by the Candy's grip upon his dreams. The copper-haired girl looked around and the cracks in reality are now permanent fixtures in this time and space, wondering if the cracking reality is showing the grip of the nefarious forces holding Butch prisoner or Butch's psyche being stressed beyond its limits. Blosom was snapped back to the present as Boomer voiced out his observation.

"The smell's gone." Boomer said as he sniffed a few times more, and Blossom sniffed once more only to realize that the sand-blonde child is right.

"Yeah, and Butch is now unconscious." Brick informed as he finally lets go of his rampaging brother's arm. The limp arm fell on Butch's back before sliding away from his back towards his side. Brick stands up and walks towards Blossom, and a pair of crimson red eyes are now staring at Blosssom. Both redheads are now eye to eye with each other, and the atmosphere between them is tense enough that a knife can cut through the tension. However, a nasally woman's voice interrupted their staring contest.

"Blair, how'd you smell that odor in the first place? I do not smell anything and the same goes for the others here. All except Athos and Porthos." Renee asked Blossom, and now everyone's attention is upon her. Blossom will need to say something less she be targeted by the others.

"I don't know." Blossom decided that honesty is the best thing she can do in this situation. A cacophony of murmur resonated in the air, until a command is issued by the French commander.

"Tend to the injured."

* * *

As Blossom dislike seeing the injured being treated for their wounds,she always tend to find herself on the rooftop to avoid seeing the unsightly sight. However up here on the rooftop, the reddish-brown haired girl is reminded of the sight of the ruined city, which brought her heart much sadness as she is unable to comprehend the collective suffering of this conflict. Thus she turned her attention towards the sky, where things are much more pristine and beautiful. Thus, Blossom had been deep in thought while watching the sky turned from evening to night. Blossom's amarath eyes looked up in the skies above while she sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her feet. The night is rather cold, and she huddled up to keep herself warm.

Blossom is not sure how the drug and Him's sorcery is holding the Rowdyruff Boys under this dream prison, for

"Hm...looking at the city again _Petit Rose_?" Blossom heard a gentle and nasal female voice. A woman with the waist-length waist-length braided hair and sky-blue eyes soon entered into Blossom's view, looking at her with a smile on her face.

"Renèe, I...I didn't expect you to be here."

"I wanted to have some fresh air. Can I join you, Blair?" Renèe asked the young girl politely. The brunette takes a good look at Blossom's well-defined facial features, highlighted under the ray of the moonlight in the city of Aleppo. The rose-eyed girl's well-defined jawline and aristocratically refined facial features gives the young girl an ethereal-like quality to her beauty. Her fair skin, slender frame and long flowing copper hair only made her more doll-like and near-perfect in appearance. Somehow, Renèe saw a little of herself in the young lady.

"Sure. You're welcome to join me." Blossom replied, and the Frenchwoman sat beside Blossom. Renèe find that Blossom's mannerism is particularly prim and proper, and she wondered if she can loosened it up. The Frenchwoman passes a flask to Blossom.

"Here,take a drink." Renèe offered. Blossom looked at the flask for a while before she took the flask from Renèe and takea a sip. Within a split second, Blossom spat out the liquid.

"Bleah! It's alcohol!"

"Correction, it's _bourbon whiskey._ " Renèe corrected Blossom. Blossom immediately passed back the bottle.

"Urgh...I'm not old enough to drink yet." Blossom said while sticking her tongue out,the burning sweet taste of the spirit lingering in her system.

"Well, sooner or later you'll need to learn how to drink. It'll help you in life. The early bird catches the worm." The Frenchwoman shrugged and takes another drink from the flask.

"I'll handle that hurdle when it comes." Blossom moved her jaw around, trying futilely to get rid of the taste in her mouth.

"It's nice to have such an outlook on life." Renèe said with envy in her voice,and she takes another sip from the flask. Both women are now looking up at the night sky littered with stars.

"Butch's fine so far, and so are the others." The French commander reported, seeking to reassure the Powerpuff Girl that everything is fine.

"That's good to know, those people really got the brunt of that idiot's power."

"Anyway, I noticed something Blair; why are you always looking at the boys? Do you have a thing for little boys?"

"WHAT?! NO! No, no...no." Blossom's voice toned down as she turned away from the brunette.

"They reminded you of someone?" Renee asked, and Blossom looked up to the night sky. Blossom thought hard and decided to answer truthfully.

"Yes, they do. Even though they're of a different age, but they do remind me of three people I know. Amazingly they're also brothers. The eldest brother is a little cold, intimidating and somewhat anti-social, while the middle one is a little bit of a musclehead and a ruffian, and can be a flirt. The youngest is goofy and a little obnoxious, but he means well."

"Brick, Butch and Boomer in a nutshell." Renee pointed out, and Blossom is surprised that their core traits have not changed over the years.

"Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny." Blossom played along, knowing that it is easier to go with the women are now looking up at the star-studded night sky, and the tranquil silence of the war-torn city gave the city the respite that it needs.

But trouble soon appeared when the sound of struggling men coming up the stairs is heard.

"What is that?" Blossom asked and turned her attention towards the stairway entrance.

Soon after, a man with a bag over his head flanked by two other men appeared. The two men that brought the captive had their faces covered by a scarf and they appear to look more like executioners than enforcers. One of the men pulled the hooded man's nag off his head, revealing the restrained man's light brown hair and gray eyes. The man has stubbles on his chin and jaw and the man's burning stare is now upon Renèe and Blossom. ONe of the scarfed man kicked the captive in the knee, forcing the man to kneel down.

"Hold on a second Blossom." Renèe finally turned her attention towards the man and sighed before putting her hand on the floor. The French militia commander helped herself up on her feet before she walked towards the man. Blossom watched as the captive and the commander are staring at each other.

"Anton." The brunette acknowledge the kneeling man before her.

"Renèe." The kneeling man responded back.

"He slaughtered a family suspected of being Baathistt loyalist at the-" One of the scarfed men was briefing Renèe midway before a kick of Renèe's boot met the solar plexus of the man known as Anton. The man groaned in pain before Renèe kicked him once more in the solar plexus. The man bent forward in pain before the sole of Renèe's boot slammed the brown-haired man's head straight to the ground.

"Idiot...we're now marked. Told you to not kill any of the civilians on Assad's side of the city." The braided woman said coldly.

"Those assholes brought it upon themselves!" The man cried out, before Renèe lifted her boot and bent down to grab his hair. As Renèe pulled him up,Blossom can see that the cold icy blue eyes that she is far more familiar with are now looking directly into the eyes of the gray-eyed man.

"You got blood-high, and you now you killed non-combatants. For that you have to take responsibility." Renèe hissed and the two men immediately let go of the kneeling man.

Blossom was expecting Renèe to continue beating him, but instead the brunette dragged the man by his hair towards the edge of the rooftop. With a fluid motion,the Frenchwoman flipped the man over the edge. The man screamed before a dull thud is heard, and the screaming stopped immediately. Blossom was stunned beyond compare and her mind started to go haywire at the sight of a man being murdered before her eyes, her voice failing to exit her throat.

"Ahmed, Faizal. Tell the rest of the consequence of killing civilians once again. If you have to make an example of his corpse, do so. Also tell the men to be ready for a messy battle tomorrow." Renèe relayed her instructions to the two scarfed men as she turned around and takes another sip from her flask as if nothing had happened. The two men nodded and they soon made their way to the stairs once more. Once the men had disappeared, Blossom finally found it in her to panic out loud.

"Ohmygawdohmygawdohmygawd!" Blossom is visibly distraught as she just saw a gruesome murder of a man done before her eyes.

"In the grownup world, things like that happen sometimes." Renèe shrugged before taking another sip from her flask.

"What do you mean it happens sometimes?! You've just _killed_ someone by throwing them off the roof! That is a war crime!" Blossom cried out in shock as she pointed towards the area where Renèe had thrown the man moments ago.

The elder woman slowly take her time walking towards Blossom and as Blossom watched the woman come closer, Renèe sky-blue eyes take on a rather chilly and tundra-like quality. Blossom reflexively took a step back as her heart started beating more rapidly. With every step that Renèe took, Blossom took another step back. Blossom sensed a certain air of dread coming out from the woman, very similar to Brick's own air of intimidation but much more sinister. Blossom's bottom sensed a sensation, and she turned around to realize that she is now at the edge of the rooftop. She looked down and her sense of vertigo soon overwhelmed her senses. Blossom felt another sensation around her jaw, and she sensed the gentle touch of a few slender fingertips on her jaw and part of her cheeks. Soon her head was turned against her will towards a pair of ice-cold ruthless eyes, devoid of any compassion or humanity.

"I did a favor to the world by killing a butcher. He'll never butcher another family ever again."

"How are you doing the world a favor?" Blossom asked in disbelief, her heartbeat pounding louder with every moment.

"To save further human lives, we can't always take the moral high ground." Renee answered.

"That is why you threw that man off the building? Two wrongs doesn't make a right!" Blossom disagreed with the woman, not believing her warped sense of the world.

"We must never be the oppressors, but instead agents of light." Renèe answered, the conviction her voice just and true. Blossom is speechless, her rose eyes looking at Renèe in disbelief. Blossom then felt Renèe's fingers leaving her face and the woman distanced herself from Blossom.

"The people needed a light to guide them, Blair. They really do. Nothing can live without light. This light, this hope, this _dream_ empowers them them hope where there was despair. So they could overcome the impossible and keep living in this cruel world. It held out the shining promise that we could all become something greater. Some might find it foolish to put faith in something so intangible. There were those who would say that ideas like this are not essential to life. I think that those people must be either very lucky or very deluded. A symbol of hope is something people in this god-forsaken world needs, and we are not here to shatter that dream of theirs. Even if I have to coat my hand in blood to keep the dream alive. " Renèe's expression softened, and her cold eyes soon regained its warmth once more.

"A dream..." Blossom repeated the word, but she does not want to acknowledge the woman's logic. Even though Renèe had killed someone in cold blood, but Blossom understand that there is a need to show that the rule of hope, justice and law is present in this world. Blossom hates it and she bit her lip in frustration that she is unable to say anything else. Two sides that can be argued for, two sides that can be argued against.

 _This is not fair_ , Blossom thought to herself. Sensing the conflict within Blossom, Renèe voiced her opinion on the matter.

"The world is never fair, Blair. And neither should you be fair to the world. The world is a cracked place to begin with." The braided brunette walks away from Blossom, leaving the redheaded girl alone on the rooftop.

Blossom stood in silence, and she wondered if the dream world is the culmination of what the Rowdyruff Boys believed about the world. A world where the ends justified the means and lives are nothing compared to creeds that one live for. Blossom felt a sickening sensation within her stomach and Blossom turned around to release her disgust and abhorrence of this world from her mouth. The sound of Blossom regurgitating is but an insignificant sound over the howling winds that blew over Aleppo.

* * *

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, Time Unknown]

The doors to the twenty-feet container are now in front of Fennec and the braided brunette is looking at the container with great unease. The sentries stationed around the container to guard it are now looking at Fennec with even more unease than what she felt. In fact, it is wise to say that it is akin to dread than unease. Fennec breathe in deeply before she stepped back. Fennec waved her arm towards the chains and locks holding the doors in place, and the chains and locks started to vibrate before they violently trying to break free from the door itself. The female Lunatic slowly loses the color and she soon turn into shades of alabaster and two strips of red tears flowed out from her eyes, marking her cheeks. Her sky-blue eyes turned into crimson orbs and a red lantern formed upon her head. The wards drawn on the ground soon started to glow red and the ground started to quake with a force that made all the sentries collapsed on the ground.

Honestly, if it were not for the wards, all the sentries would be dead and the Lunatics would be hard-pressed to contain it. However, Him had instructed that 'it' be bound to its service. That in itself made her uneasy for anything that is that hard to control can never be counted upon. But Him is as Him does, funny that way. The chains and locks melted away, and the doors burst open violently causing the door to be unhinged and fly away separately and missing Fennec. Unfortunately two of the sentries are unable to escape the speeding metal doors and they met a grisly fate.

However, that is not Fennec's concern. What concerns her is the 'thing' inside.

As the light from the hovering lantern lighted the dark interior of the container in a hue of crimson, a figure is sitting cross-legged on what appeared to be a coffin is now looking back at her with glassy glowing red eyes. The face of the figure is a a withered, shrunken horror, with angry eyes set deep above parched cheeks. His teeth have gone helter-skelter, and his goatee and long mustache hang in shreds. His top hat resembles a dented tin can, and its upper surface has fallen open. A skull and crossbone is enblazoned on the tophat. Around his neck, he wears a necklace with two crocodile teeth. His outfit is a tattered parody of a stage magician's outfit, wearing a dark maroon undertaker tailcoat and black pants, white spats over black shoes, a purple vest under his coat that doesn't entirely cover his midriff, and a red cummerbund, discolored and torn.

" **Ah, finally someone is checking on me**." His heavily accented voice is slow and rusty from several decades of disuse, but still carries forth his smoldering fury.

"Him needs your services now." Fennec informed the cadaverous lich the reason of her visit. The lich frowned and started combing his goatee, and Fennec is particularly uneasy by the way he is staring at her. The look that the undead figure is giving her is akin to that of an experimental subject for his latest magic trick. Unfortunately, the 'volunteers' often will not survive his experiments, and those that do wished that they did not survive.

" **Requesting for a service while imprisoning me is not very convincing at all isn't it?** " The revenant voiced out his displeasure at the way the conversation was conducted. The container started to shake and Fennec knew that the only reason why nothing had happened so far is because the ward is suppressing his power. But the ward can't survive against a dedicated and concerted effort to break through its protective layers.

"Him took you out from that Iron Maiden." Fennec tried to keep the monster within her means of control but the sentence only served to further infuriate the zombie even more than it should be.

" **And? Does that make me indebted to Him? I am with you not out of my gratitude, but for my revenge.** " The figure gets up from the Iron Maiden and drags its feet , drawing closer towards Fennec. Fennec swallowed hard, and she realized that she had taken a step back instinctively. As the figure finally reaches the edge of the container, the lich appear to bump into something and a deep hiss is heard. Fennec realized that she needs to convey the point across and decided to use the main reason why the walking cadaver would cooperate with them.

"The cause of your vengeance is the reason why I'm here." Fennec informed the eldritch being, knowing well that it is perhaps the only way to keep it focused on her.

" **Now we are talking.** " The revenant gives a wide horrifying grin that can shatter a person's resolve.

 _This is going to be much tougher than I_ _thought_ , Fennec thought to herself. Fennec has serious doubts of the unholy alliance lasting more than its first contact with the enemy, seeing that it is a self-serving monster.

" **It will be tougher indeed, but I'll play along if it is...shall we say...tolerable.** " The corpse answered, causing a great alarm in Fennec. The figure wheezed as he chuckled as if its lungs is running out of air. The lich taps his temple with its dessicated and bony index finger in a mocking manner before moving its hand from his temple and producing a hand of playing cards. He pulled out a card and revealed a Joker card to Fennec. The meaning is not lost on Fennec; the figure before her is a wild card, a card used to represent any other card but with specific restrictions whose role must be agreed upon before the cards are dealt and the game commence.

" **The Great Abracadaver will put on a show worthy of a lifetime...and beyond.** " The eldritch lich smiled and takes a bow, ready to let the world see his reality-shattering performance once more.


	52. Chapter 52: Knowing The Subconscious

Chapter 52: Knowing The Subconscious

"Gross, gross, gross..."

Bubbles is not pleased that she is covered entirely in blood, but it is better than continuously being drenched in blood. As she looked out the large crevice that she took shelter with her unexpected companion, there is no sign of the blood rain ever stopping. The crevice within the mesa is more akin to a cave, for it is large enough to house them both and the ceiling height of the crevice is several feet tall. The cool but dry surroundings within the crevice is comfortable enough for Bubbles, for being drenched with liquid is not the most pleasant of experiences.

As Bubbles twist a part of her skirt to squeeze out the blood from her dress, her eyes are now upon the dark shadow calling itself Break. The silhouette appears to be just a solid mass of darkness in the shape of the orange-haired Rowdyruff Boy, with its solid crimson eyes the only visible feature that pops out. It appears that the figure is also drenched in blood, as it is twisting its 'hair' to expel the blood. The apparition then takes a seat a a feet away from Bubbles, putting his hands on its crossed legs.

"So...Break right?" Bubbles attempts to start a conversation and the dark shadow-like character turns its head to face her.

As two crimson globes stares at her with disinterest Bubbles is still feeling uneasy over its particular appearance, but it sure beats being the only one in this unfamiliar dreamscape.

" _Yes_?" Break answered the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl while continuing to get rid of all the blood running down its body. Break's voice is a distorted voice, sounding exactly like Brick with his voice being duplicated by a reverberating echo that is slightly out of sync, unnerving the Powerpuff Girl with its discordance.

"Sorry if this sounds a little rude...but what are you?" Bubbles asked, confident enough to know that it will not hurt her whatever the shadowy figure may be.

" _I'm Brick's failsafe device._ " Break answered in a clipped manner.

"So...you're always here?" Bubbles asked, not knowing why Brick would have such an entity, or to be precise such a function, within his body. However the dark entity finds a little offense to the way Bubbles asked the question.

" _I've always been here. I should be asking you that question actually._ " Break threw an inquiry back at Bubbles, the ball now at Bubbles' court.

"Right, I'm sorry. I'm...I'm here to help Brick."

" _Sure._ " Break shrugged.

Bubbles is unsure if the dark shadow-like figure is lying or not, but the sentient shadow appears to be friendly enough for her to tell it the reason why she is in here in the first place. The figure raised an eyebrow, or appears to do so, casting a shadow of caution on both Break and Bubbles. Both individuals are silent once more as the torrential downpour of blood continued on outside, knowing well of the awkwardness between are uncertain about the objectives of the other in this dreamscape and they are utter strangers to each other. Or to be exact, Bubbles is the stranger in this world. Break is familiar enough with Bubbles to know that she means no harm, as Brick's interaction with Bubbles always calmed the mindscape within Brick. The lunch meetings in particular always provides a calming gentle winds in the savanna which Break is fond of. But Bubbles' presence within this surreal landscape raises a warning flag within Break as no one else is suppose to intrude into this sacred sanctum of their psyche.

"So...does it rain often here?" Bubbles attempted her second try to initiate a conversation with Break once more, and Break figured that it is best to answer the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl. After all, it is easier to engage with a more willing participant than a reluctant one.

" _It doesn't rain in here._ " Break replies and his answer catches Bubbles by surprise.

"It doesn't?"

" _The rain started since the fight with Him._ " Break informed as he looked outwards towards the crack in the crevice, and the rumbling sound of thunder can be heard. Bubbles looked at the apparition and wondered why it is looking at the skies with eyes clouded by unease. Bubbles felt that the situation is a little too depressing for her liking.

"Brick must be down under the weather huh?" Bubbles tried to joke it off, but it seems that Break missed the point.

" _No...I think it's a wound in his soul. Him did rip out something from within Brick's soul. Took a big chunk of Brick and myself as well, and his psyche is bleeding._ "

"Ripped...out...something?" Bubbles asked with unease in her voice, unsure about what the shadowy figure is talking about. Ripping out a part of a person's soul sounds life-threatening but she is not familiar with the concept of a soul as she had never faced a situation where souls are involved.

" _I need to know what it took from Brick._ " Break's eyes narrows into near slits.

Bubbles is silent once more, knowing well that it is a very sensitive topic and it is not in her best interest to agitate the Brick-like being. Bubbles take a rest next to the sitting apparition, partially due to the dropping temperature of the crevice, but also her own curiosity to see the Brick-like apparition up close. As she sneak a few glances at the apparition, she noticed the vein-like patterns from the side of its eyes pulsing with red energy with every heartbeat. Bubbles is tempted to touch the shadow-like being with her hands, but at the same time she knows that nothing is as it seems. Instead she asked the entity a question instead.

"Why?" Bubbles asked.

Two glowing red eyes are now looking at Bubbles in the eye, and her heart jumped a little. She is still not used to Break's demonic appearance, her heart still beating from the initial fright. As the two red eyes are now staring into her soul, a cold chill runs down her spine. The entity reads the expression on Bubbles' face like a book and the two eyes are now frowning before he look away.

" _We are two sides of the same coin, and one can't live without the other. If I can't find Brick, I will fade. If he can't find me, he will fade._ " Break points towards his chest, and Bubbles can finally see a dim flash of dull crimson glowing from inside his chest. It pulses weakly with every beat, and each beat was longer than the one before.

Bubbles decided that it is best to be silent about it, for it is best to not say anything in this situation.

It suited Break just fine. 

* * *

The Powerpuff Girl and the apparition sat down in silence as the sound of a torrential rainstorm crashed on the mesa with the percussive sound of thunder rumbling accompanying the rain drops. Bubbles have no idea how much time had passed since they were taking shelter in the cave, but it is long enough that Bubbles can sense her restless heartbeat. The rain of blood is still continuing outside and shows no sign of stopping. The torrential downpour of blood continued on with greater intensity making it now nearly impossible for them to get out from the cave.

"Alright." Bubbles clapped her hands before getting decided that since it will take a while for the downpour of blood to stop, she'll have to do something about keeping themselves warm.

Break turned towards Bubbles for a moment before turning its attention back towards the wall in front of him. Break is not interested in Bubbles,' present actions for this is the first time he had interacted with her in any meaningful way. Most of the time Break is just an observer, watching Brick and this girl interacted with each other in this world of his. However, Brick is now missing and the girl that was once across the veil of existence is now here with him. He is not even sure how that worked, but he needs to find Brick fast.

Break shortly noticed that the girl bend her body a little and soon started to feel the angle between the ground and the walls of the sheltering cave. Break's disinterest soon turned into a genuine curiosity as she started humming a tune as she felt the ground between them. It soon dawned on Break that she was looking for something and he decided to observe her a little watches her actions intently as she heads back to where he is and the blonde girl returns with some dried things and she dumps them a few feet in front of him. Bubbles moved away from the things she just dumped and is now looking on the ground on all fours to find something that is only apparent to her. Break finds the view of her moving around very intriguing, and he can her mumbling about something as she looked around.

A sudden exclamation is a sign that she found what she is looking for.

Bubbles walked back to the pile of things with what appeared to be two flat rocks and she soon kneel down and started to scrape the two rocks together. The action continued for a good while, and finally Break decided to stand up and walk up to her.

" _What are you doing?_ " Break asked, intrigued by her odd action of scraping two rocks together in front of a bunch of things she scrounged up from the cave.

"Making a fire! Don't you feel cold?" Bubbles asked the dark apparition and the apparition is particularly perplexed.

" _Um...no. Not really._ " Break answered, not really understanding the question.

"Oh right...you're a shadow. Shadow's are supposed to be dark and cold." Bubbles puts her index finger on her temple as if she is thinking about something while her eyes are looking up towards an imaginary thought bubble. Seeing that she may need some help after all, Break was tempted to ask Bubbles about her thoughts. However it appeared that it is best to leave this particular odd one some time for her to articulate her thoughts. Bubbles thought for a while before she gave the shadowy being her best answer, which came out more like a question.

"Something to light up and make a fire?" Bubbles puts out her tongue in jest, and with a wink to boot. Break shaped one of his eyes to resemble a raised eyebrow, and realized that her request is particularly simple to do. Why would she struggle to do so, he wonder.

" _I can just do this instead._ " Break narrowed his eyes and opened his palm.

A dark red flame burst out from his palm, surprising the Powerpuff Girl. The apparition threw the flame on the random things and the flame is soon alight in front of Break and Bubbles. Bubbles' eye sparkle with excitement as the flame grew larger. Break shrugged as the flame finally stopped growing and the crevice is now alight with a red glow. Bubbles soon take a seat beside Break and the two are now watching the flame instead, huddled around the flame and making themselves comfortable as the sparking sound of the flame echoed in the crevice. As the bright crimson day turned to a near-black crimsom night, both individuals are now glad that the flame helped keep them warm and the chamber well-lit. Time passed by and it felt a little odd not saying anything for such a period of time.

" _So...Bubbles right_?" Break decided that this time, he should strike the conversation instead.

"Yeah, that's me. What's up?" Bubble's baby blue eyes are now looking at Break, her eyes sparkle with every flicker of the fire in front of them.

" _Why did you allow Brick to kiss you?_ " Break's question made Bubbles coughed, as she was not expecting the dark figure to ask her that particular question. Break did not notice the awkwardness of the question as he awaited the Powerpuff Girl to regain her composure once more. Bubbles covered her mouth before she speak to him, her eyes looking away from Break.

"Seriously, you don't have any tact." Bubbles blushed as she looked away from Break.

" _Tact? It is the truth is it not?_ " Break asked her, not aware that he is just plowing through any sensibility of understanding Bubbles' embarrassment. Bubbles mumbled her reply, but Break didn't really hear her well. Perhaps she need him to speak up more.

" _Seriously, I find you a little flirty at the beginning. But when Brick decided to kiss you, you went all submissive. I do not understand it at all._ " Break mentioned as the flame danced in front of him. Bubbles struggled to answer the question, for she is not really sure what happened at that moment as well. Noticing Bubbles perplexed look,Break decided to give a little context to the question asked.

" _I didn't appear until three years ago. So I don't know much about my host._ " Break explained, and Bubbles opened her mouth, voicing out a silent 'Ah' to Break before answering him. Break is now rather attentive to what Bubbles had to say about the reasoning behind her actions.

"We grew up hating and fighting each other. Brick's a real brat. A bossy one actually. Mean. Rude. Reckless. Hotheaded. Selfish. Quick to trade fists." Bubbles remembered the main traits of the Rowdyrufd Boy during the time when they were adversaries, and Break's eyes narrowed in confusion.

" _No redeeming feature whatsoever._ " Break voiced out his opinion, knowing that his comment is the exact cause for his confusion. Bubbles nod her head, and she gives out a small smile which Break finds a little hard to follow.

"Boys are always stupid when they're young. I mean, the Rowdyruff Boys got superpowers, which makes it worse, but they're still boys in the end. We Powerpuff Girls always clashed with them when we are young." Bubbles laughed it off. Break noticed that Bubbles appear to be remembering a time that passed a long time ago, the nostalgia as obvious as the full moon in the dark night sky. A time when he is nothing but the darkness.

" _In that case, why are you here? Why do you want to help Brick?_ "

"Yeah, I wondered why as well." Bubbles said with a sigh, shaking her head but smiling at the same time.

" _He sounds like a really unreasonable character, and I will admit he is still behaves like that today._ " Break voices out his opinion, and Bubbles turned around to look at the red-eyed apparition.

"Well, I guess..." Bubbles rolled her eyes with a grin that acknowledging his faults.

" _But why him? He's moody, grumpy, anti-social, intimidating-_ " A finger soon rests on the part of Break's face where his lips would be, and Bubbles closed her eyes for a moment before opening them up again for Break to gaze into her zircon-colored eyes. She lifts her finger off his face and turned her attention back towards the flame.

"Honestly I didn't expect myself to like him in the first place. When I first met him after all this years, he's as intimidating as ever, and honestly much more intimidating than before. As I watched him, I worry that he will hurt someone, and indeed he almost did. But then I realized that people are just afraid of him, and for that they stayed away from him. The time when he was getting his lunch at the cafeteria and people parted away in fear made me realize that if everyone hates me, I would hate the world as well."

" _Okay..._ " Break said, listening closely to what the Powerpuff Girl have to say. Bubbles drew a circle in the dirt on the ground and she continued on speaking.

" So I did what my sister couldn't; I decided to talk to him. One thing leads to another and here we are. I am talking to Brick's fail-safe device in his dreams." Bubbles then stretches her arms upwards before getting up from the ground and started stretching her legs. Break soon realize why Brick is always uneasy around her. The way she stretches her body accentuates her body curves and her bodily assets, and if Break is a entity of flesh and blood, he will be excited by this display. Alas, he is always the straight cold man to Brick's warm, fiery boyish personality.

" _So you talked to him and all this turned around like that? I don't get it._ " Break is clearly not understanding how their development escalated to such an extent.

"You don't need to. I personally believe in the goodness in everyone, even people like Brick. And somehow I was right. Brick turned out to be more well-mannered the more I spoke to him, and he acts the way he did with everyone else because they judged him first and not taking the time to know him as a person. And he is trying very hard to not be what the world think he is. Alone among the Rowdyruff Boys, he's the one most concerned with his image, as if he is trying to hide many things from the world." Bubbles gives Break a sad grin, knowing well that she might have opened Pandora's box with the statement.

" _Like me._ " Break points to his dimly glowing chest.

"Like you." Bubbles reiterates as she tilts her head and her sad grin turns into a more genuine wide grin. Break looked at her and his crimson eyes relaxed a little, and somehow understood why Brick is drawn to her. The way she conducted herself, her viewpoint, and with her looks, this is what Brick needs to fill the gaps in his wounded and battered heart.

 _He just needs someone that will accept him for who he is, not for what he is_ , Break thought in his mind. Break laments that he is unable to play that role.

But then something happened. Something subtle but obvious enough that Break and Bubbles stopped their conversation despite not knowing what happened. The silence that slowly permeates the cave is now slowly becoming a deafening silence, and both individuals realize what is missing.

The blood rain has stopped.

" _That's bad._ " Break voiced his concern.

"How is that bad?" Bubbles asked.

" _I am going to check what's going on outside._ " Break gets up and walks towards the exit of the cavernous area. Bubbles followed shortly after and the pair are now at the mouth of the cave and an unusual sight greets them. The whole reddish landscape is now covered in pure blackness and theirs eyes could not see any further. Break lights up a flame in his palm and slowly takes his first few steps towards the darkness accompanied by Bubbles. Slowly but surely they ventured away from the entrance to see what else they can find in this land of true darkness.

"What's going on? Why is it so dark?" Bubbles looked around the pitch black surroundings and trying her best to keep track of the distance between them and the cave opening. If it were not for the flame in his arm and his glowing red eyes, Bubbles would have lost sight of Break.

" _I don't know but something just happened. And that something is making me feel very uneasy._ "

The darkness is broken by the sudden appearance of a bizarre sight of an alabaster white disc shining brightly in the black skies. A dark glowing red miasma soon formed itself before Break and Bubbles, and Break and Bubbles can only watch as the dark miasma glowed with even greater intensity. A slender, powerfully built animal-like figure with a large, deeply descending rib, a sloping back and a heavily muscled neck slowly formed from the miasma. The legs are moderately long, and the ears are relatively small and triangular. A slowly elongated part of the miasma soon formed into a sharp snout-like object. As it slowly rises, it soon tower over Break and Bubbles and several eyes with a totally black pupil at the center soon opened up from the miasma and the sharp,elongated part soon split apart to show rows of sharp bone fang-like teeth. The head soon morphed into a bestial head resembling a grotesque mix between a wolf and a crocodile with six large tusks, three on each side, protruded from the fulcrum-region of its mouth.

Several flame-like protrusions soon started to form on its body before turning into tendrils resembling a grotesque combination of broken razors, flaming vines and Venus flytraps at the end of each protrusion. A mane and an elongated end of the body soon turned into a conflagration of dark red flames, lighting up the dark body of the being with a crimson red glow. Bubbles watched in horror as the growl of the bestial being before them rumbles through Bubbles' body. Bubbles' heart is now starting to pound louder than the vibrations she is sensing in her body as the darkly majestic abomination rise up to its full height and snarl at Break and Bubbles, baring its rows of vicious teeth at Break and Bubbles.

"That's a very big wolf-thing." Bubbles was so shocked that her reply is oddly serene and peaceful as her brain are trying to make sense of the optical feedback from her eyes.

" _That's new._ " Break corrected the Powerpuff Girl.

"New?" Bubbles asked calmly, but her internal state of her mind is anything but calm.

" _And as with all new things..._ " Break slowly raises his hand and points at the looming wolf-thing, causing the snarl of the abomination before them to become more aggressive and reverberating through the air like an echo.

 _What are you doing?_ , Bubbles asked herself in her mind, knowing that she this situation can not possibly get any worse. Alas, Break proved her wrong by completing his sentence.

" _I'm going to hit it and see what happens._ " Before Bubbles can say anything else, Break fires the beams from its eyes and it made contact with the beast's face. The towering behemoth howled as the smoke form the blast clouds its face.

"Oh." Bubbles said curtly, realizing that this is a dream to begin with, and anything goes in a dream. Bubbles cursed the power of imagination, subconscious thoughts, and repressed emotions in forming the psyche of a person's appearance in a dream world and letting it act in the most foolish way possible. The jaws of the being before them widened and the shark-like rows of teeth facing them is made worse by the drooling from the mouth of the creature as well as its snake-like tongue flickering in the air.

" _Oh?_ " Break finds Bubbles' response to be particularly short, as she is often a little more chatty.

"You're an idiot Break. You really are." Bubbles said without any tone of anger, but instead a tone of acceptance of her situation.

An anguished and furious howl came out from the being's jaws and the earth shook so violently that Bubbles and Break lost their balance, and they only managed to stay upright as they bumped into each other and act as one another's support. Break felt something soft pressing against his chest, or to be exact _two_ soft things pressing against his chest. Seeing the situation not being in their favor at all, Break grab Bubbles by the hip and with one arm lift the blonde girl in a bridal carry and started sprinting away into the crevice once more. The monster immediately gave chase and now Beak is frantically running in a crisscross manner for both their lives. Several loud snaps justified Break's actions as several more tendrils crashed downwards,hellbent on getting Break and Bubbles.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO HIT THE DAMN THING!?" Bubbles shrieked, the need to know the answer to this question is very important to her despite the imminent danger that they are facing.

" _I DON'T KNO-WHOA!_ " Break was interrupted as he avoided another snapping jaw from the beast. Break fired off a pair of beams from his eyes, hitting the creature directly into one of its eyes. Instead of stopping the creature, it became infuriated and a guttural roar exits the abomination's mouth.

"THAT'S NOT VERY CLEVER!" Bubbles yelled out.

" _DON'T YOU THINK I ALREADY KNOW THAT?!_ " Break snapped back at her. If he knew that Bubbles will be this annoying, he will definitely leave her alone to her fate. As the cave where they came out from is coming closer in view, Break knew that he will not make it in his present speed. Concentrating all the energy into his legs, Break jumped into the crevice with Bubbles in tow, missing another bite from the creature's jaws. As Bubbles and Break scurry away from the mouth of the crevice, and in effect moving away from the jaws of the abomination behind them. Both Break and Bubbles watched as the creature clawed at the mouth of the crevice, and both of them edged a little back to avoid any chance of the monster grabbing them.

"Seriously...thank goodness we are so close to the cave." Bubbles sighed in relief.

" _I wouldn't count on it._ " Break saw the edges of the crevice-like cave cracking apart with every attempt the bestial being attempted to get at them. With every slam and roar, both individuals knew that they do not have much time. Break look into the chamber where they are at and he notices something that could prove to be useful for this situation. Break taps Bubbles on the shoulder and after catching her attention, he points towards the direction where he was looking at moments ago.

" _There. It appears to be a cavern network. Let's move._ " Break waited for Bubbles to nod her head before grabbing her arm and lead her into the only escape route they can see.

As they ran into the cavern, the light from the entrance faded away and Brick lighted a flame in his palm, acting as a makeshift lantern for them to navigate in this cave inside a mesa. The growling from the bestial being continued on and echoed throughout the cavernous network. As the time passed on, the roaring sound soon gave way to the sound of a deafening silence and Break and Bubbles decided that they can now be at ease. Break tossed a flame down on the ground and the red flame soon illuminate the area where they are standing at.

" _This would do, and we need to rest._ " Break adviced the blonde Powerpuff Girl with the pigtails.

"Yeah." Bubbles straightened up her skirt and takes a seat near the flame.

" _At least we are out of that creature's sight._ " Bubbles is fatigued and the weariness is now seeping into her body, signalling that she needs to rest. Even the shadowy figure before her is closing its crimson eyes, and she will have to ask the burning question in her mind when the shadow is awake. Bubbles slowly closes her eyes and as her vision blurred into darkness, the last thought in her mind flashes.

 _This is going to be a real drag._

* * *

[Him's Sanctum]

The skies are showing random clips of a bunch of African-American singers wearing rather bright and campy outfits dancing and playing instruments while performing a song that is the epitome of happiness and joyfulness, conjuring the images of clear skies and dancing under the stars through a prismatic and psychedelic lens. The campiness of the music and the images are as bizarre and disorienting as the world itself spins around in a display of madness.

Below this images, a crimson figure in a dress robe is now watching three screens before it, lying down on the couch with a beauty mask plastered on its face, revealing only its emerald eyes visible. A smile etches itseld on the dark overlord's face as it watched what the screen is displaying; The Powerpuff Girls. The first screen showed Blossom being treated by a field medic surrounded by a younger Brick and Boomer. The second screen showed Buttercup walking down a street while talking with Boomer down a busy pedestrian walk. The last screen Bubbles alongside a figure made out of darkness lying down around a fire in a dark place.

" _This is pure entertainment right here!_ " The effeminate cacophonous squeal of both a high pitched female voice and a deep baritone exited its lips.

Him clearly had enjoyed every moment of its machination and those events that are outside Him's control. The dreams are definitely something that Him did not expect to see, for its plan had gone off a tangent that is far more entertaining than it planned. The boys themselves provided a cage that trapped the Powerpuff Girls in the dreamscape of the Rowdyruff Boys. That played a melody in its mind, and a joyful smile etches on its face.

Him's plan will come to fruition, with or without the Powerpuff Girls or the Rowdyruff Boys. But all Him want in the process is for it to be much more exciting and entertaining. Accomplishing its objective is boring unless there is something to struggle against. If the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls succumbed to their dream forays, it would be a great loss for Him, but at the same time their current ordeal is particularly entertaining. As the sensation of the raw emotions flows out from these dreams of the six of the most powerful beings in the world, Him shudder in an euphoric excitement for the insecurities of the Rowdyruff Boys and the strong emotions of the Powerpuff Girls in their quest to get the boys out from their dream is fueling every fiber of its operations to a feverish pitch.

" _Such diverse and intense emotions...I regret nothing_." Him mutters to itself as it watches the three screens before it. Only those little boys and girls can even reach to the levels of emotional energy that can further enrich Him and its agendas. The Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys grew up to be such fine young adults in Him's eyes, and they have broken all its expectations of them. Him closed its eyes as it slowly lean back on its couch and as Him's body relaxes, the scenery changes within the realm once more.

The scenery of the band turned into a serene and azure bright sky with not a cloud in sight, surrounded by a clear, transparent blue ocean and Him's couch is now resting on a pristine white beach with several coconut trees shading Him. Him is truly enjoying itself as it saw how the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls interacted with each other. It will rest here until the final phase of its plan reached its checkpoint.

" _So boys and girls, don't disappoint me. Or else you'll make me a very sad demon._ "


	53. Chapter 53: Splintermind

Chapter 53: Splintermind

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, 9.30pm]

Him survey the city of Townsville from the rooftops of one of the rundown buildings in the Ghetto facing the more affluent part of Townsville. Him is confident that they will be able to bulldoze all resistance before them. Him had never used an army to take over Townsville, and he is surprised by how effective it is to bring down a city with an army backed with science and magic.

"Milord di preparations inna place wi cya start fi wi invasion at any moment."

An unnaturally tall-and lanky red-skinned man of African descent with several pairs of arms kneels down before Him. Ananse is Him's chief intelligence officer, and his web of information and misinformation is one of the three reasons why they were able to grow exponentially, the other two reasons being Fennec's charismatic command of both the Lunatics and her Candy production facilities, and the combined military might of Tigress, Murciélago and Medved. Now with the eldritch powers of Abracadaver on their side, there is nothing that will be able to stop them save for the Powerpuff Girls and perhaps Rowdyruff Boys.

" _Good. Have you disposed of the Hornet?_ " Him asked.

"It ave been dun Milord, him taken care of." Ananse answered.

" _What about the thing we had procured from the fort Ananse_?"

"Fennec say dat it now operational an wi be waiting fi yuh ordas to activate it. Production of Candy now spiking up." Ananse reported, his eyes gazing down on the ground.

" _Good, it was wise to let the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys be trapped in the dreamworld after all. Link me to everyone_." Him commanded, and the many-limbed lieutenant produced a tablet for Him to communicate with the head of the Lunatics. The screen soon showed the braided brunette with a scar on her cheeks facing Him, and behind her is the sight of a large unidentifiable object. The screen soon splits apart and the other Lunatic lieutenants are now showing up one by one on the screen. The burly gray-haired Russian is now looking at the screen, his background showing a tanker ship unloading its cargo of armored vehicles and crates on an unidentified pier.

"Him, your timing is always bad." A slurred and damaged raspy female voice commented as her screen goes live. The screen shows a blonde Asian woman with a towel wrapped around her scar-filled body with a severely damaged upper jaw that caused her left cheek to be sunken and a drooping eyelid. Her rotten decaying upper gums is visible and all but a few teeth have melted away with the few remaining having been mutilated and deformed. The Asian crime lady takes a denture-like object with a partial jaw and slowly inserted it into her mouth, and a popping sound is heard causing her sunken face to assume a normal face with normal teeth once more.

" _Sorry dear. I didn't know."_

"Now you know." The Asian crime lady's voice is now back to her deep and commanding feminine voice.

The last screen to come online is that of the Hispanic crime lord, and it seems that he was in a midst of something dreadful, judging by the copious amount of blood on its clothes and bat-like mask. Several figures can be seen in the background, and what appear to be a man strapped to a chair is gagged and is now screaming through the gag. Murcielargo exits the room and closes the door before responding to the rest of the Lunatic command.

"Yes?" Murcielargo answered. Him decided to ignore the Hispanic gangster's unsavory activity and asked for Fennec's status report.

" _How is the production of the Candy? Is it sufficient to power up the 'thing'?_ "

"Production is up by three hundred per cent, and we have more than enough to power up the 'thing'. Your plan works." Fennec informed, but Him can sense her unease and discomfort. Him knew precisely the source of Fennec's concerns.

" _We had made a deal about it._ " Him's assurances calmed down the Frenchwoman a little, but only barely. Her silence is all Him needs to know that Fennec will enact its will. Him knew that Fennec's motivation are linked to those of the well-being of the Rowdyruff Boy's survival, and as long as Him did not kill them or made them lose their lives, she will remain loyal.

Indeed, all of Him's top lieutenants had something that Him held with an iron grip as part of their deals. Ananse for example is deeply indebted to his 'friends from the other side' and Him decided to buy over his debts from his debtors. Medved is on his death bed as he is in Stage Four cancer when Him arrived to offer him a warrior's death if he can find it himself. Murciélago desire to avenge his family from a police bust gone wrong is sufficient enough to turn the Hispanic over, while Tigress' abuse by sex traffickers called Him to give her the salvation she needs.

" _How's Abracadaver doing? I would assume that his walk in the park is eventful?_ " Him inquired.

"He's...a monster." Fennec answered, seeing that it is the only way she can described the lich.

" _Abracadaver is the distraction what we need in order for us to move with the other elements of the plan. Inform everyone to proceed to the second phase of Operation Pantheon._ " Him said coldly, knowing well that the undead magician is a maelstrom of vengeance made manifest.

"Noted." Fennec's feed is cut, and Him moved on towards Medved.

" _For everyone else, is everything ready on your side?"_

" _Da_ , all good and quiet on Western front. All MJ-05s mounted on every pick-up truck we can find. New batch of weapons now docking in, This latest shipment distribute to our forces in Townsville. All other forces in United States armed already." Medved reported as the loading crew behind him are hard at work.

" _Los Noches_ ready to strike across the nation along with all the other gangs that we had submitted under our control. Mara Salvatrucha , Bario Dieciocho, Latin Kings, you name it, they will move out."

"My forces are ready to infiltrate behind enemy lines and cause further distraction and sabotage." Tigress reported as she slowly braid her hair.

" _Good, good. Operation Pantheon will now proceed to its second phase. Please see to it that it is implemented._ " Him informed its lieutenants. All the lieutenants nodded or acknowledged Him's command before turning off their screens. Him passed the tablet back to the many-limbed Lunatic, and one of his arms took the tablet from Him's pincers. Him crossed its arm before giving out its command to the Lunatic before Him.

" _Keep me abreast of all developments."_

"Yes Milord." The tall, lanky grotesque man acknowledges the command before being swallowed up by a reddish-pink cloud.

Him turned its attention towards the city once more, and a smile crept up on the crimson demon's face. As Him hops a little from the roof before levitating in mid-air, it decided that it will also be joining in the dream world of the Rowdyruff Boys and play around while awaiting the response from all its lieutenants. The demon crossed its leg in a lotus position and closed its eyes and rests its pincers on its knees before closing its eyes. Him entered into trance-like meditative state, excited by what it will experience within the dream world.

* * *

 _It's good to use my powers_ , Boomer thought as he hopped over the buildings and into the night skies of Aleppo.

After his stupid brother is knocked out by his sudden berserking impulses, Boomer had been assigned the duty of scouting behind enemy lines and is now returning to camp. It is something of Boomer's _forte_ , as his hypersenses are leagues above his brothers and the same can be said about his mobility. Last but not least, he has an invaluable ability that even his brothers are not aware of; thermo-optic camouflage. The ability to become invisible by bending light using electromagnetic powers is something he found thanks to their French commander, and since then Boomer had been assigned with countless intelligence missions. There is nothing like moving his body naturally without any restrictions, and his brothers are nowhere around him to reprimand him for it. Alas, he was reminded that he was not allowed to use his superpowers to kill, but instead to immobilize or impend enemy forces by the CIA and also Renee herself. Or else. Still, Boomer will admit that it would be easier to just kill the men than to let them survive. Figuratively of course, but he can always do it literally if he had to.

 _Huh, what's that?_

Boomer noticed a figure on the rooftop of the building that they had made their base in, and upon closer observation he saw the redheaded girl known as Blair lurching over the edges of the roof puking. He decided to land a little closer to the young teenager. As Boomer decelerated, he touched down upon the roof of the building with the grace of a cat. The teenage girl turned around, surprised by his appearance. Boomer sensed the uneasiness of the situation as he looked at the slender red-headed girl. There is a bit of what Boomer called a 'darkness' surrounding her and it appeared that she had just saw something shocking.

 _Looks like she just saw death_ , Boomer posits. Boomer remembered his first time seeing death and it is not a pleasant experience, and he is a guy at that. But Boomer tend to be a little more simple-minded than his brothers, and maybe his conclusion is a little hasty. Boomer decided that he will ask her instead.

"Boomer?" The rose-eyed teenager said his name, and Boomer is forced to look around to see if anyone else is on the roof. No one is supposed to know the true name of Porthos the superhuman. Seeing that there is not a soul in sight, Boomer breathes out once more, and he can see the teenager's slender body trembling and the paleness of her already fair skin marred her rather pleasing features.

"What's up? You looked like you just saw a dead person." Boomer saw the red-haired girl jerked at his words before turning around and puking once more, and Boomer sensed that he is right on the mark. Before he can asked her what happened, Blair pointed towards a ledge and Boomer took a few steps towards the opposite ledge and looked down to see a man with a smashed head and broken limbs lying still on the ground. Boomer wondered what happened before the copper-haired woman answered the thoughts in his mind.

"Renee pushed him down. A few men...they said he killed a family in cold blood...and Renee...she said he had to take responsibility." The slender woman's words are weak, and there is a lingering shock in her voice.

"Ah...he did that huh?" Boomer said softly, and that seemed to cause a reaction of disbelief from the red-haired teenager. Boomer looked at her, and he is now aware that his expression is a little more muted than it was supposed to be. What may be common sense for a person may be madness for another.

The copper-haired woman before Boomer appeared to be shocked and Boomer knew that the teenager came from another world. A convenient world, where morality are black and white. As the rose-colored eyes looked at him, he became particularly annoyed at her. Something about her pissed him off more than he should. It occurred to him that the reason he became annoyed at her is because of the way she looked at him. It is not the eyes of someone who was shocked of a death before her, but instead eyes that are looking at him as if he is a monster that had taken the form of a human. Then something else flashed in her eyes, and Boomer soon understood the reason for the change in the young woman's expression.

The deafening sound of a shell exploding boomed in his ear, and the earth shook beneath her. Another whistling sound soon pierced his ears and caused Boomer a great amount of discomfort. Several sharp whistling sounds resonated in the air and the percussive chorus of loud booming explosions rumbled deeply throughout Boomer's body. Boomer can feel the aftershock of the vibrations all the way to the bone and the sand-blonde teenager knew that they will have to get out from the roof. Boomer grabbed Blossom's arm and pulled her with him.

"COVER NOW!" Boomer barked.

* * *

Blossom's body immediately reacted and her body moved with Boomer. As they entered into the stairwell, Blossom covered her head as the dust from the ceiling rained down upon her, forcing her to close her eyes and coloring her reddish-brown hair with a coating of grey dust and dirt. Blossom opened her eyes and the uneasiness within her pulsing heart and she struggled to take a breath of air.

"Move! Move! Move!" A gruff man's call to arms is heard as several militiamen are scrambling to action. Blossom struggled to move around as the deafening percussion of explosions and the crescendo of mobilizing men reached a feverish pitch. The staccato of small arms fire joined the cacophony as the militiamen retaliated against the enemy.

"Evacuate the civilians and the injured, now!" The frantic sound of militiamen evacuating the civilians wounded is accompanied by the sound of panicking people and crying children.

"Hold them back! Hold them back at all cost!"

The disorienting chaos of stimuli bombarding Blossom's senses is overwhelming and the teenage girl's weakened state soon gave in as her fatigue got the better of her. Blossom's blurry vision is not helping her balance, and she soon leans on a wall for support. Blossom had no idea where they are, and her depowered body is much more fragile than she thought it would be. As her panting becomes louder, the surrounding sounds are now nothing more than background noises that her senses are now ignoring.

 _I really need to get my act together_ ,Blossom try with all her might to recompose herself. However,something else distracted her from getting her act together.

"MISSILE!"

 _BOOOOMMMM!_

An explosion soon engulf the area and the wall of flame is engulfing the hallway like an encroaching wave. Blossom watched as the burning inferno slowly engulfed everything in its path,catching several individuals in its path and immolating the unfortunate souks. Their skin melted under the immense heat and their body fat further fueled the flame, charring the flesh underneath. The ground below the flame rippled from the shockwave and started to crack open to reveal even more flames trying to rush through the gaps of the broken floor. The fragments from the explosion are now flying in the air, ricocheting as it made contact with the solid surfaces lining the hallway.

 _Crap,_ Blossom's reactions finally met up with her brain. A shattering sound rang through Blossom's ears. Blossom covered her face with her forearms as the fragments gashed her arms and the wall of flame is just a mere inches away from her.

"GET DOWN!" A sudden pull made Blossom fall face down on the ground and as the flames burned past above her, the hellish screams of dying people joined the cacophony of sounds in the maelstrom of battle.

Blossom is stunned by the theater of war as it overwhelmed all her senses. Never once in her life is she exposed to mortality, and being human is terrifying. Injuries that she would have shrugged off usually are now fatal in every way for Blossom in her current state. The fear coursing through her body is latching her down on the ground like burdensome chains, making her a prisoner of her sense of mortality. The monotonous and continuous ringing sound resonating in her ear is compounded by her sense of vertigo as she was pulled up. She saw a man severely burned with oozing fat and melting skin picking up his blown arm casually,and as her eyes pulled away from the sight, another sight of a mass of bodies molten together writhing in pain made Blossom froze.

"Come on, we need to go underground now!" Boomer cried out.

It is not in Blossom's nature to act according to her instincts but the situation calls for her to make the quickest decision she can make. Blossom let her inertia move her body as her mind numbed itself to the horrors of war. Each detail on this macabre tapestry is finely etched on the fabrics of this dream, each colors of war bright and vivid in its most artistic interpretations. The smells of charred flesh and burnt gunpower intruded into Blossom's nose like the most pungent and piercing spices, and as the world around her burned to hell her eyes had stopped processing the sights around her and decided to just let it flow inside her mind.

 _This is the madness of war_ , Blossom's mind woke her up from her stupor, and she finds herself staring at a pair of blue eyes looking back at her.

"Blair!" Boomer called her before his head was hit by a bullet. Blossom wanted to scream, but there is nothing in her that allowed her to respond. It was then that Boomer got up again and rubbing his head. Boomer's annoyance soon showed itself in his glowing cobalt sapphire eyes before he turned towards the direction where the bullet came from and fired a bolt of blue beam. A chorus of screams are heard and Boomer clicked his tongue.

"Damn it! I missed!"

Blossom turned towards the direction where the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy just fired his bolt and she saw several men running away from them, back from the hole in the wall they just came from. A ominous green flashes from the hole in the wall, and even more screams are heard. Blossom is unable to comprehend the significance of the green glow until a lone dark figure appear from the hole in the wall. The darkened figure is a charred mess, and the walking mess soon make its way towards Blossom and Boomer, causing Boomer to shield Blossom behind him.

"God damn it...woke up to find this happening...man my head hurts." Butch voiced out his displeasure in a hoarse voice as he rubbed his head. Blossom reached towards Butch, but Butch turned around and walked away as more strands of muscle regenerated.

"They're gonna pay for this." Butch's cold anger is barely contained in his voice. As Butch turned around, Blossom's eyes widen once more;she had found what she is looking for. Butch's face started to crack and fall down like pieces of a shattered glass. From the broken piece of Butch's face, another face is revealed; a tortured and sullen, and the sunken jadeite eye from the hole spotted Blossom in Boomer's care.

"BUTCH!" Blossom cried out.

* * *

Butch is feeling all the pain in the world as the atmosphere around him appeared to contort wrongly. If there is a way to describe the wrongness of the scene, it will be like looking at a straw in a cup of water. It feels like he is a frame off from the world around him. Butch realized that this is not supposed to happen, and as he moved his hand away from his face, Blossom immediately darted towards Butch. The pulsing of his headache became stronger as he tried to figure out what is going on with him. He sensed that something is very, very wrong as he looked around him. His world is flashing between normal colors and shades of green with every pulsing of his aching head. Another flash happened and in the flashes of green, he saw a view of a hospital ward and him being in a containment tank of some kind. The two conflicting views of the world flashes with every pulsating pain in his head, and the reality-rending experience caused him to grit his teeth.

 _Lub-Dub._

In both his views, he saw people rushing towards him as he experienced his pain. In the normal world view, he saw the red-haired girl holding him as he knelt down on one knee, while on the other green-tinted world two mysterious figures are now in his view. The two figure consist of a square-jawed man with a labcoat and the other figure is a short-haired woman with glasses and in a female office attire. Butch had seen those two figures somewhere before, but he is unable to remember where he had seen them.

 _Lub-Dub._

"Something's wrong with Butch, I need to stabilize him immediately! J.E.E.V.E.S , I need you to provide the following doses to his body now!" The square-jawed man shouted out loud.

 _Lub-Dub!_

"Butch, are you alright?" The rose-eyed girl is now asking him as her eyes are filled with tears. Butch moved his hand away from his head and Blossom's face immediately turned pale. Suddenly the teenage girl rushed towards him and he started screaming out loud from the sudden increase in the pain in his head.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"What's happening to Butch...what's happening to my boy?!" The woman with glasses is now asking the labcoated man. The pixie-haired woman is now teary-eyed as she looked at the labcoated man.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"Butch,Butch! Someone help!" The pink-eyed girl started calling out for aid. Her eyes are now filled with fear as she hold him close to her body. Boomer is now frantically looking around, his blue eyes filled with fear.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"He is experiencing a temporal lobe epilepsy due to his hallucinatory dream episode! J.E.E.V.E.S, I need you to hold him down!" The labcoated man yelled and several robotic arms from the ceiling descended upon Butch.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Butch screamed out as he tried to push back the mechanical arms. However in his blinking view,he saw that he pushed the redhaired girl hard enough that she slammed her to the wall.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"Blair,Boomer there you ar- BUTCH!" Butch saw his red-haired brother looking at him and noticed his crimson eyes are now wide open in fear.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"Whoa!" The labcoated man just barely avoided Butch's fist and a mechanical arm clamped on Butch's wrist. Butch felt a sensation of something being inserted into his mouth by the labcoated man. The man covered his mouth as another mechanical arm latched on to Butch's other arm.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"Boomer, tend to Blair! I'll take care of Butch here!" Brick commanded his sand-blonde brother before lunging towards Butch. Butch watched with great confusion as his brother made contact with his body. Butch watched in horror as more and more mechanical arms are now holding on his limbs and body, while his brother is wrestling him down on the ground.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

Butch can sense that in the green-tinted world, his body is quickly weakening and soon another mechanical with a sryinge appear,poised to insert the pointed part into his body.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub_! _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"She's unconsscious, but so far nothing's broken!" Boomer cried out loud. Butch can see more men coming up towards his brothers and they attempted to hold Butch back with the assistance of hia redhaired brother.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"Jab the cocktail into his body, now!"The lab-coated man cries out and with a decisive plunge,the syringe plunged itself into Butch's neck.

 _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub_ -Dub! _Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub! Lub-Dub!_

"He's too damn- Whoa!" One of the men was launched up in the air for a moment as Butch swing him upwards in the air. Thanks to Brick's quick reaction in grabbing the man,the man was not blown upwards towards the sky and was tossed aside as to not bother with Brick. The others are essentially holding on for dear life on Butch's legs and arms.

"You give me no choice Butch!" Brick clenched his fist and slammed it to the temple of the raven-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

 _Lub-Dub_.

Butch's vision for both worlds immediately started to blur out and soon all he can see is black as both the syringe's contents and his brother's punch take effect.

* * *

Blossom regained consciousness once more and she was greeted by the sight of a heavily injured Butch mounted by a red-haired child and several other men. Blossom is bewildered by the scene unfolding before wanting of a better description as Blossom looked around and noticed that her surroundings is slowing down to a halt. As she slowly rise up and made her way towards Butch, her eyes picked up on the detail that the gaping hole from Butch's face before is now a small crack on Butch's face, the crack glowing malicious luminescent nephrite light. Blossom reached out to touch the crack and to her surprise, she found that it is solid. Several fine hair-like fractures soon appear where Blossom pressed with her fingers.

 _Something's is definitely wrong._

The fracturing reality in front of Blossom is slowly spreading like a glass cracking from the pressure applied to the surface of the glass. Blossom is unable to find a reason for the surreal situation happening before her eyes. The fates decided to not give Blossom enough time to reason and the cracks pieced themselves back together.

"Whoa, I didn't see you there!" Brick voiced his surprise at the sudden appearance of the Powerpuff Girl.

"How'd you-?" Boomer is surprised that somehow the red-haired girl had somehow disappeared from his embrace and is now in front of Brick and Butch.

"It's okay...I'm fine I guess." Blossom replied while rubbing her ribs. It seemed that time had moved once more.

Blossom bruised her ribs from being hit by the struggling Rowdyruff Boy, but the pain is nothing compared to her realization that she had found the Rowdyruff Boy that was trapped in this dream. Butch, the ticking time bomb of this world, a dream is just as unstable and deranged as its owner. The world around her has turned a little more sinister and a sickeningly green tint had descended upon the world.

 _Crack!_

Several more points in reality are now cracking once more and based upon her observation, Blossom had pieced together events that would be key for their escape from this living hell.

 _I understand now_ , Blossom thought. The world fractures whenever Butch is experiencing a stressful event. The green tint and the way in which the dream is fixated on this harrowing period in his life, all are telltale signs of Butch's trauma One way or another, Butch is reliving this memory again and Him is doing this to Butch for no apparent reason other than to make Butch suffer.

"Let's get out of here quick while there's a lull in the assault!" One of the militiamen pointed out.

"Alright let's- Blair? Blair!" Brick called out to her as Blossom's vision slowly become blurry. As her world started to tilt over, a thought flashed into her mind. A thought that Blossom finds that she will need to say before she lost any sense of consciousness, before her body gave out on her.

 _This is messed up, and I need to break Butch free from this tormenting dream._

And Blossom's world turned black.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville.]

Butch is finally subdued and it took fourty-eight mechanical arm and an unique formula meant to put Butch into a comatose stage to stop his epileptic condition. Twenty of those mechanical arms were broken in the struggle and it was only due to a dose of Antidote X pill that Professor Utonium manages to subdue the Rowdyrff Boy.

"Darn...was not expecting that reaction in the containment unit." Professor Utonium knew the risk of opening up the containment chamber that inhibit Butch's superpowers, but he clearly did not expect Butch to lapse into a temporal-lobe seizure in the containment unit. The situation stabilized only through some improvised actions and also the potent cocktail of drugs to prevent the situation from escalating.

"What...what happens now?" Lilith asked the professor.

"I'll have to put Butch into a chemically-induced coma. The state of 'wakeful dreaming' as I would call these hallucinations proved to be too much for his brain to cope."

Professor Utonium is now checking on Butch's pulse, Butch's pulse appears to be feeling thready and soft, barely perceptible to the sensation on Professor Utonium's fingertips. The extreme exhaustion of the Rowdyruff Boy is obvious to Professor Utonium, and the square-jawed man can empathize with the young man. When Butch's neuronal activity spiked to an unprecedented level and his heart rate raced to a near feverish pitch, Professor Utonium was forced to enter in to provide the necessary precaution to stabilize the Rowdyruff Boy. The struggle was unprecedented, for Butch appeared to be trying to get out from something, and the neuronal action caused Butch to bleed from his nose, eyes and ears. If Professor Utonium did not do what he did, Butch's brain might enter into a hypertensile brain hemorrhage and Butch will be a goner.

Professor Utonium had also noticed a rather peculiar and disturbing pattern in the neuronal readings of the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls; the neuronal activity in Blossom's brain is the highest when this incident happened, followed by Brick and Boomer's. The coincidental link between the minds of these few individuals are disturbing, implying that the dreams are linked to a certain degree. Leaving J.E.E.V.E.S and Lilith to tend to the unconscious Rowdyruff Boy, Professor Utonium exited the room and opened up a holographic white board.

"What on earth is going on in their little heads..." Professor Utonium voice his thoughts out loud as he drew on the holographic platform, determined to find out the events happening in all their dreams.


	54. Chapter 54: A Heartfelt Meal

Chapter 54: A Heartfelt Meal

Buttercup did not expect her walk with Boomer, or Tom as he's known in this world, to be so nice and relaxing. If this is the Boomer she know, this would end up with some kind of cringe-worthy pun or lame joke. But here in this dreamworld, Boomer is particularly charming and the way in which he carries himself is just a cut above the rest. She may be a tomboy, but she does appreciate a well-mannered gentleman and one that can talk to her without any fear or unease of her. The boys in her life are either brutish or idiotic, and this Boomer is not any of those. Unfortunately for her, the sights of the city is marred by the simple fact that she is color-blind in this world.

 _Everything's gray_ , Buttercup lamented as they stroll down the walkway. Tom tapped Buttercup's shoulder,signalling that they had reached their destination.

"Well, here we are. I just need to get something over here." Boomer informed the peridot-eyed girl.

They stood in front of a structure that can best be described as a particularly dull building in a walled compound. Despite its rather unassuming architecture, Buttercup is perplexed by the uncanny familiarity of structure's layout. As Boomer lead her towards the gate, Buttercup's eyes are trained on the courtyard through the grills of the gate, her mind still trying to piece the puzzle together.

"Father Maxwell! Are you in?"

 _Ah,_ Buttercup realized why this structure is so familiar. If one take out the trimmings and added in a few more green bushes and some playground equipment, this is the Maxwell orphanage in a flash. Now she knows for sure that she is in Boomer's dreams as none of his brothers know the structure well enough in such detail. Only thing that Buttercup did not see are the orphans, and she wondered where they are.

"Coming Tommaso, coming." The doors to the building opened to reveal a priest with graying dark hair dressed in a cassock and clerical collar comes forth. His eyes are framed by the frames of his glasses and giving them his undivided attention. As Father Maxwell walked down the steps, Buttercup can see that the dream even replicated the particular body movements of the priest, his left leg walking with a little limp that is not obvious but to those who know him long enough. The older man make his way towards the gate and Buttercup can see the crow's feet around Father Maxwell's eyes. The man extends his hand and Boomer shakes the priest's hand. The bespectacled man glanced over at Buttercup before facing her eye to eye.

"What is your name, dear?" Father Maxwell asked in a soft-spoken and nurturing manner.

"I'm Buttercup. Nice to meet you, Father Maxwell."

"Ah, such a beautiful name." Father Maxwell said with a smile. Buttercup is reminded of how she first met Father Maxwell. Word for word at that too.

"Anyway Father Maxwell, I'm here to get some rosaries for Mama Valentina. It's a favor I owe her for...um...her help." Boomer interrupted Father Maxwell, but he hesitated for a moment with a light rosy blush on his cheeks. Buttercup is aware that it must be something about the dresses he got for her. Father Maxwell ignored Tom for a moment ,his eyes focused on Buttercup.

"Um...is something wrong?" Buttercup is uneasy about the priest staring at her.

"By the way young lady, are you going out with Tommaso?" Father Maxwell's inquiry caused Tom to cough uncomfortably while Buttercup jaw choked. Fortunately for the Powerpuff Girl, she manages to compose herself and try to give the man her best reply.

"We're just-" Buttercup was about to explain when Tom interrupted her.

"She's just staying over at my house until things get sorted out." Tom's eyes are looking down on the ground in an unconvincing manner.

"Yeah...I'm just staying over in Tom's house for a-" Buttercup wanted to add more to the comment, but Tom interrupted her again.

"Yeah, that's right, I didn't do anything of the sort with her and-"

"Nope, nothing at all Father Maxwell. Nothing with him and-"

The priest looked at them as they stammered and blundered into each other's speeches, and it was very adorable. However, the priest had enough of it after a while and a sudden shush from the elder man stopped both teenagers in their tracks. Both Tom and Buttercup stiffen up and as they watch the man reached into his pocket and hum a tune, Buttercup and Tom are now stealing glances at each other from the corner of their eyes. Both parties are now wondering what else they can say without making things any more awkward than before.

"I can always wed both of you right now to do the Lord's work, and that should put a rest to His commandments of coupes not having premarital sex." Father Maxwell's comment turned both teenagers beet-red.

"Father Maxwell!" Both Tom and Buttercup cried out at once, both being embarrassed and outraged by his suggestion to them. Father Maxwell gives out a hearty laugh before putting a few rosaries into Boomer's palm.

"You two looked adorable together, and Buttercup looks like a really swell gal to be with. You'll be able to fulfill your old man's wishes, Tommaso." The man turn around and as he walks towards the door, he raise his hand and wave them goodbye. The now conscious pair faced each other before Buttercup elbows the sand-blonde teenager in the arm. Tom sensed the sharp prod of Buttercup's elbom and Tom's attention is now on the boyish raven-haired girl with the peridot eyes.

"What's that all about?" Buttercup asked, sensing something is amiss. Tom moved his eyes around to avoid looking at the Powerpuff Girl. Buttercup is not liking the fact that the young man is not looking at her directly. Every time Tom looked away, Buttercup will move to his view of vision. This went on for a few moments before Boomer decided that this will not end until he spill the beans or Buttercup beating him to get the truth out. The sand-blonde teenager sighed before looking at Buttercup's peridot eyes with his own sapphire eyes.

"Well...um...I came to America with my dad from Sicily. My dad wanted a better future for both of us and we made the journey to America and stopped at New York. But soon enough, we moved out from New York. After a while, we landed here in Townsville. That was six years ago."

"Huh, I didn't see your dad when I was there. Is he out of town?" Buttercup asked as she did not see Tom's father in the apartment unit as it appear that Tom is living alone. Tom's expression turned a little darker at Buttercup's query.

"He passed away from consumption two years ago. His last wish is for me to get a good girl and live a long and happy life." Tom scratches his head, clearly uncomfortable in revealing this piece of information to Buttercup. Buttercup cursed inwardly for her insensitivity and realized that the topic went down a depressing route. Buttercup need to apologize for this blunder.

"Boomer, I'm-"However, Tom shakes his head, not faulting the onyx-haired female for not knowing his situation. Tom looked up to the skies with a sad smile on his face.

"It's okay. We immigrants always get the short end of the stick. Running from one mess only to end up in another-" Tom's gloomy mood and talk was soon interrupted by a loud sound followed by a sharp but brief pain burns on Tom's arm. The force of the blow cause Tom to temporarily lose his balance and he bend sideways before regaining his balance once more. He looked up to see Buttercup giving him a rather warm smile.

"Lighten up! You're a tough one! Nothing's gonna let you down right?" Buttercup's encouragement lights up something warm in Tom's heart and he smiled at Buttercup as well. There is something about her smile for Tom is surprised that the girl can smile that sweetly. Tom is soon met with another slap on his head, making him realize that there is no point being gloomy and down about his life.

"Yeah, nothing's gonna let me down." Tom answered her.

* * *

 _Anyway, I'm off to work. Just don't get into any trouble alright?_

That is the last thing that Tom said to Buttercup before he left off for work, leaving Buttercup with nothing much to do but to roam around the streets of Little Italy. Buttercup noticed that many of the men are now glancing or staring at her as she passed by the street, and she became more self-conscious with every step she takes. It is not every day that she wears a skirt, and this always happens when she wear a dress. To make it worse, even the women are staring at her.

Buttercup soon faced a rather sleazy looking man, with a thin mustache and a striped coat. Buttercup did not even bother to take the man's appearance in mind as she is utterly annoyed that someone is already hitting on her this quickly. Buttercup decided that if the man responded in a way that disrespected her, she will bust a nut to lighten her day.

"Hey lady, you look mighty swell in that outfit. Let's get back to my place and-" The man extended his arm towards Buttercup's shoulders, and unbeknownst to him that will be the move that will bring about his downfall. Literally.

 _Busting his nuts it is._

Buttercup grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her while she leaned backwards and extending her knee like a spear towards the man's groin. A yelp confirmed that Buttercup's knee made its mark and soon the man is down on the ground. The male onlookers are wincing from the sight, while the women are now murmuring among each other. Buttercup decided to step on the grumbling man and continued on her merry way. Buttercup lifted a small part of her skirt and wondered if the dress is making her a target for sexual harassment.

"Signorina! Signorina!" Buttercup heard a call from behind her. She turned around to see the plump woman from the night before approaching her. Buttercup remembered her name as Madame Valentina, the same lady that Tom asked for the dress she's wearing.

"Hello Ma'am, um...thank you for the help yesterday, and um..." Buttercup was cut short by the lady's comment.

"Sei incantevole." The lady said to Buttercup, a gleaming smile on her face.

"Um...Okay?" Buttercup realized that she is unable to converse with the lady as she is conversing with Buttercup in Italian.

"She say that you looked enchanting, miss." A little girl's voice explained and Buttercup nods her head downwards and she saw a little girl with two braided pigtails. Unfortunately Buttercup is unable to discern the color of the little girl's hair and eyes but to her surprise, the little girls looks exactly like Annabelle. Buttercup was about to give the little girl a bug hug, but soon come to her senses that the people within this dream world are not the same as the people in the real world.

"Oh, thank you. Please inform her that I say thanks." Buttercup commented. The little girl nods her head and started speaking in Italian to the plump lady. The plump middle-aged woman gave the largest smile on her face and she continued on speaking to Buttercup in a very excited manner followed by a frown and a cry with her arms raised above her head. Buttercup is not gifted with the ability to understand all spoken languages by all living beings like her sister Bubbles, so she will have to wait for the little girl to translate for her.

"Mama Valentina knew that you are better off wearing such simple clothing as compared to that flapper outfit you wore yesterday night. She dreads the idea that Mr. Calvatoni will force you to wear his clothes all the time, or worse nothing at all. Mama Valentina prayed upon the heavens to not let Mr. Calvatoni take your chastity away last night. She will personally make him a _castrato_ if he had done such a thing to a maiden such as yourself."

"That's nice...and um...what's a _castrato_?" Buttercup is clearly a little overwhelmed by the assumptions by these Italian people when she stayed over for a night in Tom's home. Also, she hoped that _castrato_ is not what she think it is. The little girl translated Buttercup's question to the older woman and the woman covered her mouth and giggled before explaining to the little girl. Buttercup saw the little girl's confusion and the little girl continued on with the translation despite not understanding what the older lady said.

"She said that it is a man who can sing a high pitch due to him not having nuts. I honestly don't know what Mama Valentina is saying here." The little girl answered with a shrug and a very confused look.

"It's okay." Buttercup said with a slight cringe, understanding the woman's macabre humor. The middle-aged lady winked at Buttercup before continuing on speaking to her.

"Anyway, Mama Valentina was wondering why are you walking around Little Italy by yourself. She was asking if Mr. Calvatoni is with you." Annabella translated Madame Valentina's query towards the peridot-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"He went to work, and I'm left to walk around this place." Buttercup answered, and once the little girl translated the message to Mama Valentina, she howled and shook her head while clicking her tongue. The woman grabbed Buttercup's arm and started pulling her. The woman started voicing out several groans and appears to be furious as she is venting out loudly.

"Wait, hold on what's up?!" Buttercup is clearly uneasy by this action, but the little girl giggled before she speak to Buttercup.

"Mama Valentina is furious that Mr. Calvatoni left you alone in this street, and she will have a very strong word with Mr. Calvatoni later. Meanwhile, she will take care of you herself."

 _Oh crap_ , Buttercup thought to herself as the woman more or less dragged her across the street and into her home.

Buttercup finds herself climbing up a flight of stairs, accompanied by the little girl. The little girl is giggling as they continued up the steps with the grumbling of the Madama Valentina a constant background sound. Soon enough, all of them entered into a home and Buttercup noticed that the architecture is similar to that of Boomer's home but it has what Bubbles call 'a woman's touch'. It seems that the home is filled with children of various ages, and Buttercup once again noticed that quite a number of the children have exactly the same facial features as the kids in the Maxwell Orphanage.

 _Ah, so this is where some of the orphans went_ , Buttercup thought to herself.

The other kids are now looking at Buttercup, and she can empathize with them. A weird stranger is brought into their home while their guardian (or at least she assumes the lady as such) is grumbling is a very odd sight. Madame Valentina finally lets go of Buttercup's arm and points towards a couch. Buttercup nods her head and makes her way towards the chair while the woman walks towards the kitchen.

"It's okay, Mama Valentina always makes coffee for her guest." The little girl with braids whispered to Buttercup, causing Buttercup to smile. The little girl is exactly like Annabelle and she can not help but to wonder what is the name of the little girl in this world.

"By the way, what is your name?" Buttercup whispered back.

"Annabella. Nice to meet you." The little girl with braided pigtails introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you too Annabella."

"A proposito, conosci qualche abilità casalinga?" Madame Valentina asked, but she soon realized that Buttercup speak not a single word of Italian. As Buttercup and Madama Valentina are now staring at each other in confusion, Annabella realized that she needs to translate the middle-aged lady's question to Buttercup.

"Um...Mama Valentina asked if you know anything that can help in a home." Annabella translated for Buttercup.

"Ur...I guess I can cook." Buttercup shrugged.

"Lei sa cucinare, Mama." The little girl replied. The woman smiled and started speaking once more. The plump woman points towards a bunch of meats, vegetables and other foodstuff on the dining table.

"Mama wants you to cook dinner for us if that's alright. She said use the ingredients here and make something."

To Buttercup's surprise, she is finally seeing color on the food produce. Buttercup is now perplexed by the sudden riot of color before her. Buttercup's mind is now racing as she wonder what on earth is going on as everything else is still in various shades of black, gray and white. Realizing that this is a piece of a puzzle that will get her out from this dream, she decided to go all out to find out what is going on. At the same time, Buttercup is also able to do something decent to repay the kind lady for the dresses.

"Alright, you got it!" Buttercup cracked her knuckles and she is prepared to give them all she got.

* * *

Tommaso, or Tom as he is also known, is utterly beat from an entire day in the construction site, and he honestly just want to go back home and lie down. However, he remembered that he need to find his new roommate or else he will never hear the end of it from the rest of the Italians in Little Italy. As he entered into Little Italy, his nose picked up a particularly appetizing smell and the smell is not like the usual cooking smells found in Little Italy. It seems that the rest of the residents of Little Italy also smelt the aroma and are now crowding in front of the apartment unit where Mama Valentina made her home. Tom walks towards the apartment unit and finally he joins the crowd.

"What's going on Fredo? I smelt something really good." Tom asked one of the people in the crowd. The man appear to be a half-balding man with a rather thin mustache and lanky composition.

"It's coming from Mama Valentina's home! But we're not allowed in!"

"Mr. Calvatoni!" A young girl's voice called out from the window and Tom recognize the voice as belonging to Annabella, the youngest of Madame Valentina's children.

"Annabella! What's going on?" Tom asked the little girl.

"Buttercup's cooking dinner!" Annabella answered Tommaso with a wide grin.

"Wait...Buttercup cooks?" Tommaso is particularly surprised by that information. All of the onlookers turned their attention towards Tom, and the sand-blonde teenager realized that he is about to be bombarded by envious comments.

"You lucky bastard! You got a heck of a choice of calico right there!"

"Yeah, she's one heck of a sheba!"

" _Tom! Come up here now_!" A voice shouting out in Italian cuts through the crowd and Tom knew only one woman can have such authority in this street.

"Alright Mama, I'm coming up!" Tom replied back in the language that she only truly understand and he made his way towards the entrance of the apartment. As Tom climbed up the stairs, his noise is slowly being permeated by the smell that he recognize as tomatoes and eggplants cooking and he did not even notice any other sights and sounds until he entered into the unit. His mind immediately melted at the sight before his eyes.

A short-haired woman with lime-green eyes in an apron is watching the pot attentively as she stirred with great care. Beside her, Tom spotted several tomatoes, garlic, eggplants, ricotta cheese and a stock of basil. The young woman is now tasting the food that she is cooking in a pot to see if there is a need for any further seasoning. Tom did not expect that the rather strong-headed woman that he had met the night before to be such a feminine figure. He slowly walked into the home and saw that there are already several dishes on the dining table, and Tom recognize the foods as those native to his home of Sicily.

On one plate, he noticed a dish consisting of a cooked vegetable salad made from chopped fried eggplants and celery with capers in a sauce and as he scans the table, a large bowl of yellow soup with some parsley for color is right next to the plate of vegetables. A plate of stuffed sardines with pine nuts, raisins and breadcrumbs is also present on the table and a plate of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet, creamy filling is also present on the table. Tom did not realize that he was about to bump into Mama Valentina until the last possible moment, and the bump snaps him out from his elder plump woman turned around and smiled at Tom before both of them watched the young woman cook.

" _Tom, you got yourself a good woman here._ " Mama Valentina said in her reedy voice.

" _But how-_ " Tom is still surprised by Buttercup cooking a full-course Sicilian meal.

" _I asked her to prepare me something. It is always a good way to test out a measure of a woman if she can cook or not. But she definitely surprised me there. A flapper that has depth. Like that Pasta alla Norma she's making now._ _She even made Maccu, Caponata, and Sarde a Beccafido. This is a proper Sicilian meal through and though, and even you have to admit that she knows what she's making._ "

" _But Mama, she's kinda rude and_ -"

" _Rude? More like strong-willed. A woman needs to be strong to become the pillar to support their man. She's definitely a well-bred lady fitting for a Sicilian man._ " The plump woman raises her chin and gesture towards Buttercup taking out the pasta dish into a large plate.

" _A pillar..._ " Tom hung on to the particular description that Madame Valentina used to describe Buttercup.

" _Also Tommaso, you are an idiot to leave her alone on the streets of Little Italy. You know how the men are like when they see a pretty little flower like her._ " The middle-aged plump woman's eyes disapproved of Tom's action.

" _She's a tough one. And I believe that she will bring down any idiot that tried anything stupid."_

"Well, you are right. I saw Fredo squirming on the ground once she landed her knee into his groin."

"Fredo's the biggest idiot of them all, Mama."

" _Anyway Tommaso..."_

"Yeah, Mama?"

" _Buttercup has a very nice body. She'll give you a good night if she choose to do so." Mama Valentina winked._

" _Mama!_ " Tom said out loud, and Buttercup turned around and he realized that he had said out a little too loud for his own liking.

"Boomer?" Buttercup called out to Tom in a soft and surprisingly gentle husky voice, her face surprised at his presence in the home. Buttercup almost dropped the plate of pasta, but managed to grab it at the very last moment.

"Oh, hi!" Tommaso is also just as surprised as Buttercup's sudden meekness.

"Huh, about time I guess. Anyway dinner's ready." Buttercup grins at a work well done, and Tom finds that it is the right moment for him to get closer to Buttercup.

"Here, let me help you with the pasta." Tom offered his assistance, and Madame Valentina smirk with approval. Buttercup passes him the pasta and the teenage boy takes it to the dining table and soon the older woman called out. The other children, five in total rushed to the table and their eyes are sparkling when they saw the food.

"Wow, these look really good!" One of the kids called out, and the other children nod their head in agreement.

"They look good and they will taste good! Either that or you get your money back!" Buttercup give out a guts pose, and the children are giggling and laughing. As everyone takes a seat, Buttercup stretches her arms upwards and a look of relief is etched on Buttercup's face.

"By the way Buttercup..." Tom decided that this is a good way to start a conversation on the dining table.

"Yeah, Boomer?"

"Where'd you learned how to cook these dishes?" Soon enough, the Italian's eyes are now upon Buttercup, and Buttercup's eyebrow raised for a moment before changing into a realization that she had accidentally cooked a Sicilian cuisine without thinking too much about it. Her passion for cooking and her desire to have the best food for her athletic activities had given her the incentive to make the best cheat-day foods that is healthy made her the best cook in the Utonium household.

"Ah...well, I like cooking and um...I saw the ingredients, and I thought it'll be good to cook it in this way. Is there something wrong?" Buttercup tilts her head with a smile best described as being a mid-way point between being embarrassed and proud.

"No, in fact it is perfect! We're all Sicilians!" Annabelle cheered, and the other kids joined her in cheering.

"Well, glad that it's alright with you guys! Dig in!" Buttercup beckons the children to dig in and they look as if they are about to pounce on their food until the elder woman clear her throat.

The children immediately held their hands together, followed by Tom and Madame Valentina. Buttercup wondered what is going on until the woman started to mutter prayers.

 _Ah right...prayer over food,_ Buttercup watched as they prayed, and the prayer stopped for a moment. Buttercup soon noticed that all eyes are now upon her and she recognized her folly and held her hands together. Seeing that Buttercup is also giving grace, Madame Valentina returned to her prayer once more. Buttercup watched as they prayed and she never had anyone giving grace over a meal she had made, and this is a very welcoming sight for the green-eyed teenager.

"Alright, let's dig in!" Tom said out once the prayer is done, and soon everyone is scooping some food into their respective smaller vessel, and passing the food around. Buttercup decided that she will be the last one who will take her portion, as is should be in her mind. As everyone filled their plates with food, Buttercup reached out for the pasta when everyone else takes a bite of the food she had prepared. Then there is something that Buttercup never heard before when someone is eating her food; silence.

"Guys?" Buttercup asked as they all paused in silence. Buttercup face is now worried that there is something wrong with the food and her mind started racing. Did she messed up something?

"È DELIZIOSO!" Tom cried out, and Buttercup realized that tears are running down his eyes. Buttercup is stunned that someone is crying over her food, and soon the other compliments from the rest of the diners poured in, causing Buttercup to blush. No one had ever been so ecstatic over her food, and Madame Valentina soon started speaking to Buttercup in a very hurried and excited manner. Buttercup had no idea what she said to him before Annabella helped Buttercup understand the lady.

"Mama Valentina say you'll have what it takes to be a perfect wife!" Buttercup chuckled nervously at the woman's words and she looked down on the table, though inwardly she is immensely flattered by the compliment that she is considered as 'wife-material'.

"Thanks I guess..." Buttercup said as she scooped some of the pasta on her plate.

"Seriously, everything's amazing. The only thing lacking from you is just your manners!" Tom said out loud before a slap on his head by the plump woman caused him to stop, and a chorus of laughter followed. Buttercup decided to ignore what Boomer said as a whole, as she is happy that even a bonehead can acknowledge her cooking in such a way.

 _Ain't that the gospel truth,_ Buttercup said to herself as she watch Tom feast on the meal she had prepared.

* * *

[The Ghetto,Downtown Townsville,10.00pm]

It is a cold night for the law enforcement garrison forces at this particular side of Ghetto border,though they are more akin to an occupation force. It had been a while since any incursion or ambushes by the gangsters and hoodlums within the Ghetto area, and it is precisely because of this lack of activity that a larger than usual garrison is stationed here. The audacious attack upon the TOCTSeF, or otherwise known as the Townsville Organized Crime and Terrorism Security Force, Headquarters had eroded the public confidence over their capabilities to hold the tide back. The present President of the United States of America had ordered the mobilization of further military forces to Townsvilleto purge the 'animals' from American soil, but the citizens of Townsville know that the POTUS is underestimating the villains.

"Man, I honestly just want some meatballs right now..." A heavily armored guard in full combat armor and weapons sighed as he watched over the invisible 'wall' that separates The Ghetto from the rest of the town. Even thought there is nothing between them and the crooks, but the uneasy presence and hostility of both heavily armed forces had prevented both sides from breaking through the barrier.

But tonight is different.

" **Very well,meatballs it shall be.** " A raspy voice answeres the armed man, causing the armed man to jump up and aim his weapon at the source of the voice.

The man is engulfed in a beam and the same goes for the large garrison of law enforcers stationed at the border. Several pulsing lumps of meat are now on the ground where the law enforcers once stood. The lump of fleshs are a grotesque amalgamation of tuffs of hair, eyes, teeth and random pieces of cloth and items. The flesh pulse with every second and those with eyes are crying while those with mouths are screaming in horror. A desiccated arm with necrotic flesh and exposed bones picked up a lump of flesh with eyes and a mouth from the ground. As the owner of the necrotic arm watches the flesh with its red glowing eyes, a mewling sound emanates from the mouth on the lump of flesh.

"That is uncalled for." A nasal accented female voice voiced out her displeasure at the grotesque sight.

" **Alas, it solved your issue did it not?** " The gravelly reedy voice answered, and the dark magician faced the braided brunette. Fennec crossed her arm, clearly displeased.

"Unfortunately it does." Fennec answered reluctantly.

" **As promised, I have cleared the garrison forces guarding Little Italy** **. Now, for your part of the deal."** Abracadaver's eyes are now upon the blue-eyed woman, waiting for her response. Fennec's silence is all the eldritch magician needs for approval for what he is about to do next.

" **Bon Appetit.** " Abracadaver grinned menacingly.

A popping sound rings in the air and Abracadaver's jaw unhinges to open wider than humanly possible and he bites hard on the lump of flesh, causing the grotesque meat to scream out in pain and horror. Fennec's ears pick up on the chorus of horrified screams as the lump of flesh realize their fate. The chewing sounds mixed with a wet mushy sound and screams continues on.

 _CHOMP!_

Abracadaver's yellow and rotting teeth is now covered with blood and pieces of flesh are stuck between its teeth as it devour the flesh-things one by one.

 _CHOMP!_

Abracadaver takes another bite at another piece of flesh-things.

 _CHOMP!_

And another.

 _CHOMP!_

As the zombie picks up another grotesque flesh-thing, its insatiable appetite for the essence of the living grows larger. Fennec had seen enough and turned around to see the sea of flesh that were once men. Fennec is displeased about this grotesque display of the revenant's dark powers, and the walking catastrophe will only become worse as his power grow stronger.

"Monster." Fennec voiced her displeasure before fading away in a reddish-pink fog.

Abracadaver cares not for the living's perception, for he is beyond good and evil. He is but a living manifestation of vengeance and it would not be easy to believe that the corpses of the dead should rise from their graves, and should wander about to the terror or destruction of the living. But here he is, not resurrected by a demon's whim nor god's will, but by his own undying vengeance upon the living. Abracadaver is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop.

" **And behold, I shall be a blight upon the land and anything I touch shall wither and die.** " Abracadaver's declared to the world at large.


	55. Chapter 55: Dark Truths

Chapter 55: Dark Truths

Blossom is standing in the middle of a road, littered with debris, dust and rubble and the smell of burning flesh and gasoline filled the air. The war-torn buildings are in various stage of destruction, and several of the buildings are ablaze in roiling flames. The burnt-out wrecks of vehicles of all kinds from bicycles to main battle tanks can be seen sporadically on the streets, while several craters on the streets are filled with water. The most unusual aspect of the city however is the lack of any human being, for there is not a single soul spotted in this city.

 _Wait a second-_

Blossom is clearly confused by the change of scenery, as moments before she was inside a building watching Him made a Faustian deal with Renee. As her rose-colored eyes darted around to process her surrounding, she realized a very bizarre and utterly terrifying throught; she had seen this sight before. A bullet landed right in front of her feet, confirming her worst possible fears.

 _It's starting again!_

She remembered where the wrecked vehicle is located and immediately dash towards it. The ground around Blossom is peppered by bullets and Blossom wished that she can shoot her eye beams back at the sniper. She skidded on the ground to reach for cover and she is uncomfortable by the idea that the dream is replaying itself once more.

Another chorus of gunfire echoes in the streets and Blossom is willing to bet that the next event that she will experience shortly will be-

 _Thud!_

A young person wearing a checkered black and white scarf wrapped around the person's head and neck, with a goggles covering the eyes is now speaking to her in Arabic.

"No time to explain! Run!" Blossom cried out loud, surprising the young fighter. Blossom pull the young boy's arm and within seconds the two individuals are now running for their lives as more gunfire rain down upon them. The sound of an explosion ringa through Blossom'sear and the shockwave of the explosion hurl both of them into a building. Blossom grazes her arms and legs on the ground and the sound of rising whistling in the air precedes the thunderous sound of explosions erupting around them. Blossom shields the young boy's body with her own, with her back facing the ceiling and the young boy underneaty her, as a coat of dust raining down on her, and her surroundings trembling with every explosion.

"JUST STAY DOWN!" The copper-haired girl yelled out before Blossom hugs him more tightly and Blossom can feel the young boy's face in her chest. The cacophony of explosions and building collapsing stops and the silence of the empty city is once more permeating throughout the area. As Blossom rise up, she is utterly covered in dust and sand, and she pats them off her body. As Blossom looked down, she noticed that her chest is filled with a red stain.

"Blood?" Blossom voiced her confusion and she looked back upon Butch to see that the boy had lost all his skin and the charred and exposed musculature of the boy is now visible, with two empty eye sockets gazing at her. Blossom jumped back in fear as a pair of empty eyes gaze upon Blossom with indifference. Suddenly Blossom felt an arm upon her shoulder and she turned around to see a man with a half-squashed head looking at her with his brains dripping on her shoulders. Another arm is now grabbing Blossom's hand and she saw a woman with her entrails dropping all over Blossom's legs.

Blossom can only scream as loud as she can.

* * *

Blossom jumped out from the bed, drenched in sweat. The amaranth-eyed young woman touched herself as she remembered the image of a world engulfed in flames as it slowly cracked in a hellish green light. As she looked around she knew that the image the saw was just a dream.

Here she is.

Back in one piece.

Back in reality.

But then another thought came into her mind as Blossom did not give herself even a moment of relief from escaping the dream. Blossom is soon greeted by a surreal and familiar sight of the rebel encampment, where the children are running around and playing while the other inhabitants are engaged in various task, from sewing to repairing their weapons. If this dream is a video on a movie player, Blossom would already had fast-forwarded to the scene she wanted to watch. Alas,she had no control over this dream. The dire situation around them continued on as bandaged men and women are lying around her while screaming of the injured getting treatment rings in Blossom's ear.

 _No, this is not reality. This is a dream._

Blossom reminded herself that she is now trapped in Butch's dream, and the reality that she known as her home is not within her reach. It is disturbing for her to dream of another layer of dream, but apparently even her dream self also need to sleep. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand and flick the liquid away from her arm, only to realize that she barely missed a person sitting right next to her bed.

"Oh sorry I-" Blossom wanted to apologized, but she caught sight of the figure sitting next to her causing her to pause mid-sentence.

"Hello, you look well." The young, youthful brunette woman with a fair complexion, braided waist-length hair and sky-blue eyes is now sitting beside Blossom as she came to be.

"Renèe!"

"At ease Blossom. At ease."

Blossom however is not at ease, for she noticed the woman's dark expression and ice-like gaze. Blossom's nose picked up the revolting odor of unnatural sweetness that emanates from the braided brunette and Blossom's eyes widen as she caught the smell. Blossom knows it in her heart that she is in a whole lot of trouble.

"You're the source." Blossom turned her attention towards the Frenchwoman, and the Frenchwoman's smile became a wide rictus and the eyes of the woman turned a malevolent emerald green.

"Always has been and always," The nasal voice of the woman slowly breaks into a cacophonous voice of two different voices muttering the same words, one high-pitched and feminine while the other a low-pitched and masculine, " _will be._ "

"Him." Blossom's voice is filled with unease and disgust.

" _Hello Blossom, it has been a while since we met in the dream world."_ The alabaster figure spoke with a voice Blossom knew too well.

" _Like my present look Blossom?_ _I must admit, Fennec is such a beaut_ _iful person._ " The figure extended an arm, marveling at its beauty and grace. Blossom is silent, her anger simmering beneath the surface.

"Don't toy with me Him. Why?" Blossom spat her words venomously at Him, her rose-colored eyes staring with a burning intensity towards the demon taking the form of the Frenchwoman.

" _I would like to meet you in my normal guise, but Butch's nightmare is latching on to the image of the Frenchwoman. So I make do with what I have."_ The demon remarked. Blossom stared on with great disgust, and the demon shrugged.

" _This place is not conducive for any conversation. Time to move to somewhere more appropriate."_

Blossom did not even have a chance to realize something is wrong as Him transpose their location with a simple action of snapping its finger. Blossom had always been on her guard against the demon, but Him got her this time.

* * *

Brick finally got a break from the relocation of the remnants of their group to a new location. The battle from three days ago had taken a toll on them, and even Butch is severely injured. Butch's injuries are unnatural and Brick wondered if the Government forceforces had acquired an Antidote-X weapon by chance. Brick sensed a hand on his shoulder and as he turned around , a pair of familiar sapphire eyes are looking at him.

"Are you alright?" Boomer checked on the strawberry blonde-haired boy.

"I don't know...but there's bound to be something wrong with me soon enough. Butch's down and is a little crazy when he's awake for those short moments. It's getting tougher by the day."

Brick is uncertain on which is worse; the current status of their brother or the current status of the rest of the men injured by the attack but is out cold in every sense of the word and they had no idea what possessed their brother to act with such wanton rampage twice in a single day. Both Brick and Boomer had never seen him react in such a manner since the time when Buttercup made a cut on Butch's chest with her kick. Butch is a true berserker in every sense of the word, for his trance-like fury is unrivaled when triggered. Fortunately for them, they managed to keep things down and avoid any further problems for the times they had been together,but it is slowlg becoming harder for them to control their brother.

"Seriously, what happening to Butch? He never rages unless something triggered him." Boomer asked his red-haired brother.

"With Butch, you never really know the trigger. But for him to attack us, it takes something special."

"Is it because we said that Blair looked like Pinkie? You know how Butch never liked the Powerpuff Girls... ever!" Brick shakes his head at Boomer's suggestion.

"Nah, if it is any one of the Powerpuff Girls, it would be Buttercup. She's the one that can kick his ass to a standstill. Blossom is cerebral, but Butch is blunt enough to get through her plans with sheer muscle."

"Hm...it is weird to see that Blair looks like Pinkie in a lot of ways,like she's a teenage version of Pinkie. Man, if Pinkie turned out to grow up like her, I'll get defeated by her any day just to-"

"Keep those fantasies to yourself Boomer. Besides, I've got to report stuff to Renee anyway."

"Both of us. I've got stuff to report too." Boomer added.

The two Rowdyruff Boy arrived before Renee's command room, and Brick decided to knock the door with the rhythm for special reports. A few rhythmic knocking sound on the door reverberated through the air, but no response of any kind is heard from inside the room. Boomer stepped up and knocked on the door as well, but there is still no reply. Both of the brothers looked at each other and their face expressed their concerns. The French lady always responded if they knocked in that manner, and Brick decided to look around before he used his x-ray vision upon the door and to see within the room. To his surprise no one is in the room, but the door appears to be locked from within.

"Where on earth is she?" Brick voiced out his thoughts.

"The toilet perhaps?" Boomer suggested.

"No. It's locked from within."

* * *

 _Where on earth am I?_

The red-haired teenager looked around to see if there is anything that would help her identify the surroundings. Blossom's eye caught the presence of a person facing a wall just a few feet away from her with the person's back facing against her. As the person turned his head sideways, Blossom recognizes the individual immediately from the unmistakable narrow jadeite eyes and onyx hair.

 _Isn't that Butch?_ , Blossom asked herself However she noticed that the onyx-haired boy is now much more older than the Butch she met earlier. The Butch before her is more similar to the real-life Butch as he is much taller and muscled than the child Butch. Blossom realized that she had traveled to the future of this dream.

"Medic! Medic!" Butch screams out desperately, covered in blood and his jadeite eyes filled with tears. Blossom is surprised to see Butch crying out for help,eyes filled with fear.

 _What's going on_ , Blossom asked herself for she had never seen Butch being fearful before. Blossom corrected herself immediately as her understanding of Butch's expression is not that of fear; it is the expression of trying to save a loved one. Blossom is afraid of what she is about to see, but her legs guided her where her mind would not. Blossom's heart pounded faster and faster with every step she takes. Finally, her rose eyes is now in full sight of the cause of Butch's distress and the slender woman is now face to face with a heartbreaking sight.

Blossom covered her gasping mouth with her hands as her mind finally understood what is going on. A mortally wounded woman is leaning on the wall with no arms nor legs, and bleeding from her injuries to such an extent that the woman is a bloody mess. Blossom's eyes registered the sky blue eyes and braided dark brown hair of the injured woman and the identity of the mortally wounded woman is now clear to Blossom.

"Renèe." Blossom voiced out the name of the injured woman. Blossom knew the scene, but she never thought that she will see it with her own eyes. This is a scene that Brick once told her about. The scene that marked the crossroad in the Rowdyruff Boys' life. The scene that scarred Butch for life.

 _Renèe's death._

"Medic! Medic! I swear...I swear, I will not let you die!" Butch tries to desperately administer first aid on an injured woman.

"Please...please stop..." The soft accented voice of the woman reaches Blossom's ear, and the injured head slowly slumping on her shoulders.

"No! I...There's a way to fix this!" Butch voice trembled as he protested, his arm still scurrying in the first aid box to find something to fix the situation. The lady gently lean sideways on Butch's shoulder, touching his head. As her head marks Butch's face with a bloody mark, Butch with eyes in disbelie turn towards the mortally wounded woman.

"That's enough, I beg you. Please." Renèe said in an anguished voice, and Blossom can only watch this scene unfold before her. Blossom's eyes starts to tear up as she watched the heart-wrenching scene unfold.

"Poor thing." Blossom said to herself as she watched Butch dropping backwards on his rear. The Rowdyruff Boy is paralyzed by the weight of the situation, and the woman looked at him with her blood-tinted bright blue eyes with her blood-tinted tears flowing down her cheeks.

 _She's not going to make it_ , Blossom thought as she see the woman expending a lot of labor just to even breathe. Blossom watched as the little boy is now sobbing, with his right palm combing her dark brown hair while the other palm holding the head of the woman up gently,touching her cheek damaged by the shrapnel of the blast in a cross-shaped scar. Blossom had never seen Butch being so compassionate before, and this shocked her to the core.

"No, I don't want to..." Butch's lips quiver with sadness. The woman shushed the sobbing boy,a smile on her face as she turned paler and paler from the blood loss.

"I don't have long to live. Unexpected things will happen, Butch. Can you play the song in my music box one more time?"

"I-I-I!" Butch choked from the emotions welling up inside his body.

 _Goodness, this is too much_ , Blossom's tears are now flowing down her cheeks. Butch slowly reaches for the dying woman's neck and gently pulled out a necklace with a cross emblazoned on it and an emerald at the heart of the cross. Butch's finger pressed on the emerald and soon the pendant played a hauntingly ethereal song . The music caused further emotional distress to Butch and Blossom, for the song's somber tune further permeates the negative emotions within them.

"Mon Petit Verde, life's a journey, and mine had come to an end..." The lady coughed out blood, and some of the blood splattered on Butch.

"Please, don't speak anymore! Help's on the way! Medic!" Butch look around to find help while frantically trying his best to keep the woman alive.

"But...you know what Butch?" The spark of life from the lady's bright blue eyes are now fading away, and Butch watches as blood runs down her mouth down on the sides of her mouth and her chin.

"Please, please don't leave me..." Butch voice is now a whimper and Blossom had only seen Butch entered into this stage once. Blossom watches as the woman's bloodshot eyes are streaming down tears mixed with blood.

"There's always a silver lining as every ending has a new beginning. Time will heal all sorrows..." Renèe continues on even as the light of life from her eyes are now becoming dimmer.

"Please, don't..." Butch's voice is trembling as he speaks.

"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things apply." Renèe said before coughing out blood from her mouth.

"Please!" Butch cried out, watching in horror as the puddle of blood on the ground growing larger with every moment.

"Live Petit Verde, live long ...and ...prosper..." The lady's last moments are as noble, pure and as bright as the whitest snow as her last breath leaves her body. Blossom watched as Renee blood-red tears runs down her cheeks, and her eyes finally becomes glass-eyed and her face frozen in a kind and gentle smile. The door to the room slams open before two figures went past Blossom as if she was a ghostly apparition.

"BUTCH WE NEED TO LEAVE!" Brick's voice pierced through the scene, and both of Butch's brothers grabbed the raven-haired boy by the arms and dragged him away from the dead woman, and Butch howled and protested in anguish as the distance between the boy and the woman grew further and further. Blossom did not even want to turn around and see Butch's face, knowing well that she will not have the emotional strength to see true anguish. Blossom's mind is overwhelmed by her emotions and the slender teenager is now sobbing as she finally understand why Butch broke down when he saw the pendant. The pendant must had triggered this memory in Butch's mind.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A husky voice howled and before Blossom can react, and Blossom's heart is pounding like a jackhammer as she just experienced the most harrowing howl that she had ever heard. As the voice distanced itself from the room, the muffled booming sound of artillery shells and the soft cracking sound of small arms fire echoed in the air are the only sounds within the room. The slender Powerpuff Girl did not even have the time to acknowledge Butch's suffering where a familiar and sinister voice snapped Blossom's attention away from her surroundings.

" _And here_ _we are."_

Blossom looked around only to come face to face with the source of the voice; A braided woman whose coloration is the purest white two blood-colored flowing markings running down each cheek like running tears.

Blossom watched as the figure smirked, uncertain of its intentions. Blossom recognize the unearthly and haunting figure, as it is the physical appearance of Renèe. A lantern glowing in an ominous blood-red light engulfed the scene, coloring the tapestry of the scene. The two glowing emerald eyes betrayed the identity of the figure, and Blossom knew that Him intentionally took the form to spite her

" _I want you to see this part before we continue on. Look."_ The demon smiled at her in his current incarnation, causing a sense of revulsion running up Blossom's spine. The demon points its finger towards the dead body and from the puddle of blood, another reddish pink fog formed and another Him emerges from the fog, dressed in its signature red dress, fluffy pink collar and skirt and black boots. As the Him with the pincers materialized a nail file out of thin air, the Renèe-Him sighed.

" _Do I look so young then._ " Renèe-Him said with a little hint of jealousy as the other demonic being is now looking down upon the body lying limply on the wall. A white, smoky apparition appeared from the body of the fallen female soldier, shocking the Powerpuff Girl to her core. The apparition of the woman is utterly horrified at what she had become, touching her body in disbelief. Unperturbed by the manifestation of the braided brunette's soul, Young-Him started filing the tips of its pincers with the nail file it manifested.

" _Hello dear, my name's Him and I'm here to make a deal before my dear friend the Grim Reaper arrives._ " Young-Him introduced itself and stated its purpose to the apparition of the Frenchwoman, while Renèe-Him mouthed out every single word that the other Him said. Blossom watched as the woman tried to ask the demon about what it wants but the woman realizing that she is unable to speak out. The gaudily-dressed demon continued on with the conversation while focusing its attention on filing its pincers.

" _If I were to let the boys live, will you work with me?_ " Young-Him asked. The woman looked at the crimson figure before her with disbelief and anger. The apparition tried to warn Young-Him, but the apparition soon realized that she does not have a voice and she stopped.

" _Renèe, I can respect your choice if you do not want to work with me. I will take my boys back with me to hell for eternal damnation. After all, I did resurrect the boys from the dead once and it'll be easy for me to send them to hell where they belong_." Renèe face contorted into dread before Young-Him stopped filing its pincers for a moment.

" _Ah...I forgot to inform you that the bond of a spirit to its body will rapidly deteriorate once the body is dead. So you'll need to come to a decision fast._ " Both Young-Him and Renèe-Him voiced out at tye same time and Blossom watched as what appeared to be the soul of the brunette slowly fading away.

Renèe's panicked expression as she tried to try to attach herself to her own body while both Hims watched with a smirk. This scene is utterly unpalatable for Blossom, for both Hims are utterly despicable in this situation. Young-Him hopped happily towards Renèe's body and rest one of its arms over the dead woman's shoulder as if trying to comfort the dead woman. Young-Him whispered into the dead person's ear, knowing well that it is actually speaking with the astral projection attached to the body. Renèe-Him's grin is now a wide rictus as the soul of the woman is fading at a rapid pace.

" _Just as easily as the Lord giveth, can the Lord taketh_." Both Renèe-Him and Young-Him declared at the same time. The temperature around the dead body dropped to an unbelievably low level and Blossom can feel her goosebumps rising up. From the shadows, a dark figure in a hood appeared before Young-Him and Renee, a large and menacing-looking scythe resting on its shoulder. Blossom is immediately caught by the deathly presence of the Grim Reaper and she froze in place, cold sweat running down her forehead and her body is trembling uncontrollably.

" _That always happen when people meet Grim for the first time_." Renèe-Him said with a shrug.

The woman's soul started to turn even paler than before as the Grim Reaper approaches. Young-Him on the other hand is watching the Grim Reaper with interest and is now whistling a happy tune. The Grim Reaper wielded its scythe and ready to reap the soul of the dead woman, Renèe trying to grab Young-Him's arm but to no avail. Renèe mouth moved, pleading for Young-Him to leave the boys alone. Young-Him did not even bother looking at Renee as the Grim Reaper finally swings its scythe at the part of the soul connecting Renee to her body. Within a split second Blossom saw her panicking and the blade of the scythe is now reaching the base of the soul at breakneck speeds. Renèe moved her mouth frantically and her eyes are how filled with tears of panic and desperation.

"No..." Blossom witnessed the moment where Renèe succumbed to the pressure, offering the deal of sparing the Rowdyruff Boys in return for her soul.

" _You got yourself a deal!_ " Young-Him shrieked with joy and the pincer that Young-Him was filing during the whole conversation finally springs into action and grabbed the scythe at the very last moment. The Grim Reaper turned its hooded cowl at the effeminate demon and Him looked back with a smile and a wink. The Grim Reaper pulled its blade back,surprising both Blossom and Renèe.

" _So sorry Grim, but this one's mine. She just agreed to it at the last possible moment. No hard feelings right?_ " Out of thin air, Youbg-Him produced a scroll and the Grim Reaper leans forward to read the scroll. Blossom watched in disbelief as the deathly figure turned its hood towards Young-Him, its two bony fingers formed a V-shape and held up to its eye level and pointed towards its own hood before pointing out towards him.

" ** _I'll be watchin' yu Him._** " The Grim Reaper said in a uncharacteristically Jamaican accent as it flips the bird at Young-Him before dissipating away, leaving only the two Hims, Blossom and Renèe in the room.

"Did the Grim Reaper just flipped you?" Blossom said in confusion as she turned around to Renèe-Him that brought her to this world.

" _Well, Grim and I are always playing around this game of getting souls, and with her soul I'm in the lead._ " Renèe-Him winks at Blossom, causing Blossom to wonder about the cosmic implications of the souls that Him had collected over the years. A sobbing voice is finally heard, and Blossom's attention is now once more on the apparition, and she can see that Renèe had lost all semblance of dignity as the woman realized what she had done to secure the safety of the Rowdyruff Boys.

" _I knew you will be a reasonable person. Welcome. We have much work to do._ " Young-Him grabbed the soul by its pincer and forcefully stuffed it back into the corpse. The corpse started taking a deep gasp of air, and Young-Him waved its arm and a trail of reddish-pink fog enveloped the two beings. Blossom watched as the reddish fog disappeared and her mouth flashed with one sentence.

"Asshole." Blossom's words sends a shiver down Renèe-Him's and Blossom is uncomfortably by the demon's sensual joy. Renèe-Him snaps its fingers together and the reality around them is now a blinding pure white.

"What do you seek from all of this? Is this all a game for you Him?" Blossom spat at Renèe-Him, her simmering displeasure slowly cooking up into anger.

" _Everything is as I intended it to be, thought there were some developments that truly went in an interesting fashon. Blossom, have a seat while we talk_." The ghostly white figure waves its arm and two red couches came out from thin air and Him showed Blossom to her chair. Blossom is cautious about the traps that Renèe-Him will spring upon her, but the demon answered her suspicions.

" _Relax Blossom, I don't have the time to make any traps in this situation right now._ " The alabaster figure sighed before taking a seat on the couch it had summoned out of thin air. Blossom slowly but surely takes a seat on the couch and she finds the couch surprisingly comfortable. Blossom is in denial over the fact that Him has nothing up its sleeves (if it had any). The ghostly white figure noticed the Powerpuff Girl's unease and crosses its legs in a feminine manner as it rests its arms on the armrest.

" _Denial is the most predictable of all human responses, Blossom. On the other hand...hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of humanity's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness._ _I sense that you have many questions, my dear. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. In addition, while your first question may be the most reasonable, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant._ " Renèe-Him gestured for Blossom to ask the question on her mind.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Blossom asked, aware that Him never spoke in such a manner before.

" _Despite my best and sincerest efforts, I am unable to get rid off of you from what is otherwise a perfect controlling mechanism._ "

"Glad to be a thorn on your side." Blossom said with a spiteful pride. Him takes no notice of Blossom's biting remark and continued on.

" _While it a problem in and of itself, but it is not unexpected and this not beyond a measure of control. Which had led you, whether both of us like it or not, here._ " The demonic figure is now sipping a cup of tea from out of nowhere, and before Blossom can even register the anomaly, her hands are also holding a cup of tea. Blossom decided to remain calm despite the lack of control of her reality.

"You still did not answer my question Him." Blossom asked, knowing that she must not let Him pull her to its paces.

" _Always the quick one, and that is why it is always a joy to speak to you if I had the chance._ " Him takes a sip of its tea, appearing at ease with itself.

"Answer me Him; why did you choose me? Why did you choose Butch? Why did you choose all of us?" Blossom's voice is lined with a boiling anger for she will not tolerate such cruel acts, not even against a Rowdyruff Boys whom she tend to pick a fight with. Blossom's displeasure is apparent for Him to realize, and the demon dematerialize the cup of tea it is holding. Him rest its elbows upon its though while resting its chin upon its hands.

" _As you adequately put it Blossom, the crux of the matter is choice. I want you to know that no matter what you choose to do after this, it will all be accounted for._ " The demon's crimson gaze is piercing into Blossom's soul, making Blossom feeling particularly vulnerable to the demon's machinations. Blossom tried to give her best menacing stare, but the demon in the guise of a woman is unfazed by her attempts.

" _What were your piercing eyes looking at? What is echoing in your trembling heart?_ " Him asked Blossom, shaking Blossom to her core. The demon knew her uneasiness like an open book, and that made her even more anxious.

" _It's the same thing I'll ask Butch, for even his smallest scars hurts more than the gods of this earth, and this is why he will continue to destroy himself._ " Him commented and it snapped its fingers to reveal a mirror showing is clamping his hands on his head and screaming continuously as he bang his head on the other side of the mirror.

"How could you." Blossom bit her bottom lip, knowing well that she had said something that may not resonate with the demon before her.

" _Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. As you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We are not here because we're free; we're here because we are not free._ "Renèe-Him gets up from its chair and without Blossom realizing it, the demon is now behind her as its arms are now around Blossom's neck in a gentle embrace. Blossom is alarmed, for she sensed nothing until its arms are now on her shoulders and neck.

" _There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose, because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist._ " Him said in an sinister manner. Blossom noticed that its arms are no longer around her and her rose-colored eyes looked around for a moment before registering the demon leaning beside the mirror.

" _It is purpose that created us, purpose that connects us, purpose that pulls us, that guides us, that drives us, it is purpose that defines, purpose that binds us. Purpose!_ " Him roared with a deep primal growl, and the whole white room turned a pure crimson.

" _This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it. We fight to deny it, but it is of course pretense. It is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the fact is that everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming. I see the darkness spreading._ " Him pauses, as if waiting for Blossom to respond. Blossom decide that she will respond to her the best way she know how.

"I don't know what you want or planning. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career of crime-fighting. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kick your ass." Blossom's threat is replied with a clap from the demonic being with a smile etched on its face.

" _Well said. Provided you can get out from this place._ "

"I will. And so will my sisters."

" _Come, let me bring you back. I want to see you try._ " The demon smiled, accepting the Powerpuff Girl's challenge.


	56. Chapter 56: Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 56: Beauty and The Beast

 **Author's Notes: Heya everyone, been a while since I posted due to the hectic business trip schedule in China and also the Great Firewall of China prevented me from posting anything. Anyway, here's the latest installment of Powerpuff Girls A.**

 _Bubbles._

Bubbles heard a distorted voice with a duplicated reverberating echo that is slightly out of sync calling her name and she slowly opened her zircon-colored eyes, realizing soon enough that the red flames had been put out. She jumped at the sight of a pair of dimly lit crimson orbs and a glowing root network. Bubbles jumped and was about to scream when an invisible hand clamped on Bubbles' mouth. A distinctive rasping snarl reverberate throughout the cavern and Bubbles' body, and Bubbles realized that the thing before her is not the threat. In fact, Bubbles is embarrassed to recall that she is now with Brick's alternate personality taken form. Her fright almost doomed both of them, and she is glad that Break did what he did.

 _You almost gave away our position._

Bubbles is not expecting the shadowy figure's voice to be in her head, and she freaked out once more albeit in her mind. Her eyes widen in disbelief as she wonder how on earth is Break communicating with her telepathically. Bubbles felt the pressure covering her mouth slowly lifting away, liberating her mouth.

 _This is how I communicate with Brick when he's in the real world. Also, I think it is better for you to think your thoughts out for now._

 _Okay...this is weird Break_ , Bubbles voiced out her unease in her mind.

 _You'll get used to it somehow_ , Break reassures the pig-tailed girl with its best impression of comfort.

However, their conversation was cut short by a harrowing, howling scream that resonated throughout the entire cave network. Both Break and Bubbles knew they need to move on. Break and Bubbles start to walk in the darkness, with Break taking the lead. Bubbles' only point of reference is the dim red light in front of her gently illuminating the path that the shadow figure take to distance themselves from the entity chasing after them. One way or another, she is now relying on Break to navigate through the darkness.

After what seem like a lifetime, Break and Bubbles find themselves facing against a rock facing. Seeing that there is no other way but up. Break finds a suitable place to put his fingers before he climbs up the wall. Bubbles followed shortly after as she gets a hold on the wall and soon both of them are scaling up the rock facing. Both of them are decent climbers and soon enough Break finally reached to top of the rock facing and he climbed up before offering his hand to Bubbles. Bubbles grabbed his hand and pulls herself on the flat surface. As Bubbles catches her breath, Break sits down on his bottom with his knees bending upwards towards his body. Bubbles can see that the figure is also as fatigued as she is, despite it not panting or breathing for that matter.

Bubbles recalled the coldness of Break's touch on her wrists, and she wondered if the being before her is the manifestation of all of Brick's loneliness and distrust for others. Bubbles can only wonder how such a darkness can live inside of Brick for so long and seep into his soul. Bubbles always wondered what Brick's piercing crimson eyes are always looking at with a sense of longing, and what was echoing in his trembling heart. All the accumulated scar hurt more than anything she can possibly imagine, and things he can never speak to his brothers about. Each person has their own demons that they can not reveal to another,even their closest siblings, but Brick's demons manifested into a single being. Bubbles wondered about the lonely Brick who stood with nowhere else to go, what was it for that he reached out to grasp in his time of need?

 _You are the flame that burns the world I know, your kindness burn this world and char the frozen time_ , Break answered Bubbles' inner questioncausing Bubbles to turn pure red before she instinctively slapped the dark figure in the head.

 _Y-y-y-you were listening?! How rude, you should've asked first!,_ Bubbles scolded the figure in her mind,feeling violated that her thoughts were read without asking her. at the same time she is embarassed that Break can be such a poet.

 _You're loud, I can hear you even if I don't want to. Like a siren's song to an unsuspecting sailor. Also that is my honest answer to your question; you're now his hand to grasp in the darkest hour_.

Bubbles is silenced by Break's comment, and taken aback by the frankness of Break's comment. Break continued on, not caring for Bubble's response.

 _I am always silently watching. Brick's always alone. Among his brothers, he's always the one with more angst, more withdrawn. Among the three Rowdyruff Boys, he's the introvert of the group. Brooding, taciturn, anti-social. Keeping it all inside. Keeping his brothers all in one piece takes a toll on him. All that formed up to produce me around three years ago, at the same time as his puberty. But he never knew I existed, and why should he?_

Bubbles is not sure about what she can say given this situation, for Break is essentially telling her Brick's darkest history.

 _I saw him as he fought the final stages of his war in Syria as he took his brother away from the dying woman that they all cherished, I saw him crying in silence without his brothers watching as he mourn her lost. After that, he dived in deeply into his other missions. Niger Delta, Rakhine, Yemen, Ukraine, Marawi. Those are the few conflicts I recalled, along with a few covert missions all around the world. Impressively, Brick never killed anyone. And so did his brothers._

Bubbles listens on as Break told her about Brick's inner state of mind during all those years they had went missing without a single news, and it is painful to hear how the boys lived their lives during those years. The constant war, intrigue, and covert operations would wear down even the most hardened veterans, and yet the boys are thrown into battle from a very young age.

 _No wonder they are so messed up,_ Bubbles voiced out in her mind.

 _Yeah, they're messed up, and it does not help that he's such a brooding character. At least Boomer talks about it, while Butch burst out in a rage. But Brick? He keep it all inside of him. Every time he kept something painful inside, a scar made its mark on his soul,_ Break replied and Bubbles reminded herself that Break can communicate with her telepathically.

"But if you said you talked to him, why-" Bubbles's question was interrupted by the shadow being as they scaled the wall. She realized that she had voiced out her thoughts through her mouth, and the dark figure with the glowing crimson eyes is staring at her. Bubbles is quiet once more, as the stare served as a reminder to not use her voice unnecessarily in the cave network.

 _Bubbles, I only recently started talking to him because he let me surface to the real world. Before that, I am more of an emanation. An emanation of intimidation and fear. I believed you had sensed me before when the robbery happened during your first date with Brick._

"That was you?" Bubbles whispered and she certainly did not expect that his intimidating presence is due to a mysterious entity within Brick. Seeing that Bubbles is failing hard at thinking her thoughts rather than speaking them, Break relented and allow her to continue on as long as she whispered. Break is also aware that Bubbles is a little taken aback by Break's claim, thus Break decided to elaborate a little more.

 _He allowed my presence to surface from time to time to intimidate people, though he does not know it then. Man is he pissed when he found out my existence._

"So how'd you managed to be on decent terms with Brick?" Bubbles asked in a whisper.

 _I don't. If he messes up, I'll take over whether he likes it or not. But we come to a mutual understanding when we are forced to work together to fight against a Tibetan abbot that poisoned us. So we decided to merge, and that is how Brick gets my black eye whites and glowing crimson hair permanently. In return for my deference to him, he gets to have control over his body._

"His eyes and hair?" Bubbles is perplexed by Break's statement, for Brick did not have the appearance that Break mentioned.

 _Yeah, of course, he wears contact lenses and also dyes his hair in order to not frighten you. Brick is very self-conscious when you're around. Or at least he thinks of you a lot from when he first met you a few months ago._

"Me?" Bubbles is surprised by Break's commment.

 _There was a time when he was trying to save Miss Morningstar and was at the verge of death. His self-control weakened, and his thoughts drifted to an image of a nice picnic with you under a bright sunny sky. He honestly thought that he was about to bite the dust, and his regret is not being able to thank you for making his life just a little more bearable. Since I don't want to die, I saved his sorry little ass. But it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to take control._

Bubbles blushed a little as she did not expect that she would be the last image that Brick conjured up in his mind. Before Bubbles can ask the dark entity any further, she realized that the entity had been watching Brick at every moment of his life ever since it became sentient. Suddenly her mind was reminded of a particular incident and she lost all semblance of control over her embarrassment. She tried to ask Break about it, but Break is one step ahead of her.

 _If you are trying to ask me about that kiss, yes I'm watching from the front seat. You managed to almost bring down Brick's mental fortitude with your cheerleader outfit. Good try too, as he got a thing for cheerleaders._

"Oh no." Bubbles's mind is now screaming with alerts and all she can do is to just turn redder.

 _Oh yes. Brick may be oblivious, but I know you're attempting to tease him. Pressing your breast on his arms, letting him feel some ski-_

"Shut up Break." Bubbles nudges Break in the arm to stop him from making her sound like a seductress or worse, and she walked ahead of him.

 _Roger that_ , Break said, and if it had a mouth he would be smiling right about now.

A throaty roar overlapping a steady howl snapped the two individuals from their conversation and Break and Bubbles realized that the sound is coming down from the ledge that they just climbed up from. The earth below them starts to shake, and Break and Bubbles rushes to the ledge and looked down. To their horror, the grotesque bestial being of darkness and crimson fire is now climbing up the ledge using its claws and tendrils. The crimson eyes of the wolf-like monster is now fixated upon them and the creature roared with its sharp, elongated jaw filled with rows of teeth and tusks, announcing its voiced out their next action as short and concise as possible.

 _Run._

It did not take long for the two individuals to start running like there is no tomorrow, and the earth below them trembled stronger as the beast climbed the ledge. Bubbles looked back and the monster reached the top of the ledge in no time. Finding its prey, the beast gave chase and the earth quake with every step the monster take. Bubbles is no genius like her sister, but she knows that the monster will reach them in no time. To drive home the point, the monster leap above them and lands in front of them causing the earth to shatter. Break is thrown back by the blast from the earth, and he skidded a considerable distance from the beast.

"Break!" Bubbles called out to the dark entity, but the roar of the beast forced her to focus back on the immediate threat to their survival.

The wolf-monster is now slowly walking towards the Powerpuff Girl, and Bubble's image is being reflected on all its eyes. A dark, guttural snarl marks its aggression, and Bubbles honestly wished that her superpowers are with her now. Instead, she is now a normal young woman facing off against an eldritch abomination set out to take her life. The snout of the wolf-beast is now inches away from her, and Bubbles' mind is now thinking of how to get out from the sticky situation. The snout of the beast is now breathing in the scent of the Powerpuff Girl and each of its eyes are now narrowing once it registered the smell.

"Um...nice little doggie-thingie?"

Bubbles feebly attempts to talk to the animal, but deep down she knew that this would not work. Bubbles may have the gift to talk to all living things, but whether or not the living thing wants to engage in a conversation is another matter entirely. As if to drive home the point,the creature is now baring its teeth against her. Bubbles takes a step back , but she loses her balance and drops down on the floor backwards and landing on her bottom. The abomination draws closer as it bares its teeth and Bubbles close her eyes as she brace herself for the inevitable. Bubbles waited for a few moments before she realized that the attack that was meant to be never came.

 _Why isn't it attacking_ , Bubbles opens up her eyes slowly and is now face to face with a creature that is now staring intently at her. Bubbles sensed that the stare is not the stare of a predator facing a prey, but a stare of sadness of something out of its reach.

 _Why are you looking at me that way,_ Bubbles asked as the behemoth stared at her with sad eyes. As the abomination breathed,Bubbles wonder why the creature made her want to comfort the beast. There is something about Bubbles and the beast that is indescribable, something between them that allowed them to have a connection with each other. The beast sensed Bubbles' willingness to engage,and the towering behemoth takes a step forward towards Bubbles. Bubbles is amazed that she is not afraid, but at the same time she wondered why she would be afraid of this being before her. As its snout comes closer to Bubbles, she extends a hand to try and make contact with the beast.

"Watch out!" A warning is the only thing that Bubbles can hear before a large dark crimson beam hits the face of the beast. The beast roared in pain before shifting its gaze at the threat. Standing just a a few feet from them is the dark entity with the now-glowing crimson hair and eyes.

"Break!" Bubbles called out to warn the red-eyed individual,but she was a second too late as the multitude of tendrils are now lashing and darting towards tendrils slams into the ground with such force that the ground exploded, causing Break to dart and roll to avoid the tendrils and the debris from the explosion. The beast moves away from Bubbles before it pursue Break.

Break forms a ball of glowing crimson energy and throws it at the beast. The monster protected itself with its tendrils, causing the fireball to explode upon impact. Several tendrils with trapdoor-like jaws emerges from the explosion and darts towards the red-haired figure. Unable to dodge in time,Break cross-guarded his arm to brace for the impact. Seven tendrils slammed into Break, propelling him away before several more tendrils slithers up to the air before slamming down on Break. The tendrils are now bombarding the dark figure with relentless blows, and the earth beneath is now caving in with every blow on Break's body.

Bubbles is aware that the situation is now critical but she had no idea how she can help Break from the onslaught of the monster. Bubbles is literally powerless to help as the dream world is restricting her powers. However,her body moved by itself and she is now running towards Break and the monster. Years of crimefighting and saving innocent civilians drilled her muscles to act when there is someone's life at peril. Bubbles picked up one of the large rocks blasted from the cavern floor and threw it with all her might towards the creature assaulting Break. The piece of rock propels itself towards one of the creature's fiery tails. To Bubbles dismay, the rock disintegrated once it hits the tail.

"Oh crap." Bubbles said out loud as the monster stopped its attack and took notice of the Powerpuff Girl.

Several more eyes appeared from the legs of the creature like a cluster of boils and their gaze is now focused on Bubbles. Barely even a second had passed when Bubbles instinctively flips in mid-air as several tendrils slammed down on the ground where she last stood. She landed on her arm before she fluidly bend her arm and rolled using her shoulders in one single motion. Bubbles tumbled for a few moments as the tendrils slammed upon the ground where her last body position is.

Bubbles' distraction is all that Break needs to grab one of the creatures legs. With all its might, Break lifted the wolf-beast off the ground before swinging it around and tossing it towards the ledge. The beast crashes at the ledge before skidding off the ledge. Mustering all his strength, he bolts towards Bubbles and grabs her by her hand before making a run for it.

" _Thank Bubbles, thought I was a goner!"_ Break finally voiced out his gratitude without using his telepathy.

"I should thank you!" Bubbles replied earnestly. However a loud roar shook the earth beneath them causing both of them to look back as they run for their lives. The beast had managed to climb back up in no time and is now in pursuit of both of them. Several more tentacles slams the ground around Break and Bubbles, and they are now forced to run in a zigzag pattern.

 _What would Blossom do in this situation_ , Bubbles thought as she dodges several of the tentacles by using her skills learned from her various dance classes and cheerleading training sessions.

 _If I'm Blossom I would be nagging. No,that is not rig-Whoa! That was a close one!_

Bubbles leaps upward from the ground, barely escaping several tendrils erupting from the ground beneath the Powerpuff Girl. Bubbles spins in midair as several more tendrils barely misses the blonde Powerpuff Girl. Bubbles uses the spinning momentum to land by rolling on her shoulders before using the rest of her body to reduce the impact of her fall. As she rolled on the ground, several more of the monstrous appendages speared the ground around her before she regained her footing. With a push of her first foot that made contact with the ground, Bubbles sprinted towards Break.

Break's actions on the other hand are less impressive than Bubbles' acrobatic theatrics but they are functional enough to avoid being hit by the attacking appendages. With a few weaves, duck and dodges, Break moves forward despite the onslaught of the tentacle while watching Bubbles moved with an uncharacteristic grace as she dodges the attacks.

Break is impressed by the acrobatic agility of the Powerpuff Girl, for this is the first time he had ever seen Bubbles in action. Even though Bubbles is without any superpowers in the dreamworld, the dreamworld certainly did not take away her innate physical abilities. Bubbles is now running beside Break once more.

" _I'm impressed Bubbles!_ " Break voiced out his compliments.

"Thanks!" Bubbles is visibly delighted by the comment despite their precarious situation.

" _No problem, and look!_ " Break points towards a sloping surface and both Break and Bubbles speed up the slope, knowing that all they can do given the moment is to move forward. An angered howl only serves to embolden their choice of running up the slope. As they ran up the slope, Bubbles saw a straight vertical wall at the end of the slope, illuminated by a red light.

"There's a wall up ahead!" Bubbles shouted out as her running speed leaves Break behind. Bubbles legs are now screaming in agony as she closes in on the wall, but her eyes widen at the sight of a large gap between the wall and the slope,and below her is a fiery pit. Before Bubbles can even fathom what to do, her body reacted as she reached the edge of the slope.

Focusing all her energy on her legs, Bubbles decided to take a literal leap of faith. As her feet leave solid surface, Bubbles can only hope that whatever acceleration she mustered during her frantic run will allow her to propel herself through the gap. At the meantime, she will do the only thing she can do; scream like a saw Bubbles jumping before descending down and he registered in his mind that there is a ledge up ahead. Since Bubbles had jumped, he figured that it would be a decent distance between them and whatever it is that Bubbles is jumping towards. Break picks up his speed and with a push of his leg muscles he jumped at the very edge of the slope. However to his dismay, he had committed himself to jump through a very big gap and he hoped that he got what it takes to get across.

Break's mass is forcing him to descend lower than Bubbles but at the same time he is also reaching the facing of the wall faster than she is. As he reached the wall, Break hoped that he can grab on to something that would stop him from falling to the fiery pit below. Break slammed onto the surface of the wall violently, but he managed to grab on something. His eyes registered something flying past him and instinctively he extended his hand towards the blurred image and he felt a pull on his arm and the thing that grabbed on his arm also slammed on the wall hard.

"OH GOD, THANK YOU! THANK YOU ! THANK YOU!" The high-pitched voice of the golden-blonde Powerpuff Girl is heard shortly after. Break is relieved that he managed to save the Powerpuff Girl from falling down, and he will not need to know the answer to the question of what would happen if someone else die in his mindscape. Break looked up and notice that there is a dim light above them.

" _Bubbles, look! There's a light above us! Hold on tight!_ " Before Bubbles can even comprehend what Break is trying to do,the shadow figure lets go of the ledge. Bubbles shrieked as they both descended before she felt an acceleration sensation that she is familiar with.

"YOU CAN FLY!?" Bubbles shrieked once more as both of them are now flying towards the light. A loud impact can be heard and as Bubbles looked down, she saw the monster clinging on the facing of the wall and started to climb rapidly towards them.

"Hurry Break! Hurry!" Bubbles cried out as Break speeds up towards the seconds, they find themselves reaching towards the light. They are both covered by a blinding flash as they entered into the light.

" _What the hell?_ " Break is disturbed by what he is looking at.

Break and Bubbles find themselves in a blindingly white chamber, at odds with the darkness in which they came from. To make it even more bizarre, they are no longer flying, but instead their feet are now planted on the white surface. The trace of their entry point is non-existent,further confounding Break and Bubbles.

"Well at least we are no longer chased by that wolf-thingie." Bubbles breathed in relief as she tried to have a more positive outlook of their situation. However, Bubbles voiced her relief a little too soon. A vicious snarl alerted both Break and Bubbles, and they knew where the snarl is coming from.

" _Bubbles...you really do want to jinx us don't you?_ " Break is not pleased at all as he spoke to Bubbles. Bubbles' lips quiver as she had nothing else to say, for she know that there is no use apologizing in this instance. Both of them turn around to see the eldritch wolf-monster of pure darkness and fiery crimson flames staring at them with its multitude of eyes and tendrils with snapping jaws.

However it did not attack.

Break and Bubbles are now perplexed over the sudden inaction of the beast. As the animal snarled, Bubbles can sense that something is wrong with the monster. At close examination, the eyes of the creature are frowning in suffering and the shallow panting sound that the creature makes is something Bubbles is all too familiar with. Break was about to fight against the beast until he felt a hand on his chest; Bubbles' hand.

"No Break."

" _What the hell are you doing Bubbles? Are you mad?_ "

"It's suffering." Bubbles mutters out her thoughts and slowly walks towards the beast.

" _Bubbles!_ " Break hissed at Bubbles, but Bubbles ignores the dark figure's warning.

Bubbles' thought is now flowing with things that she knew but had never thought about until now. How the beast seek them out. The moment where the beast stared at her as if she is something that can never be touched ever again. It certainly did not want to attack her at first,at least not until Break hurt the beast and she threw a stone to help Break causing it to react in an animalistic manner. There is something about the beast that compels Bubbles to stare back into the eyes of the eldritch being. To stare back and want to make contact. Bubbles had seen this behavior before, but she is trying to recall where she had seen it. It was then that Bubbles had an epiphany and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"What's troubling you?" Bubbles asked the monster in a gentle and nurturing voice. The eyes of the beast immediately open wide in surprise.

"You are afraid aren't you?" Bubbles asked the monster once more, but she already knew the answer to that question. The beast is now staring at Bubbles intently, cautiously observing the pig-tailed blonde. Bubbles open up her arms before walking towards the behemoth. The eldritch abomination stepped back, but Bubbles continued to walk towards it with her outstretched arms.

"Don't worry,I don't bite." Bubbles assures the beast, but the beast is now snarling at Bubbles. However, despite the overt aggression, the monster did not retaliate.

"Please don't be afraid of me." Bubbles zircon-colored eyes are now upon the abomination, pleading for the beast to not push her away. The abomination before her is now taking a few steps back,reluctant for Bubbles to come closer. With every step that she took,the monster stepped back by one step. Seeing that this is not going well enough, Bubbles stopped venturing forward.

"I see. So you do not trust me." Bubbles voiced out her disappointment with a sigh. The towering behemoth stare as she puts down her arms and turned around. Despite its reservations,the beast extends a paw forward by instinct as if to reach out to the Powerpuff Girl. It was then that Bubbles managed to hug the paw of the beast, catching both Break and the monster by surprise.

"Gotcha!"

" _You've gotta be kidding me."_ Break voiced his disbelief as he watched Bubbles essentially comforting the monster by petting the paw of the beast. The beast soon started to lie down on its belly and stay, folding all its legs under its body. If it were not for the grotesque appearance of the creature and its gargantuan size, It woukd appear that Bubbles is taming a dog. The beast lowers its head, its docile manner at odds with its behavior before.

"Good boy." Bubbles is now patting its neck to reassure the beast. Slowly but surely the eyes around its body are closing and the tendrils are being reabsorbed into its body. The behemoth is now resting peacefully in Bubbles' embrace.

" _Bubbles...you're a badass._ " Break said a he approached her. Suddenly the beast started snarling at Break and the malice-filled eyes are once more appearing throughout the hellhound's body.

"Shhhh...it's okay. It's all okay." Bubbles speak gently to the monster, and somehow Bubbles managed to calm the beast enough that the multitude of eyes are now closing once more.

" _Damn...you really got this beast under your control didn't you?_ " Break scratches his head as he tries to comprehend Bubbles' ability.

"Yeah, Brick's really nice once he's docile."

" _Heh, Brick being doc-Wait. What did you call that thing?_ " Break's red eyes are now wide in shock and surprise and his attention turn towards the beast. As Break points at the beast and looks back at Bubbles, Bubbles give the shadow-like apparition a mischievous wink. The beast started to purr as she pets the snout of the beast and Bubbles smiled as she enjoy the bizarre form of the Rowdyruff Boy.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00pm]

Professor Utonium is ready.

The jet-haired man had made the prototype for the dream-viewing machine and he is ready to test it out. The machine is an unassuming machine,looking more like a toaster with various knobs and dials with wires hooked to six monitors. The machine is also hooked on the electrode caps that are now on the heads of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys via a complicated networks of wires and connections. For the sake of easy monitoring, he had also moved all of the boys and girls into one room along with his monitoring equipment.

"Sir, every system is functioning at optimal capacity sir. Currently awaiting your further action to activate the Dreamflix." J.E.E.V.E.S informed the professor. The artificial intelligence chose not to question the name of the invention the professor chose, for it is not its role to question menial matters such as names.

"Alright lets see if it works." With a flick of a switch, the device came to live and the screen is now displaying several blurry blurry images became sharper and the footage are now highly defined.

"Huh, I expected something a little more explosive." Professor Utonium is surprised that the invention did not explode or do something bizarre on its maiden Utonium's are now on the screen and it appear that the screen is showing the dreams of the boys and girls from their point of view. Each one of the screens are labeled from the source in which it received its images, and his immediate attention is to see Bubbles' Professor Utonium's surprise, he is greeted with the sight of a dense coat of fur with a slender arm petting the coat. Before long, it appears that the point of view is now diving into the dense fur-like substance he can hear Bubble's voice loudly and clearly.

"Awww, you're so cute! Who's a good Brick, who's a good Brick?" Bubbles speaks as if she is talking to a pet or a baby, and a guttural growl of satisfaction reverberate through the speakers. Professor Utonium turned his attention towards the screen that was hooked on Brick's head and saw the image of a shadowy figure in the shape of the teenage red-haired Rowdyruff Boy standing before it while the voice of the Powerpuff Girl's giggling apparent for all to hear.

Professor Utonium is both perplexed and relieved that Bubbles is alright, but why Brick is a large furry creature is beyond his understanding of the human psyche. Human psychology is never his forte.

 _Odd, but at least I know Bubbles is fine_ , Professor Utonium is relieved to see that his blue-eyed daughter is not in any apparent danger. On the other hand, the screen showing Blossom's point of view is just reddish pink while Butch's point of view is just black. The dark-haired professor would need to get back to those two once he checked on the last pair of Powerpuff Girl and Rowdyruff Boy.

"It seems that they are now just talking to each other, but I don't like it one bit." The professor narrowed his eyes as he watched the peridot-eyed girl and sapphire-eyed boy talking with each other in an apartment wearing only pajamas. They are just a little too comfortable with each other,and Professor Utonium paternal instincts is barking warnings on the possible outcome that could result from such an interaction.

" _And here we are..._ " A dark cacophonous voice with a simultaneous high-pitched female voice and a deep manly baritone voices made Professor Utonium's blood run cold and he faced Blossom's screen.

"Oh no." Professor Utonium knew that voice. The voice of Him. And now Him's in one of his girl's dream.


	57. Chapter 57: Unease

Chapter 57: Unease

Sara Bellum looked outside the window of one of the many hallways of Townsville Hall, deep in thought over the deteriorating situation of Townsville. Only two or so months ago, the city is relatively peaceful with its normal monster incursions and normal supervillains running around doing random crimes. If this were another city, it would be chaos. But in Townsville, people had grown accustomed to the normal levels of ridiculousness that is the constant threat of Townsville's destruction, and generally no one truly dies. The sophistication and barbarity that arrived two months ago is something on a different level than what Townsville is accustomed to and descended into what can be surmised as a nightmare made manifest.

The arrival of Lilith Morningstar along with the unexpected appearance of the Rowdyruff Boys in tow had also shaken a few things in Townsville, for the collective memory of Townsville of the three superhuman boys is still colored by their past exploits. Alone among all the visible villains that had plagued Townsville, they were the closest in defeating the Powerpuff Girls. Miss Bellum had heard from the Powerpuff Girls of who they considered as their worst villains to fight against, and the Rowdyruff Boys is always among the most competent villains they had fought. Indeed everything started once the boys are back in town, and Miss Bellum is tempted to link their arrival with the rise in crime.

Still the Rowdyruff Boys had so far proved that they are not up to their villainous ways, and indeed in some situations had proven to be unexpected heroes. But surely something had brought them back to Townsville. They had disappeared from Townsville for seven years, and very rarely does one return for no good reason.

"Miss Bellum!" The voice of the elderly mayor calling out for help snaps Sara out of her deepening thoughts and figured that the mayor wants something trivial to be done. The red-headed woman got up from her desk and took a deep breath before entering into the mayor's office. As she pushes the door, she finds herself looking at an impossible sight.

A figure of pristine alabaster white is now sitting on the Mayor Meyer's chair, her otherworldly whiteness illuminates out from the figure's body to make her surroundings a paler shade of what it once was. The figure is feminine, slender and ethereally beautiful but the eyes staring back at Miss Bellum are demonic, with slit pupils and blood-red irises. Two long blood-red lines runs down each cheeks down to the figure's jaw, one from each eye like long flowing tears. On the ghostly figure's lap sat the pale mayor of Townsville being held in place by two hands gently resting on the old man's shoulders. The mayor is quiet and docile, oblivious to the situation.

"Miss Bellum I assume?" The unwanted visitor queried.

"Yes, that is I. And you are?" Miss Bellum tried her best to keep calm over the situation despite knowing that this is situation critical.

"Fennec would suffice, my dear."

"So, Miss Fennec. How may I help you today?" The redheaded lady asked,knowing well that the situation requires a certain amount of finesse to not threaten the life of the mayor. Miss Bellum decided that she will have to take some initiative over the situation and she slowly walked towards the Mayor's table before pulling the chair before the hostage taker. Fennec smiled warmly as Miss Bellum took a pure white woman however saw a mortal woman barely breaking down.

"I'm here to send a message."

"A message?"

"Yes, a message."

The two women are silent once more, before both of them started laughing. The mayor is utterly confused by the situation, for he is unaware of why the two women are laughing in the first place. There is no joke, nor there is a situation for a joke to be said. Before he can ask what is the joke,he finds his shoulder being squeezed by the vice-like grip of the woman holding him in her arms. The grip is strong and it hurt his body, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Oh,this is no joke my dear personal assistant. My message has to do with the old man on my lap." The hostage-taker speaks with a nasal accent.

"Why the mayor?"

"Simple really; He decides. Barring the highest military commander, he'll be the political figure with the most power in the decision-makibg process."

"But the city is under martial law."Ms. Bellum informed the woman,but the woman shook her head.

"Not long, he'll have to make a choice. I would reckon that he'll know what is best." The foxy lady winked at the secretary, and Ms. Bellum sensed that everything is about to go very wrong immediately. A crimson-lighted lantern materialized above the head of the messenger and a blinding light enveloped the room, causing to cover her eyes. As the blinding light subsided, Miss Bellum soon finds herself looking at the mayor on his seat once more. The woman rushed towards the mayor and found him unconscious and Ms. Bellum checked the pulse of Mayor Meyer for any signs of life. The old mustached man's eyes opened widely, and his gray eyes are now staring at 's own green eyes.

"Miss Bellum, good morning. Did I fall asleep again?" The mayor's uselessness is a sign of relief and yet unease for he had entirely forgotten about their hostage situation. Sara Bellum knew that she had a lot on her hands and she will need some help from Lilith.

* * *

Lilith Morningstar is leaning back on her chair as she stared out towards the window, where the view of the city skyline is as beautiful as it is ominous. The past few days had not been kind to her. Her skin is puffy and had some pimples popping out while dark bags under her eyes showed her fatigue. It is not easy being the district attorney of a city under martial law, and it is apparent that rhe population resented the restrictions upon their daily livelihood.

That is one matter in her mind.

Her three adopted sons trapped in a state of unnatural unconsciousness.

That is the other matter in her mind.

Lilith had always kept her inner demon to herself, and that in most ordinary situations, is the usual thing to do. But the boys are now endangered and something within her is dying to reveal the truth. Alas, Lilith had more to lose now than ever before, and she will not succumb. But how can she not succumb when the demon overlord itself is present in the same city as herself?

Then there is the unknown agenda of Him, the boys and herself. It is by its machinations that she is now the caretaker of the Rowdyruff Boys,and she is always reminded that Him does a thing for a reason, and that reason is always interwoven with its other schemes. So far its schemes with the boys appeared to be much more convoluted than its usual intrigues, but it will achieve a critical mass soon enough that it will engulf those involved into a hole in which no one will escape.

Knock-Knock!

A knock on her door snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned around to the source of the noise, only to see the door to her office opening to reveal a stern-looking, aged African American man with graying curly hair and pock marks on his face stepped into her office. Lilith recognized him as , his presence in her office signifying an escalation of the situation in Townsville. The man closed the door gently behind his back and stepped closer towards the district attorney. The bespectacled woman beckoned the man to sit down,but he held up an arm and refused her,preferring instead to stand up.

"Come in, Mr. Freeman." Lilith leaned forward towards the table,both her elbows resting on the table while her hands are clamped together in a prayer-like gesture.

"Ma'am." The man tilted his head,his baritone voice having an eloquent Boston accent.

"It's worse now I'd assume?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"How much worse?"

"The worst it can get, Ma'am."

"They had started?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Lilith understood the meaning of the implications of what the informant divulged; Him had essentially declared war on the most powerful nation on earth and Him will win the war. An uneasy silence fell between them,and both of them knew that the silence is a time for them to consolidate their thoughts.

"So we lose?"

"Ma'am, the best way to guarantee a loss is to quit." The man advised in a matter-of-factly manner.

"So what's on your mind ?" Lilith threw the question at the man, for she knew the man is representing the idea of reason in the American government. The current president is not known to be sound of mind and can be impulsive and everyone knew that letting things to be decided by the president spells doom to all of them.

"I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you. But if you keep scrambling, if you keep going, someone will always, always give you a hand. Always. But you gotta keep dancing, you gotta keep your feet moving." chuckled as he did a slight feet shuffling as if to prove a point.

"I don't know if we can still keep our feet moving , we need to depend on something more immediate." Lilith expressed her fatigue despite her faint smile.

"Have faith in yourself." 's advice caused Lilith to shake her head in disbelief as she smiled. Lilith shrugged off his comment and tried to answer his faith with something more tangible.

"You ove-"

"Your past identity and experience gave you ample experience with the matter. Add that with your present role as the district attorney...with those combined, you may hold the key for our future." 's comment caused Lilith to turn pale.

"You knew who I was." Lilith stated her shock, but the man's light gray eyes is kot fazed by her pale expression.

"But of course. Persons of interest such as the Utoniums, the Rowdyruff Boys and yourself are on our watchlists. Though I must admit that Him is impossible to watch." Mr. Freeman chuckled.

"So Mr. Freeman, what did our government decide?" Lilith tried to divert the topic to a matter she had more control.

"Have faith on the Utoniums and the Morningstars to bring us through the day." Mr. Freeman passed a large envelope with the seal of the President of the United States of America on the letter towards Lilith.

"Clap your hands and believe huh? ?" Lilith's gray eyes watched as her hand took the letter away from 's hand. The man got up from the chair and walked towards the door. However Mr. Freeman stopped short from the door before turning his head sideways,watching the district attorney with the corner of his eye.

"One of the things you can always depend on - this is one of the truths of the universe, and you heard it first from here - whatever we decide we want to do is what we do, Ma'am. Have a good day." The man smiled back before exiting the office, leaving Lilith to herself.

* * *

Blossom is in a state of unease, for she needs to find a way to get out from this dream. The more she stays in this dream, the more she will be affected by the laws of the dream world. Him's influence knows no bounds and the slow poisoning is already affecting the world for she is able to see the luminescent cracks in this world growing with every moment. It does not help that she is being led back to the dream world by none other than Him itself. Unlike its previous transposing sorcery, Him decided to take the scenic route back and Blossom is greeted by a swirling mass of darkness surrounding both of them.

"We'll be reaching soon my dear." Him informed in its cheerful voice. Blossom soon spots a light and as both figures crossed through the blinding light, they find themselves before two familiar figures in front of a door.

"Boys?"

"Oh hi! I mean, Sir!" Both Brick and Boomer called out at once. The two Rowdyruff Boys were startled by the sudden voice calling them and as they turned around, Brick and Boomer saw Renee with Blossom behind them. The French brunette appear to be in a good mood, while the copper-haired girl is in a sullen mood.

"At ease." The braided brunette waved off the awkward situation with her voice.

"Blair!" Boomer called out, but soon realized that the copper-haired girl is not in the mood for any conversation. Brick decided that it is best to not prod the copper-haired girl for she had gone through a rather traumatizing experience a few days before. With a soft nudge of his elbow, Brick stopped Boomer from prying further into the young teenager.

Brick has his own suspicions about Blair, for her appearance is uncannily similar to his rival. Brick had not seen her in any other capacity, but Brick can sense a certain amount of cunning and guile in her bodily fiber. The carnelian-haired boy had never taken her explanation at face value, for he sensed that she is hiding something in that slender beauty that the teenager possessed. Brick snapped out of his gaze as he remembered the reason why he is in front of the command room in the first place.

"Um...we're here to report on the latest updates and-" Boomer voiced out the purpose of their visit before Brick can let the purpose leave his own lips.

"Alright, come in." Renee informed as she puts the key into the keyhole and turned it. As the door opens, the braided brunette takes a step into the command room. Brick and Boomer was about the enter into the room before the French lady turned around to face the redheaded woman.

"Remember what I said, Petit Rose." The commander smiled as she waved farewell at the rose-eyed woman.

"I will." Blair answered back with an antagonistic tone.

Brick caught for a moment the stare between the copper-haired girl and the brunette commander, and he sensed a certain animosity between the two women. The French woman smirked back at Blair, and for a second he saw a flicker of green light in Renee's otherwise sky-blue eyes and that alarmed the Rowdyruff Boy. Blair walked past the boys and for a moment, Brick glanced back and something caught his eye about Blair. Blair is curling one of her hair with three fingers and something particularly familiar about the way she curled her hair sparked something within Brick. Before Brick can make sense of what is going on, he sensed a hand on his shoulder and the red-haired boy turned around to see Boomer looking back at him.

"What's wrong?" Boomer asked his brother, sensing that something is up with his brother.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Brick disguising his unease as both Brick and Boomer walked into the command room.

* * *

Buttercup is unable to sleep.

Or to be exact, Buttercup is unable to sleep in this dream.

It has been three months in this dream world and so far life had been simple and nice in this dream. How is this a dream of regrets is something beyond Buttercup, for she is expecting something akin to finding a warzone or meeting a monster that turned out to be a repressed part of the Rowdyruff Boy's mind. Instead she is greeted by this idyllic world, where it felt peaceful and in her is screaming to her that this utopia is all wrong, but she is unable to see what is wrong with this world. She agree that the world is wrong, but she is unable to find any cracks in Boomer's facade.

"What is Boomer trying to hide in this world? What is Boomer afraid of? What is Boomer angry about? Honestly, he hides his emotions all too well." Buttercup sighed as she rolled in her bed.

"Maybe I should sneak into his room and see if he turned out to be a monster or something. I'm better off beating monsters than solving puzzles." Buttercup said to herself. She decided that she will act on her idea and she got out from her bed.

As Buttercup slowly tiptoed towards the door,she honestly hoped that it will be that easy to solve the issue of that clung into Boomer's mind. The peridot-eyed girl turned the doorknob slowly and the doorknob creaked gently as the door opened. The creaks from the door and the hinges almost gave Buttercup's sneaking away but so far it appear that it did not rouse Boomer's avatar in this world,otherwise known as Tom in this world. Buttercup slowly walked towards Tom's door, her steps light and cat-like. The raven-haired girl slowly turned the knob and pushed the door gently and to her surprise and disappointment, she saw Tom lying on his bed with his blanket covering most of his body revealing only his head resting on a pillow.

Buttercup walks closer to the fair-haired teenager and before she even know it,she find herself looking down upon Boomer. The first thing that Buttercup notice about Boomer is how beautiful his long eyelashes were. Buttercup is unable to help herself as she touch Boomer's eyelashes before moving on gently comb his hair. Buttercup had never notice it before during the times that she grabbed on Boomer's hair and head,but his hair is surprisingly soft and silky. The texture really reminded Buttercup of Bubbles' own hair and Buttercup sensed a tinge of envy as her hair is never this silky or soft.

"Sir, we can't hold the positions any longer. We were flushed out by the Government forces just three days ago. Butch is burned badly, and he almost killed Blair in his battered state." Boomer's voice is clear and concise, startling Buttercup for a moment and causing her to lift her hand off his head.

"What the...Boomer's talking in his sleep. Damn." Buttercup leans forward to listen to the sleeping man once she realized that he is still deep in his sleep.

"Also the Government forces are now attacking the Castello highway and our forces are retreating. It is not long before they cut us off."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Buttercup is trying to understand what in earth is Boomer talking about.

"Right. That will be all Sir. Pothos out." Boomer did a salute while he is sleeping,which Buttercup finds adorable.

"He's reporting to someone...must be some war thing. I remembered Brick said that they were mercenaries once."

"Whew,that's done with. Anyway Brick, you think Blair will be able to fight?"

Speak of the devil, Buttercup raised her eyebrow and thought of the odd coincidence, only to realize that Boomer's dream is linked to another one of the Rowdyruff Boy's dream.

"She's is kinda too soft for the battlefield, and she ain't no Pinkie. She just looks like a teenage Blossom,that's all." The fair-haired boy chuckled in his sleep.

"Blossom?" Buttercup latched on to the name, knowing that if the dreams are linked there will be a chance the boys will stumble on one of the Powerpuff Girls.

"Yeah,but she's got legs. Those legs are really slender. Those arms too. Top tier stuff." Tom smiled while he turns around in his sleep. Sounds like Blossom, Buttercup thought to herself. But as Blossom would say in her weird Eastern guru nonsense, if it sounds like Buddha and looks like Buddha, it does not mean that it is Buddha himself. Buttercup chuckled as she thought of the lame idea but soon realize that she should not chuckle at all in order to not risk waking up the sleeping teenage boy.

"Hm...she still could be a spy. I mean the base was attacked as she was on the rooftop on that night." The boy frowned,and Buttercup is now getting a little piece of what is going on in the boy's dream.

"Blossom's sure got the short end of the stick for this." Buttercup folded her arms as she observed the sleeping boy.

"I'm gonna take a nap at that corner. Talk to you later Brick." The sleeping boy smiled in his sleep and Buttercup decided that this is the best time to leave the room, as she will not take the chance of Boomer sleeping in the other dream and waking up in this one. Buttercup slowly sneaked out from the bedroom and close the door as discreetly as possible.

As Buttercup walk back to her room, her mind is now lighting up with new questions about the present situation. Buttercup clearly did not expect that Boomer's dreams are connected to the other Rowdyruff Boy's dreams. If that is the case,it may help if one of them snaps out from their own dream and help his brothers out. Buttercup closed the door behind her and soon a particular thought is nagging in her mind; the possibility for her to dream about her sisters and communicate with them.

* * *

"How do I do this again?"

Buttercup is finding her quest to find a way to communicate with her sisters much more challenging than she thought. For a week, Buttercup is trying to dream about her sisters in a dream world is hard, if not impossible. The dark-haired girl can't seem to dream for wanting of better words, and this in itself is an odd thing. For the past few weeks, Buttercup had observed Boomer's sleeping patterns and always it appears that he is dreaming about some other vivid dream. This in turn made her livid,for it is something so close yet so very far.

So far based on her eavesdropping, Boomer had been talking about two women named Blair and Renèe respectively. Based on the description that Buttercup had on Blair, the lady appear to be a young lady that had a suspicious appearance of her upright sister. But the problem is that she is not certain if Blair is Blossom. For all she knows, Blair can be just like Tom in her world; similar on the outside but not the same on the inside.

The question is how can she communicate with her sister on the other side. Inspiration struck when Buttercup recalled what she did to Professor Utonium during one of his sleepwalks and decided to try the darnest thing possible; she'll have to give him one of those subliminal messaging thing she saw on Youtube and see if it works.

* * *

"Heya Boomer, find a piece of paper and write down what I'm about to say to you. Heya-"Buttercup whispered into Tom's ear and hoped that her ridiculous plan works.

Blossom is now face to face with the sand blonde Rowdyrufd Boys, wondering if ahe can avoid him at any cost. The last time she had any meaningful interaction with Boomer is during her visit to his room to talk about Renèe,and the dream version of him is much more denser than the real thing.

"Yes Boomer?" Blossom disguised her emotions with a polite greeting with a smile completing the greeting. But upon closer examination,Boomer appears to be sleepwalking,and Blossom finds it rather disturbing yet adorable. The sleeping Rowdyruff Boy handed Blossom a piece of folded paper, surprising the fiery redheaded girl.

"What the-" Blossom hesitated for a while before deciding to take the paper away from his hands. Boomer immediately walked away from Blossom and she wondered if the Rowdyruff Boy will be turned her attention to the paper and unfold it. To Blossom further surprise,it is a short letter addressed to her and she started reading it.

 _Heya Bloss,_

 _Buttercup here,and I don't know if this works,but if you're reading this I'll say I'm a freakin' genius. Btw, I'm fine and my side of things is way too peaceful.I found ya because the Boomer in my world sleeptalks and he mentioned someone that I hope is you Blossom. I decided to whisper in his ear and instruct him to write this letter while he's asleep. If you want to respond back to me,you'll have to somehow make Boomer repeat your lines or something when he's awake or do something to him when he's asleep. You'll work out something to make this less weird as I got no clue how to make this less stupid than it already is. You're the smart one, and please reply if you got this sis._

 _Butters._

Blossom is absolutely elated that her sister is fine,and Buttercup managed to find a way to communicate with her. Now it will be her turn to try and communicate with her sister.

* * *

Buttercup is once more beside Tom's best awaiting for her long shot gamble to communicate with her sister. Even though she knew that it is stupid, but if it works it is not a stupid plan. Besides, Buttercup had lived long enough to know that thinking can be surprisingly overrated. She slowly moved her fingers gently over Boomer's eyelashes and wondered how on earth can a boy have such pretty eyelashes. Suddenly Boomer's mouth started animating itself and Buttercup pulled back her finger to see his eyes moving under his eyelids.

"That's a good sleep...oh hey Blair! What are you doing here?" Boomer spoke while deep in his dreams. Buttercup watched on as Boomer went quiet for a while. For a second, Buttercup thought that her plan had went down the drain only for Boomer to speak once more.

"You want to read this letter out loud?" Boomer asked hesitantly. Buttercup crossed her finger hoping that something will come out from it.

"Um...right...uh huh...okay sure?" Buttercup watched as Boomer's body moved uncomfortably before his lips mutter the content of the letter.

 _Hello to my loveable Butterfingers,_

 _I'm fine so far, but I'm separated from the rest. I'm unable to find their whereabouts, and this place is a warzone. The world is breaking apart, and I don't know how long it will last. But I hope that there is a way for us to meet each other once more._

 _But I managed to meet up with some rather interesting personalities. Foremost among these are three young boys with attitudes- HEY!_

 _Fine, I'll continue on reading this stupid letter..._

 _They named themselves after the Three Musketeers, though I think that this is not their real name. The most temperamental among them is a black-haired boy with green eyes called Aramis, and it seems that he's prone to suffering some bouts of madness as if his mind is cracking under the pressure and I swear that I can see the world crack before my eyes. I hope that somehow he's able to get himself out from this living nightmare._

 _As for the other two boys, they are relatively alright though being related to with Athos being the most stoic one while Pothos is a little airheaded- HEY!_

 _Urgh...I hope that this will all make sense and I hope we will meet again. Right now, I'll need to figure out a way to get out of here._

 _Your loving sister,_

 _Blair._

"Happy now?" Boomer muttered in his sleep, slurring while he turned around in his sleep.

"It is Blossom!" Buttercup barely hold back the joy in her voice as she recognize the nickname that Blossom often calls her when she is reckless. But Buttercup soon realized that she had just woken up the sleeping blonde boy. The raven-haired girl is staring at a half-naked blonde teenager looking at her with half-asleep sapphire eyes. The sandy luminescence of his pale hair glowed with an ethereal glow under the moonlight, and his slender androgynous body is now bare for Buttercup to spectate with all her view.

"Boomer! Hey...I...I...Ur..." Buttercup clearly did not expect the teenage boy to wake up in the middle of the night. Buttercup immediately backed away from the bed while the half-asleep boy got out from his bed and walked slowly towards Buttercup, one small step at a time.

Buttercup readied a defensive stance, but each small step taken by Boomer felt oppressive and intimidating. Despite her confidence in her physical abilities, Buttercup find herself taking a small step back for every small step that Boomer took. The peridot-eyed girl noticed that something is extremely wrong with this situation but she can't put her finger or her mind on it. Her instincts immediately raised her arm in a boxing stance and when her body does the thinking for her, Buttercup listens.

"What the hell is with the blonde-" Buttercup immediately realized what she failed to notice before; she can see colors now. Boomer got up from the ground and his now icy-blue eyes are now focused on Buttercup, her forehead breaking into cold sweat.

"Boomer?" Buttercup's uncertainty is reflected in her voice as the situation unfold before her eyes. Buttercup recognized Boomer's predatory ice-blue eyes. Those are the eyes that she saw as the men fondled her and strip her as she lay helpless from the Russian kingpin's blow. The eyes of a predator hungry for power and domination. A dark and ominous chill went down the Powerpuff Girl's spine and for once in her life, Boomer struck fear in her heart. Before long she felt another sensation on her spine and this sensation is not an imagined one.

 _Thud._

Buttercup's dismay is etched on her face as her back made contact with the wall. Her lapse of attention is all it took for Boomer to plant one of his arm on the wall loudly. Buttercup clearly is not pleased by the idea and her knee went straight to Boomer's groin. Buttercup sensed a resistance pushing back her knee and her eyes caught Boomer's hand grabbing her knee with one hand.

Buttercup swings her fist towards his face, but Boomer moved forward causing her arm to miss his head. Boomer's eyes never break contact with Buttercup and his unnerving arctic blue eyes watched her without blinking. Boomer's face suddenly came too close for comfort and to Buttercup's shock and dismay,she sensed a moist padded sensation meeting her own lips. The sensation sent a current of confusion in Buttercup's head, causing her to reflexively pushed him away with all her might. Boomer landed on the ground on his bum while Buttercup moved away from him while staring at him with fiery peridot eyes. The growing warmth on her face and the frantic heartbeat in her chest only served to make her more bewildered by the Rowdyruff Boy's touched her lips, and she felt violated.

 _Crack._

A lightning blue crack appeared in the space between Boomer and Buttercup, and Buttercup finally understood Blossom's words of a cracking world. The reality crack mended itself once more and the space between them is whole once more. Boomer watched her for a few more moments before his eyes started closing once more and the world turned monochrome.

As Boomer lay unconscious, Buttercup decided that this is the right time to retreat while she can. Burying the unease in her heart, she edged towards the door and turned the doorknob while her attention is on the unconscious Boomer. In an instant she got out from the room and closed the door. She leaned on the door and soon started sliding down until her posterior landed gently on the ground. Buttercup's heart is beating frantically and her mind blanked out as she her unease increased and tried to make sense of what happened.


	58. Chapter 58:Piecing The Pieces

Chapter 58: Piecing The Pieces

Bubbles' attention is now focused on a pressing matter.

Brick,or the wolf-monster manifestation that the red-haired Rowyruff Boy had decided to take in this world, is now lying down on the ground with half-opened eyes and enjoying the company of the Powerpuff Girl. In contrast, Break,the dark brooding guardian of Brick's inner mind is now staring at the hellhound uneasily. Having a hellhound and a shadowy apparition with her and letting them sit in the same space as she is is like having two part of a broken key in front of a keyhole but failing to fix the broken key to open the door.

"If only you could talk. It will make things easier for us to help you." Bubbles gently stroke the fur on Brick's neck as she gaze at the tame hellhound.

" _That idiot keeps it all inside._ " Bubbles snaps her head upwards to find the shadow-like doppelganger of Brick staring at the beast with blood-red eyes, arms 's distorted reverberating off-sync voice is a voice that Bubbles can never get used to, especially when the voice has an otherworldly echo accompanying his speech.

"Inside of what? Aren't you his subconscious or something Break?"

" _Bubbles, I'm Brick's fail-safe defense mechanism implanted into his body for when he is taken to the brink. I absorb all his subconscious emotions and impulses,but never his higher functions. I know what he feels,but not why he feels and he think he feels. I'm only able to see the outside world for the first time a few months ago and only knew Brick once we merged our memories._ " Brick smirked and shrugged as he looked away from Bubbles as he talks.

"That's hard." Bubbles is unable to understand the two sides of the redhead she had become attracted to, but she is making the effort in order to help Brick get out from the hold that trapped the strawberry blonde boy in this dream.

" _I would've thought that it will be easier to snap into action and get to the root of the problem once we find Brick ._ "

Bubbles did not even have the time to understand Break's implication, but the darkening glow of Break's beating heart is now as dim as a dying candle. Bubbles can see Break's strained appearance, and if the dark figure is a human being, Bubbles will be able to see that Break is now as pale as a ghost. Break clenches his chest in pain before kneeling down, causing Bubbles to rush to his aid. Bubbles covered her mouth as she realized that Break's outline is now rather smokey and fading away.

"You're fading..." Bubbles is unable to hold back her shock, and it escaped her lips.

" _No, I'm just kneeling down to take a rest._ " Break's sarcastic wit belies the dire circumstances of the dark figure having its essence seeping clenched his chest in pain before kneeling down, causing Bubbles to rush to his aid. An outstretched arm stopped Bubbles from approaching any closer, and it is soon apparent why Break stopped Bubbles. As his essence seeps away, Break's chest is slowly revealing the dark crimson heart within beating faintly, its glow the brightness of a fading candlelight.

" _This is it huh?"_ Break said in resignation. A howl soon followed and both Break and Bubbles turned their attention towards Beast-Brick and saw him rolling around on the ground. Bubbles realized that both Brick and Break are interconnected and both are now losing themselves. Bubbles grabbed Break'sface with both her palms and made the shadowy figure to face her.

"Look into my eyes Break! We can work this out. If I have to enter into his stupid mind to fix this problem!"

" _I don't even know how to do that, Bubbles."_

"We'll find a way! There's always a way!"

Both individuals realized that they do not need to figure out how to get into Brick's mind, for they were soon engulfed by a darkness that burst forth from Beast-Brick's body and they saw that the world around them is now pitch black darkness. Bubbles looked around uneasily and as she brought her arm in front of her face, she realized that she can't see her hand at all.

A sudden flash erupted around Bubbles and she shielded her eyes from the blinding light, protecting herself from whatever that will come her way. However what greeted her after she moved her arms from her eyes is something she did not expect at all. The scene before them is showing a little boy with a distinctive red cap and long-sleeved turtleneck and black trousers with eyes that are best described as predatory and intimidating discussing something with two other little boys in a room. One of the other boys is a spiky, dark-haired boy with pristine jadeite eyes but a little rough around the edges in a similar turtleneck but colored a forest green, while the last boy is a sand-blonde boy with crystal-like sapphire eyes.

"Boys?" Bubbles asked herself. Oddly enough, Bubbles noticed that the room of the Rowdyruff Boys are similar to that of the Powerpuff Girls, just that it is much more masculine and boyish. Where the Powerpuff Girl's bed would have a heart marking, the Rowdyruff Boys would have the marking of a skull with a crossbone. The room is in shades of black and white rather than shades of pink. The posters of villains, rock bands and weapons are plastered over the room's walls. Blossom noticed the three young Rowdyruff Boys are sitting on their beds and discussing about something. They looked no older than eight years old, about the same time where they disappeared without a trace.

 _Is this a clue to getting Brick out from the dreamscape,_ Bubbles asked herself as she watched, uncertain of how to interpret the scene from Brick's past.

"So we're running away from home? What gives Brick?" the dark-haired boy asked his brother asked his brother.

"We need to get out of here. We are in danger Butch." The young Brick pointed out.

"Him and Mojo will try to find us, especially when Him uses his magic. Mojo's easy, but Him's not. How the heck do we lose them?" The blonde boy interjected, pointing out the two factors that will foil their plan.

"Um...I didn't think that far Boomer." Brick was forced to admit, but not before hitting his blonde brother in the head. A yelp soon followed, and Boomer is now rubbing his head to soothe the pain he felt.

"You think that if we beat the crap out of Him, we will get out of here?" Butch asked.

"You crazy? He's the devil for cryin' out loud! How'd you beat someone like that?" Boomer exclaimed, raising both his arms in the hair in disbelief over his raven-haired brother's suggestion.

"Well, I can try out the most insane idea ever." Brick pointed out, and both his brother looked at the red-eyed boy, wondering what the insane idea would be.

"Okay Brick, since you have such a great idea why don't you tell us?" Butch said, daring the young redhead to spit out his suggestion.

"You'll not believe me." Young Brick informed his brother.

"And that would that be?" Both Butch and Boomer asked at the same time, and at that same time.

"Yeah, what would that be?" Bubbles asked herself about Brick's proposed idea to his brothers.

"Well, we will ask Him if we can leave." Brick answered at the same time, causing Butch, Boomer and Bubbles to stare in disbelief.

"What?!" Butch and Boomer cried out in disbelief. Before long the three young Rowdyruff Boys are in a heated argument with each other, while Bubbles watched on.

""It's worth a shot." Brick voiced out. At the same time, Bubbles sensed a feeling of dread from the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Hold on Brick, you know how moody Him is!" Boomer hissed.

"Him's not pretty when it's upset, and he ain't pretty to begin with." Butch echoed his blonde brother's concern.

"I'm going off now." Brick got up and rushed out the door, his brothers just a second too late to pull him back.

Bubbles followed the young boy as he walked through the disturbing hallway of this particular place that the Rowdyruff Boys called him. Bubbles recognized the distorted and maddening realm that Him called home, and the images of several unrelated scenes playing at once while the hallway twisted in a spiral made her a little nauseous. Brick finally found himself face to face with a wall. The little boy tapped on the wall before the section of the wall pulled away to reveal a grand study room, with countless books arranged in dark mahogany bookshelves. Each bookshelf is beautifully crafted with intricate designs of vines and roses, the gothic atmosphere of the room further illuminated by gas lamps and the dark red Persian carpet. An equally exquisitely carved mahogany table lies before the boy, with a dark red velvet chair facing away from the table, its backrest disguising the figure behind the chair. The sparing sound of rustling paper breaks the silence before a much more notable sound overshadowed the sound of the rustling paper. The little boy stepped forwards, stopping just short of a feet before the table.

"Let my brothers go." The young croaky voice of the little boy demanded. Its seem that whoever he is speaking to did not answer the little boy and went on reading.

"You've planted something in them, other than that cooties immunity. I saw a weird cracking glow on them the other day when we fought the Powerpuff Girls. A glowing crack. What did you do to my brothers you fiend?" Brick pointed an accusatory finger at the figure hidden by the chair.

" _Correction Brick. I gave your brothers their roles._ " Bubbles recognized the discordant crescendo of alternating voices and the chair turned around to reveal a red figure clad in a black robe with an equally dark widow's peak and a goatee. Him is indulging itself in reading a book on one pincer while sitting comfortably with a cup of tea on its other pincer. Brick clearly did not expect that answer as he failed to produce a response.

"Roles?"

" _All of you will play a part in my grand scheme of things._ " Him closed the book and rest it upon the table before snapping its pincer.

The little boy collapsed on the ground on his knees as a dark portal opened from his chest . The object appeared more like a culmination of odd triangular shapes forming into a stylized realistic heart with the various valves. The heart-shaped object is etched with various lines forming stylized blood vessels with each line glowed with a faint crimson light and pulsed with a steady pulse like that of a heartbeat. Another snap closed the hole as suddenly as it appeared. The little boy is now panting for his life,and a sudden realization that something an eldritch orb is dwelling within him shook his very fiber. Him stood up, bringing itself to an intimidating height. Him puts down its cup of tea on the table before it squatted in front of the little boy.

"What...did...you..." Brick's crimson eyes are now staring with confusion, betrayal and hatred towards Him's emerald eyes.

" _That's my life's work, and I only entrust my life's work to the one I trust. I call it the Trinisphere._ "

The younger Brick is now leaning forward, resting his arms on the carpet while kneeling down for support. Brick experienced a pain unlike anything he had ever felt before, and each nerve felt like it was on fire. As lBrick writhed on the ground, something else within Paper-Brick stirred, and that made him even more terrified by what else the effeminate demon had done to him. A sudden nauseating feeling soon accompanied the mysterious stirring within his own body and he was forced to cover his younger self however expelled the contents of his stomach on the carpet. Him waved its arms around the puddle on the carpet as little Brick finally stopped expelling his stomach. The puddle disappeared without a trace, and Him rests a pincer on the Rowdyruff Boy's shoulder.

" _You poor thing...everything will be alright._ " Him comforted the little boy as the little boy grumbled incongruent words from the excruciating pain coursing though his body. Him was cut short by a sudden burst of darklight enveloped by a dark crimson light aiming for its head. With seconds to lose, Him tilted his head to the left and a searing black scar is visible on the demon's red cheeks. To everyone's surprise, the little boy's carnelian hair is now glowing a pure crimson and the whites of the young Rowdyruff Boy's eyes are now pitch black.

" _Get your hands off Brick_." The young croaky voice that came out from Brick has a different timbre, almost like that of a different person. But with a snap of a descending pincer, Him slammed it down at the nape of Brick's skull. If it were any other mortal, the blow would had given imminent death. Instead, Brick was knocked while on all fours. The demon sighed before scooping the little boy in its arms. Him scooped the little boy in its arms and started moving, and Bubbles is not far behind Him.

" _You're the only one that I don't have to tell a lie,my always seem to sniff out the truth and also exceed all my expectations._ " Bubbles watched the scene as Him started to talk to the unconscious little boy. The image of a caring and truthful Him had caught Bubbles a little offguard. Here, the personification of evil is speaking truthfully and as she watched Him caressed the hair of the little red-haired boy, Him's eyes and expression much more genuine, and that in itself is a surprise in itself due to Him's duplicitous nature.

" _You, the strength in my arms and the holders of my dreams. You will see it one day, but I don't expect you to understand it now. You have a role to play, and so will your brothers._ _You'll forget everything that happened tonight but I hope you understand why I did the things I had to do._ " Him kissed the little carnelian-haired boy's forehead before disappearing in a wisp of reddish pink smoke and to Bubbles' surprise, she followed suit. Bubbles found herself in a room in shades of black and white and a large bed with a symbol of a skull and crossbone on the bed looming over two boys in their beds. The two boys turned around as they heard a small pop. As the reddish-pink smoke dissipates, both Butch and Boomer and saw their unconscious brother in Him's embrace.

"BRICK!" Both Rowdyruff Boys called out and rushed towards their brother. Him laid Brick on the ground, and both his brothers picked the carnelian-haired boy up.

"You! What have you done!" Boomer demanded for an answer from Him with teary sapphire eyes. Butch expressed his outrage by firing beams from his eyes but the beams passed by Him's incorporeal form.

" _Leave."_ Him's response caught the Rowdyruff Boys by surprise.

"You haven't answ-" Boomer was cut off as a cloud of reddish pink smoke engulfed the three boys before the smoke dissipated. The Rowdyruff Boys had disappeared in a wisp of smoke. A shard with a crimson eye materialized as the scene blacked out, and Bubbles recognized the crimson eye. Bubbles voiced out her disbelief, causing the glass fragment to face her.

"Brick?" Bubbles' eyes lit up, knowing that she finally found Brick.

Still, that did not explain why Brick is appearing to her as various forms of things. First a wolf monster and now as a piece of shard. Bubbles slowly approached the floating shard, knowing that things are never as they seem in this dream-like world. The shard observed Bubbles' approach and before long Bubbles is now touching the surface of the shard with one of her hands. Bubbles slowly felt the odd sensation of a cold and hard surface noticed that the eye's expression is a little sadder than usual. Bubbles decided that collecting the shard is the best option she had in helping Brick.

"So sorry Brick, but I've got to do this." She grabbed on the shard and wanted to put it on a pocket, but soon realized that she is wearing a dress with no pockets. Without even hesitating, Bubbles inserted the shard in between her breast. Bubbles knew in her heart that she will regret this moment, but unexpected times need unexpected measures.

Another scene soon started playing and Bubbles had no choice but to continue watching, uncertain of what this all entailed.

* * *

An unknown period of time passed by as she watched every piece of memory and collected fragments of Brick's being. Initially the pieces were held by several random pieces held afloat by some mysterious connection, but soon enough the basic shape of a human body started today take shape. Bubbles had noticed that a larger amount of fragments are often gathered around a certain arcs within Brick's memory and the darker the memory,the smaller the fragments will be.

Some memories were particularly grim, like the memories of Brick's time in the criminal underworld and how the Rowdyruff Boys protected a Brazilian crime boss in the _favelas_ of Rio De Janeiro. The manner in which Brick 'neutralized' the threats are uncharacteristically brutal and ruthless, for Brick essentially maimed the transgressors for life despite killing no had a chill down her spine, for his callous disregard for human suffering is shocking. The ruthless efficiency of Brick's combat style is apparent as Bubbles recalled what happened to the various Los Noches members that assaulted the District Attorney's office as they were found with their elbows,shoulders, ribs, collarbones, knees, hips and ankles broken with extreme force.

Not all the memories were grim and dark for some memories are more whimsical and at times embarrassing. The particular memory of the Rowdyruff Boys coming back from the dead was replayed with Brick initially laughing at Bubbles having a slug behind her back. However that soon changed when the Rowdyruff Boys shrunk at being belittled by the Powerpuff Girls, causing Brick to look away with embarrassment while Bubbles smiled at the recollection of the memory. As they moved from memory to memory, Bubbles realized that Brick's past had colored him to be a quiet, selfless boy who took his family seriously and willing to do anything for his siblings. With every memory, Brick slowly pieced himself together and with the exception of most of his face, Bubbles had essentially found all the pieces of himself.

But something else is missing, for Brick is still...not animated. Right now he appeared more like a large mannequin whom Bubbles had to carry around once he had formed into something resembling a human. Something is missing, and Bubbles is clueless as to what that is.

 _Maybe I can help,_ A dark voice answered in her head, causing Bubbles to look around in confusion.

" _Down here._ " Bubbles looked down to see her own shadow, but soon realized that her shadow is waving back at Bubbles and the presence of two red glows are present where her eyes will be. Her shadow waved at her, which is rather unsettling if it were not for the fact that Bubbles recognized the being that took the form of her shadow.

"Break! You're intact!" Bubbles is glad that Break is in one piece.

" _Intact mostly thanks to me attaching myself to you. You're a lifeline now, but I need to help you fix Brick up as well or else we're screwed._ " The shadow's arm pointed towards to Brick.

"Any bright ideas?"

" _Just one._ " Break answered her and Break produced something bizarre. A dark crimson object floated out from the shadow, and Bubbles watched as the weird object finally met her eye level. She recognized the object as the object she saw from Brick's chest from the first scene that she saw.

"What is this?" Bubbles reached out with her fingers to touch it. To Bubbles' surprise, she can sense a pulsing sensation and her hand jerked back.

" _The Trinisphere or at least what appears to be the object that Him ripped out from Brick. This is the thing that Him planted in Brick for some weird plan of his. This is also the reason why I existed._ " Break answered the Powerpuff Girls with the pigtailed hair.

"How'd you-"

" _As you're finding the pieces of Brick's soul, I've been finding the fragments of the Trinisphere still present in his soul. Anyway put that into the hole in Brick's face."_ Break pointed out to Bubbles.

Bubbles took the heart-shaped object in both her palms and she can sense the slow and steady beat from the object. She walked towards the lifeless Rowdyruff Boy, uncertain of what would happen when the object is introduced in the boy's body. As she pushed it into the hole in Brick's face, the faint light of the glowing lines soon started to glow brighter with every second. The object soon lowered itself down into the abyss, and several strands of red lines soon moved in the void like vines into every dark corners within the abyss. The body soon started to jerk and as both Break and Bubbles watched, the body started to come to life.

"GGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Brick roared out, causing Bubbles to be startled. Brick soon collapsed on all fours and a heavy panting is heard. Snapping out from her initial reaction, Bubbles hesitantly edged closer towards the Rowyruff Boy and she hesitated for a moment before she spoke out.

"Brick?" Brick turned around and the gaping hole in Brick's face is now staring back at her, but the single crimson eye is staring at Bubbles with a shocked and surprised look.

"B-Bubbles?" The boyish voice of the Rowdyruff Boy is voice that Bubbles came to recognize very well. and Bubbles is unable to resist her next course of action; she hugged him like a bear.

" _Glad that finally got through you. I knew that you're too thick to notice anything._ " Break informed condescendingly.

"And you're a shadow of your former self." Brick poked at the shadow-like figure.

"A shadow is better than being a thick as a brick."

A loud explosion snapped them out from their banter and the trio soon realized that the scene surrounding them cracked apart/ Bubbles soon noticed that the scene is now a scene unlike anything that Bubbles had seen before materialized before sickening smell of burning gasoline, charred flesh and burnt metal seared through Bubbles' sensitive nose. The burning streets are coated with dust and sand,and the hot and dry air of the warzone made her skin very uncomfortable. The sound of screaming jets shrieked through the skies before the thundering sound of explosions were heard, rocking the very earth beneath their feet. Bubbles closed her ears for a moment as the bombing reached a truly deafening crescendo, but her eyes watched as an entire neighborhood of this urban jungle was set ablazed. The booming sounds were soon accompanied by several explosions of smoke in mid-air which rained down trails of smoke that further ignited the city. The sound of explosions died down as the fire swallowed parts of the city in a forest of fire and the smoke is filled with noxious fumes from the burning chemicals and materials.

"What...is this?" Bubbles asked.

"White phosphorus. Burns upon contact with air, and will ignite anything that is combustible. Not the way to die. Not the way to die at all." Brick answered as he pointed towards the sea of fire, his eye filled with a sorrowful look. Bubbles can sense his memories being brought up in the most painful manner.

"I mean...where are we?"

"Syria. Aleppo to be precise." Brick answered crisply.

" _Well, since you're back I'll move back._ " Break neatly interrupted them and a dark shadowy tendril slithered out from Bubbles shadow towards Brick's shadow. Within seconds, two glowing eyes formed in Brick's shadow marking the completion of the transference of Break back into Brick's being. Brick looked around to find a piece of checkered cloth hanging from one of the rubble and wrapped the cloth around his face, revealing only his eye.

"We need to move." Brick walked away and Bubbles followed suit.

As the party of two (or to be exact, three) moved about the ruined city, Bubbles wondered what she should say to Brick. Or for that matter, is this Brick the Brick she known? Perhaps, Brick is incomplete and may act in a hostile manner. But so far, Bubbles sensed no hostility from the Rowdyruff Boy.

"By the way Bubbles, How'd you know Break?" Brick asked her, and Bubbles did not expect him to be the first one that broke the silence.

"Well, I entered into your dreams to get you out and met Break and it rained blood and we hid in a cave and then you were this big wolf thing with tentacles and eyes everywhere and you were chasing us around, and then wolfy you calmed down and then allow me to pet you and then we got swallowed up by the dark gooey thingie that swallowed us all in." Bubbles summarized her experience without a single punctuation and in a single breath.

"Never mind." Brick sighed once more, knowing well that Bubbles can be airheaded at times and the way she explain things is a little wonky. But putting logic to a person that can speak to all living things is a little too far-fetched and he decided to not pursue the matter anymore.

"Any idea how we can get out from this place?" Bubbles asked as she turned her attention away from the squabble between the three young Rowdyruff Boys.

" _We need to find Brick's body pieces, and they're hidden in Brick's memories."_ Break informed Brick and Bubbles. Bubbles sensed that Brick has a certain unease for the shadow-like being.

"Great." Brick grumbled.

"Brick...about the scenes...are those?" Bubbles mustered the courage to ask about the scenes that she saw as she collected pieces of Brick.

"What did you see Bubbles?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl, and Bubbles decided to ask about the first scene she saw. After Bubbles told Brick about the scene, Brick breathed in and out deeply.

"We tried to run from Him, but my memory's hazy about that part. Guess my subconscious remembered it much more clearer than I do. Never knew I knew about the stupid thing in my chest. And I never knew that Break is already in me."

" _Neither did I_. _I don't recall materializing out from Brick until a few months ago._ " Brick's surprised is also shared with his shadowy symbiote.

"I always wondered why Him is willing to let us go. Now that I think about it in hindsight, Him's just a few miles ahead of us when it comes to planning stuff." Brick could not help but to sigh and shake his head, knowing well that they had been playing right into Him's palms (if Him had any).

"What about Mojo Jojo?" Bubbles asked.

"We didn't tell him and ran, and understandably he's bitter about it. But that saying, at least Mojo do not treat us as tools to be manipulated." Brick's voice has a much gentler tone as he reminisce about a much better time.

"I see." Bubbles is unable to add further to the conversation, knowing well that this is her first time knowing of the complex relationship between the Rowdyruff Boys and the two villains that had the most connection with the boys.

"We kinda reconciled when we boys were in Ukraine, as Mojo was arming the Russian army with new tech and we're fighting on the Russian's side. Somehow we resolved our differences and now he's our Professor Utonium. Thought we don't drop by to visit him as often as he'd liked." Brick chuckled.

 _I've spotted something._

Break's voice echoed in their minds and both Brick and Bubbles froze. The sound of footsteps were heard and Brick pulled Bubbles aside in the cover of one of the ruins. As the footsteps drew closer, both individuals were particular cautious of what they will be facing. As the footstep finally reached where they were, Brick and Bubbles were surprised that they recognized the voice.

"That's a good sleep...oh hey Blair! What are you doing here?"

"Boomer?" Both Brick and Bubbles voiced their surprise at the same time, but realized that they need to remain quiet less they were spotted.

"Heya Boomer. Just the person I wanted to look for. Can you read out this letter for me?" The second voice is even more of a surprise,as Bubbles recognized the dignified and rather eloquent mannerism in which the speech is delivered.

"Blossom?" Bubbles whispered out, surprised to hear her sister's voice once more.

"You want to read this letter out loud?" Boomer voiced his displeasure and hesitance in reading the letter.

"I insist." Bubbles recognized the particularly intimidatingly pleasant tone of her sister's voice that she used when she wants to get something done and there is no way of getting out from it. This is definitely Blossom.

"Um...right...uh huh...okay sure?" Boomer asked hesitantly, as if knowing that he should not mess with the girl. The little boy proceed to read out something and Bubbles is further elated by the contents of what was read out.

 _Hello to my loveable Butterfingers,_

 _I'm fine so far, but I'm separated from the rest. I'm unable to find their whereabouts, and this place is a warzone. The world is breaking apart, and I don't know how long it will last. But I hope that there is a way for us to meet each other once more._

 _But I managed to meet up with some rather interesting personalities. Foremost among these are three young boys with attitudes- HEY!_

 _Fine, I'll continue on reading this stupid letter..._

 _They named themselves after the Three Musketeers, though I think that this is not their real name. The most temperamental among them is a black-haired boy with green eyes called Aramis, and it seems that he's prone to suffering some bouts of madness as if his mind is cracking under the pressure and I swear that I can see the world crack before my eyes. I hope that somehow he's able to get himself out from this living nightmare._

 _As for the other two boys, they are relatively alright though being related to with Athos being the most stoic one while Pothos is a little airheaded- HEY!_

 _Urgh...I hope that this will all make sense and I hope we will meet again. Right now, I'll need to figure out a way to get out of here._

 _Your loving sister,_

 _Blair._

"Ohmygod!" Bubbles squealed and both Brick and Break were unsure why Bubbles was grinning from ear to ear when Boomer finished the letter. But if Bubbles is anything to go by, both Brick and Break knew that if Bubbles is so bubbly happy about something it must be great news and there is hope.

* * *

"Happy now?"

Boomer is not pleased by what he was asked to do by the red-haired teenage girl. Reading a stupid letter is not what he likes to do, but somehow he was reminded of Brick when the girl showed him a very threatening face when he refused initially. But now that he had read the letter, Boomer found himself looking at a very uncertain teenager looking at him, as if he's her only hope for something and not sure if he's reliable enough.

"I hope I am." Blossom answered. Blossom clearly have no clue if whatever she is doing right now is even working. For all she know, the rules and conditions of inter-dream communication is not the same in every dream, and what she had just done is just a pointless exercise. Still, she needs to try and know for sure.

"Blair." Brick called out towards the woman with the amaranth eyes and she turned around to face Brick. It seems that the redhead is with his brother and he had just snapped her attention away from whatever it is that they are doing. Brick can sense the unease surrounding the young woman, but he paid no heed to her unease.

"Hello Brick, or should I call you Athos the musketeer?" The sharpness of her reply caught Brick by surprise but with a lifetime of covering his weaknesses, Brick covered his surprise seamlessly with an appropriate response.

"Brick's fine."

"Anyway Blair, I gotta go. See ya!" Boomer excused himself, leaving the two redheads alone with each other. Both of them glanced at each other before breathing a sigh.

"So, we're to entertain each other huh?" Brick said while readjusting his red cap.

"That can be misinterpreted very badly you know." Blossom pointed out the folly of his choice of words, causing Brick to color slightly.

The young boy took a seat next to the teenage girl and both of them sat in silence, stealing an occasional glance at the other while trying to make it as subtle as it can be. Blossom is fine with the silence, as she rather not say anything that will cause the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy to suspect her of anything. Blossom however is prepared to engage with Brick if he so choose. As for Brick, he finds that the longer he waits, the more likely the teenage girl will move away from the spot. Thus, Brick decided to be the first to speak up, taking the offensive.

"Bubbles's still clinging on to Octy?"

"Yeah, Bubbles never ever lets him go even n...oh shitbiscuits." Blossom quickly realized her folly as she stopped mid-sentence and her eyes are now focused on Brick. Two piercing deep crimson eyes are now staring at her intently, penetrating and all-seeing. Brick's stare into her eyes as if she is an open book and everything that is stored within her soul is now laid bare. His frown only served to confirmed that she will not be able to worm her way out of this messy situation.

"You're really Blossom aren't you." Brick voiced out his thoughts, his voice stoic and firm for a boy his age.

"How'd you know?" Blossom asked.

"Let's see here. For one, you know our names and despite knowing us, you looked at us as if you are not scared of us. Anyone who knows us will be afraid of us."

 _Strike one_ , Blossom realized that the three boys are one of the most feared villains in Townsville and knowing them will indeed cause a great amount of unease and panic in any normal person.

"Secondly, there was that one time where you picked up that weird smell. Boomer may not realized it but if you can pick up a smell then your nose's superhuman."

 _Strike two_ , Blossom thought again.

"Thirdly, the way you curl your hair when you're thinking about something dire. You tend to do that when you are alone and without your sisters around. No one else curls their hair with three fingers and making a pseudo-braid like you do."

"Strike thr-Wait...what?" Blossom clearly did not expect this one, for she never knew this particular habit of hers before pointed out.

"I fought you one on one long enough to know this." Brick shrugged, but Blossom understood that it is not something to shrug about. Among all the villains that Blossom had fought, Brick is perhaps one of the villains that had fought her one on one the most, if not the most. That is an unique bond that can never be taken away, and Blossom finds it reassuring that there is someone out there that knows her as well as her sisters, but at the same time disturbing when said person is her rival.

"Last but not least, you tend to repeat doing stuff if it is repeatable. Case in point." Brick pointed out towards the ground in front of Blossom, and the rose-eyed girl turned back to the ground and realized that she had indeed drawn several sets of perfect circles on the dusty ground.

"Oh." Blossom stared at the circles on the ground, knowing this particular habit too well. Brick takes a deep breath while he closed his eyes.

"So, how'd you grew up so fast?" Brick asked, his tone being more curious than bewildered.

"I didn't grow up. I went back to the past."

"Come again?" Brick's voice is surprised, but his eyes are still closed.

"If I were to answer you, would you believe me?" Blossom asked, with a surprisingly mischievous look in her rose-colored eyes.

"Try me." Brick slowly opened his eyes and he breathed in deeply and leaned back towards the wall. Brick is expecting nothing short of a bizarre story.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Blossom warned, knowing that this needs to be done. The pieces must be pieced together for them to get out from this nightmare.


	59. Chapter 59: Incredulity

Edit: Noticed that a line was missing due to the oddities of the Fanfiction system. Editted.

Chapter 59: Incredulity

Tommaso woke up to realized that he was lying down on the ground, and he wondered how on earth did it happened. Tommaso decided that since he is not working today, he should also take it a little easier than usual. He got up and reached for his wardrobe, feeling a little groggy as he dragged his . He took out a shirt that he draped upon himself before walking out from his bedroom. Tommaso saw Buttercup having her breakfast, and he decided that he should say good morning to the raven-haired girl.

"Good morning Butter-" Tommaso was taken by surprise as Buttercup turned towards his direction and he sensed that something had happened. Something that he was not aware about.

 _No, those eyes. I know what they are_ , Boomer realized. He had seen many men in Little Italy doing things to their wives or common-law wives against their wills. The eyes of those women are almost similar to Buttercup's own eyes, but Buttercup's eyes were not as dark as those women's eyes. Buttercup was looking at him as if he had done something very wrong to her. A trust was broken, and it is his fault. Before he could inquire further, Buttercup stood up from her chair and walked away from him, not making any eye contact with him. Boomer decided that he must go after her.

"Buttercup!" Tommaso called out, but that only made Buttercup moved faster than before.

The walk slowly turned into a frantic pace, before the frantic pace turned into a race. Tommaso is now running after Buttercup, in full view of the onlookers looking at them. He had wanted to ask her what happened, but he will not get any answers when Buttercup is acting the way she did. Somehow he needs to know or he will never be able to concentrate for the rest of the day. But pinning her down is a task all on itself, for the peridot-eyed lady is on the move in the streets of Little Italy. Her familiarity with Little Italy is making it harder for Tommaso to follow her trail, for the enclave had many small lanes and passageways that will baffle even those familiar to the enclave. Suddenly Tommaso bumped into a pedestrian, causing him to lose his balance for a moment. As Tommaso said his apologies, he realized he had done the worst thing he could do when trailing someone in Little Italy; he lost sight of his target.

"Damn it." Tommaso cursed. It will take him a while to find her, if at all.

"God damn it. What the hell is wrong with her?" Tommaso voiced his frustrations as he walked down the back alleys of Little Italy and passing by the inhabitants plying their trade in the Italian enclave. Tommaso had heard before that women had mood changes when it is 'that' time of the month, and he wondered if that is the case. But those eyes that he saw earlier are not eyes of someone being in 'that' time of the month or something. Those are eyes of trust being betrayed. But what did he do that warrant such a trust being broken? He had never done anything to her, and he definitely had not taken advantage of her before.

 _But what if he did? What if he did something?_

Tommaso's thoughts were haunted by how he ended up on the ground. As his frustration and paranoia builds up, Tommaso started to wonder why he is so frustrated and agitated by Buttercup's refusal to engage with him. What does Buttercup mean to him? Buttercup is just a freeloader in his home is it not? Something is wrong, something does not make sense. Something is drawing him closer to Buttercup more than he is comfortable with.

"Heya poppit, what'cha doing in this side of town?" A gruff Irish man's accent cuts through his thought flashes and Tommaso saw a hoodlum confronting a familiar raven-haired girl.

"There she is." Tommaso had finally spotted the raven-haired girl and she is walking out of the boundaries of Little Italy. Tommaso trailes bwhind her as she walked on through the streets od the city. The city is not a place for a girl to walk around unescorted, and there are many hoodlums willing to do some despicable things to a reputable lady. Tommaso knew that she is in troub-

"I guess I was wrong." Tommaso pulled back his concerns when he saw Buttercup bringing down the man within seconds in a fluid and devastating takedown.

If there is one thing he is always impressed about Buttercup,it will be her apparent fighting skills. Somehow her combat skills are unlike anything he had ever seen before. They are direct, simple and yet at the same time creative and brutally effective. Tommaso would had never considered to do a handstand and land a cartwheel kick to a man's that is what Buttercup did,and she followed that cartwheel kick with a movement that best be described as spinning around the man's arm before slamming him down into what resembled a triangle,choking the mand with both her legs and also the man's own arm.

"I'm not in a good mood today,asshole." Buttercup hissed.

"Mer...c..." The man fell unconscious with his eyes open.

"Suit yourself." Buttercup rolled her eyes before letting go of the man and leaving him to continue on her stroll.

 _Don't_ _piss her off_ , Tommaso reminded himself as he trailed after her. Did he end up lying down on the ground because of what he did? Tommaso is not pleased that he did something bad and the male pride within him is not pleased that he may be knocked unconscious by a girl.

Throughout the entire time Tommaso trailed Buttercup, he saw several more hoodlums trying to pester her only for them to be beaten into submission. With each confrontation, Tommaso saw Buttercup becoming more and more agitated and violent against those that dared to pester her. It seems that nothing is stopping her in her tracks, as the sight of unconscious or groaning men started to build up along the trail where she set foot on.

 _That's twenty-five men so far_ , Tommaso kept the count in his head as she finally head towards the pier, and it seems that Buttercup had finally stopped wandering around.

Buttercup walked along the pier for a while before taking a sit on the ledge of one of the pier. Tommaso watched as she stared out towards the great body of water and marveled at the serenity of the sight before him. Buttercup is much more serene and her usual frown is now relaxed, at ease with herself. Buttercup soon started to hum a tune and thought it is hard to hear, Tommaso realized that he knew the tune.

"That's odd, how'd I know the tune?" Tommaso asked himself, for he is able to picture the lyrics floating in his head despite hearing the song for the first time.

Buttercup closed her eyes for a moment before opening her eyes and looking up to the skies. Buttercup started to hum a tune that she personally liked, a song that she had heard Professor Utonium listened to time and time again. Her sisters do not know that she loved the song, and it is a song that they would not expect her to love with all her heart to begin with. Even though the song was originally played to frame a scene of an immortal having to see his wife grow old and pass away, but Buttercup noticed that the lyrics are similar to her predicament. Will this be how she end up in this world if she never got out?Buttercup realized that this in itself is a torture if the dream world will not allow her to age or die. At least with an overt threat,it is easy to recognize. Boomer's dream however is subtle and Boomer's underlying issues is not clear to Buttercup.

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

It is like getting caught in a landslide in which one can never escape.

Perhaps this is her own way of getting her fears and doubts out of her body, and she hoped that someone would be able to break through the fear griping her is finally feeling the pressure of being trapped in this dream, and she is reaching her limit. Buttercup knew that the world is not real, but every passing moment only serves to blur the boundaries between the two world and this is perhaps worse than a clear and present danger.

 _There's no time for us_

 _There's no place for us_

 _What is this thing that builds our dreams_

 _Yet slips away from us?_

Buttercup heard a surprisingly warm but bright voice with a smokey and ethereal timbre, filled with a sadness that can be felt in Buttercup's soul. It single-handedly stopped Buttercup from wallowing deeper into her darkening thoughts.

 _There's no chance for us..._

 _It's all decided for us._

 _This world has only one,_

 _Sweet moment set aside for us._

"What the?" Buttercup stopped humming as she realized that it is not her mind playing tricks on her. Buttercup turned around around only to see Tommaso just a few feet away from her, walking up to the 's first thoughts is that of a musical as she saw Tommaso closing in on her, and she was reminded that Bubbles had told her about Boomer's singing talent. This is the first time that Buttercup saw Boomer sang, and it was glorious. No wonder all the girls fell for his voice, Buttercup thought to herself. Buttercup then noticed that Tommaso went off and sang another song.

 _Bring it back, bring it back, don't take it away from me_

 _Because you don't know what it means to me~_

 _You will remember, when this is blown over_

 _And everything's all by the way_

 _When I grow older, I will be there at your side, to remind you-_

"Stop." Buttercup decided that the situation had turned a little too ridiculous for her own liking (despite enjoying Boomer's singing) and she will not engage in a musical. She got up and Buttercup's peridot eyes are now facing Tommaso's sapphire blue eyes. Buttercup decided to say silent, as she saw Tommaso had something he wanted to say.

"Hello Buttercup, you've finally took notice." Boomer's smiled slightly, finally being able to reach Buttercup and get her attention.

"How'd you find me?" Buttercup did not expect him to know where she is, let alone know the song both Tommaso and herself sang.

"I followed the trail of injured men." Boomer joked, though that is not a lie.

"Ah. That made sense." Buttercup answered. The awkward silence soon fell on both individuals, and things had gone a little colder than before. Sometimes there is no turning back for things done. Tommaso decided that Buttercup needs time. As he walked away, he felt a pull on his sleeve. Surprised, he looked back to see Buttercup has a struggling look on her face, as if holding back on a dark truth.

"Boomer...we need to talk. I need to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" Tommaso sensed a foreboding that he may- no, he will not like at all.

* * *

"Brick?" Blossom asked but she knew that her voice is no longer reaching cinnabar-eyed boy as he sat stoically in silence.

"I'll get back to you." Brick is trying to keep his cool but his uneasiness is showing on his face. Brick got up and walked away from Blossom.

That is messed up, Brick thought to himself as he walked away from the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

Brick is trying to digest the conspiracy that Blossom had just told him,where the world that he is in is a dream and the real Rowdyruff Boys are actually teenagers. The notion that the boys are trapped in their dreams is something beyond Brick's wildest imagination. Despite his disbelief, Blossom's suspicions made sense to the red-haired boy. There were moments where the world seemed a little odd, and his suspicion of the copper-haired girl from the very beginning is based on his uneasiness of her presence. To had his suspicions totally beyond what he expected is not on the menu of things he can predict.

Brick is still deep in thought over what Blossom had told him, and he wandered around wondering if he is turning slightly mad from the matter. For all he cared about, he could be a banana tree. As the outside temperature rises, and he felt that he is one card short of a full deck, he realized that he is not at his usual top shape, and he swore that he is coming down with a fever. Perhaps this is his body's way of telling him of the shock of Blossom's relevation, Brick thought.

"Damn I need to take a look at Butch first." Brick reminded himself. Brick knew that his brothers and Renèe must not know about this, but he needed something else to prove that Blossom is telling the truth.

 _But what?_

"Do you think that the Brick that Blossom just spoke to may be your fragment?" Bubbles asked the red-eyed teenager.

"May be, may be still need a plan to see if she's really Blossom." Brick's eye is now looking at the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl. Blossom appear to still be watching the younger Brick walking away from her.

"We should call out to Blossom and meet up with her." Bubbles broke from her cover and walked towardsher sister.

"Wait-"Brick tried to yank the jolly pig-tailed blonde girl but he missedher by a few inches.

"BLOSSOM!" Bubbles called out to her sister.

Blossom breathed out loud as she wondered if her decision to tell Brick the truthis the best choice at all. For all she know,Brick may well be a fragment of Butch's fractured psyche and it will start to attack her like an immune cell spotting a pahogen in a human body.

"BLOSSOM!"

Blossom did not manage to delve deeply into her thoughts for a cry snapped her immediately. Blossom looked around before she saw what appeared to be a sight that she never thought she would see again.

"OVER HERE!"

"BUBBLES?" Blossom's eyed widened as her eyes registered a golden-haired pig-tailed girl with light blue eyes waiving at her. Blossom's first instinct is to approach the two individuals, but this may be too good to be true.

"IT IS YOU!" Bubbles jumped with joy and rushed towards her sister.

"Stop!" Blossom called out to Bubbles but to no avail, and Bubbles slammed into her sister with a force of a freight train. Both sisters are now down on the ground, one visibly annoyed and the other visibly overjoyed.

"Well, that's a reunion." A figure with a wrapped face soon appeared behind Bubbles and Blossom immediately out up her guard,inky to realize that she had no powers in this world.

"WATCH OUT!" Blossom yelled out at the mysterious figure as she picked up the closest rock and threw it at the figure. The person barely dodged the rock before the individual was forced to pull part of its wrappings around his face to reveal a long braided carnelian ponytail and part of his face. As the crimson eye stared back at Blossom,Blossom realized the identity of the mysterious individual.

"BRICK?!" Blossom's jaw dropped for she did not expect to see Brick in this world.

"For crying out loud, stop yelling you idiot." Brick called out but soon felt a painful stomping sensation on his feet. He turned around to see Bubbles staring daggers at him,and that silenced Brick immediately.

" _Served you right Brick._ " Brick's shadow spoke,and Blossom immediately flipped out.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?" Blossom pointed at the shadow, and two glowing red orbs formed from the shadow where Brick's eyes would be. One of the orbs blinked back at Blossom, causing Blossom to grab on Bubble's arm. This situation made Bubbles particularly satisfied as it was Blossom for once that was afraid instead of Bubbles. Bubbles decided to revel in the situation for a few seconds longer before deciding to speak.

"That's Break, Blossom. Brick's alternate personality." Bubbles smiled, and Blossom looked at her sister with an incredulous look. Brick sighed, and he unwrapped his face to reveal the gaping abyss that formed the rest of his face, causing Blossom to squeal sheepishly at the body horror she is witnessing before her.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!"

"Looks like this will take some explaining to do." Brick rolled his one good eye.

" _Agreed._ " Break chimed in and Bubbles shrugged with a relieved smile on her face, leaving Blossom the only person terrified with the situation.

* * *

Both Tommaso and Buttercup are now sitting on the ledge of the pier in silence once more.

Buttercup had told him about how he is a construct of a dream, a dream of a boy named Boomer and how this world is but a dream to hide Boomer's insecurities. What that insecurity is something Buttercup had been trying to figure out for months within this world, but she had not come close to solving the puzzle until she saw him sleep-talking to someone else. That someone else is Buttercup's sister, who was also trapped in a dream of one of Boomer's brothers. Buttercup had been figuring how to communicate with her sister and had whispered into Tommaso's ears when he was sleeping in a long-shot effort to communicate with her sister and it worked. It was this breakthrough that caused Tommaso to, for wanting of a better word, to 'awaken'. It was not Tommaso's fault per se, but his body did took a kiss from Buttercup's own lips against her will. Fortunately for him, he was not beaten into submission for he collapsed soon after. But Tommaso understood a fear that Buttercup had, that at any moment in time, he will revert to his 'awakened' form and did something to Buttercup.

"Guaranteed to blow your mind." Buttercup mentioned with a wry smile.

"Yeah, anytime." Boomer breathed out his answer, knowing that it is still a hard pill to swallow. It is not every day that you were told you are not real. Tommaso knew that something was wrong, but he did not expect that everything about his world was wrong. Somehow for some reason, rather than ridiculing or dismissed her explanation, Tommaso believed her. Something pulled on his heartstrings, as if picking on a misaligned tune and knowing that is sounded bad.

Perhaps it is how he always sensed that Buttercup knew some things about him despite not telling her about it. He had never thought about it too much, attributing it to Buttercup living with him long enough to know his quirks. But now in hindsight, it all made sense if Buttercup knew him before they even met. Perhaps it is something else that pulled on his heartstrings, the main thing that made him particularly attentive to her. Something that felt he will be complete with her by his side. A friend perhaps, or perhaps something more. Perhaps it is the 'Boomer' within Tommaso that wanted Buttercup to be his salvation. Oddly enough, Tommaso is not afraid. If 'Boomer' were to snap out from his dream, Tommaso would cease to exist. Still, he wanted to help Buttercup. And that is all that mattered.

"So, how'd we go about snapping me out from my dream?"

"There's that poppit that knocked me knockers!" A gruff Irish voice yelled out, catching the attention of both Tommaso and Buttercup. The owner of the voice appeared to be the first man that Buttercup had choked unconscious with her legs, and this time he brought some 'friends' with him. Tommaso and Buttercup recognized the other men, as they were the men that Buttercup had knocked unconscious while walking towards the pier.

"That's the bitch that knocked me teeth out!"

"You're gonna pay for this!"

"I'm gonna have a good time with you!"

"Looks like she's got a bloke with her. He's going down too!"

"God damn it." Buttercup rolled her eyes before planting her palm on her face, annoyed that the hornballs that she knocked unconscious are now gathered in one place.

"Well, looks like we're gonna kick some ass huh?" Tommaso asked Buttercup in a cheeky manner.

"Looks like it."

"Any rewards, Buttercup?" Tommaso wagered while cracked his neck and started to stretch, his eyes never leaving the sight of the hoodlums.

"If you kicked more ass than me, I'll go on a date with you." Buttercup answered as she tore a little of her skirt down the seams, revealing her shapely legs.

"And if you kicked more ass than me?" Tommaso asked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Nothing."

"Fair enough." Tommaso smiled as several of the hoodlums walked closer towards them.

"GET THEM!" The Irishman cried out, and the hoodlums rushed towards Tommaso and Buttercup.

To Buttercup's surprise, Tommaso threw out a rapid barrage of punches at the first hoodlum that made contact with Tommason, pricking them over and over again, all aimed at the head. Buttercup observed that Tommaso has good control of these punches, and can weave them through the tiny openings of his opponents' guard. The first hoodlum went down within seconds, and two more hoodlums rushed after him, only for Tommaso to dart backwards in a semi-circular movement and did the same flurry of blows towards one of the hoodlum's temple, knocking the hoodlum unconscious. Tommaso ducked lower, and a punch flew above his head to hit another ambushing hoodlum. Within seconds, Tommaso is out from the messy fight and is now running circles round the other hoodlums that chose him as their target.

"You need to be faster than that slowpoke!" Tommaso taunted the men, causing them to focus their attention towards him. That left Buttercup with less opponents to fight with.

"He's like Muhammad Ali." Buttercup had never really seen Boomer fought before, but if Tommaso was any reference to watch, he appears to rather quick on his feet and he is running circles around several men attacking him at once. With a few flashes of his jabs, Tommaso is keeping them at bay while counterpunching those that came too close. Buttercup can't help but to think; if Butch is a slugger with excellent footwork, then Tommaso would be more akin to a ballet dancer that had learned how to box like an outboxer. Buttercup is impressed that Tommaso is so light on his feet, that it reminded her of the boxing legend.

"Stay still woman!" A punch barely missed Buttercup's chin, as Buttercup lifted her shin but an inch higher to better observe Tommaso fight. Buttercup landed a headbutt at the man's nose, causing him to fall down on the ground with his nose broken. For safe measures, Buttercup decided to stomp on the man's crotch to further immobilize him. A whimper is all Buttercup heard before a man attempted to tackle her to the ground. Buttercup turned around seamlessly and kicked the charging man in the butt, causing the charging man to land his head on the immobilized man's crotch once more. Once again, Buttercup decided to use her kick and kicked the charging man in his family jewels to immobilize him.

"Looks like I may lose the bet after all." Buttercup smiled as she watched Tommaso fight. Buttercup rushed towards the direction of Tommaso's fight to assist him. Buttercup picked up speed and she leaped up and land a flying kick towards the back of one of the hoodlum's head. With the inertia of her blow still speeding her forward, she slithered around the hoodlum's body and using her moment to throw the man towards a group of ruffians about to jump on Tommaso. The ensuing crash caused the men to collapse like a house of cards, and Buttercup landed on her feet just behind Tommaso.

"Not bad." Tommaso complimented the raven-haired girl, and she smiled back in response.

"Same to did you learn how to fight like that?" Buttercup asked Tommaso as she avoided a swinging hook punch before kneeing the man's crotch with all her might.

"Surviving on the streets does that to you.." Tommaso answered as he bobbed and weaved through several combination punches by his opponent before unleashing a devastating uppercut that landed with a resounding cracking sound.

"Those are some sweet moves!" Buttercup cheered as the man that Tommaso punched landed with a sounding crash.

Both Tommaso and Buttercup continued on with their conversation as they pummeled the hoodlums down to the ground, their conversation sounding more like two individuals on a date instead of two people being assailed by ruffians seeking blood. At an unobserved corner, a lightning blue crack revealed itself in the fabric of the world, and only continued on growing bigger.

* * *

Blossom, Bubbles, Brick and Break sat around in a circle, trying to get a handle of what is their current situation and their next course of action within the dream world. Based on the information that they had gotten from each other, Bubbles, Break and Brick are still gathering the pieces of Brick's fractured personality and memories to make Brick whole once more, and that had led them to be linked to the dream world where Blossom and Butch are located. To make matters worse, Butch's mental strain within this world is growing stronger and heavier by the day, and the collapse of the world is drawing closer. In this ridiculous situation, Buttercup is communicating with Blossom via a sleepwalking Boomer but Blossom is not sure if she could communicate back to Buttercup.

"That's messed up." Break commented while Blossom stared at the shadow with great unease. A talking shadow is just plain bizarre even after Bubbles and Brick had explained to her about Break's particular circumstances.

"Yes,that is correct." Blossom confirmed.

"So how do we get all of us together?"Bubbles asked.

"We need to meet up with the Brick of this world. He knows about this as well." Blossom pointed out.

"Wouldn't it be bad if I were to meet me of this world? Especially with this hole in my face?" Brick pointed towards the abyss that formed most of his face.

"How would you propose we meet him then?" Break asked Blossom for her suggestion, but Blossom is unable to answer the shadow. In fact no one did. Until Bubbles spoke.

"I've got an idea." The others turned their attention to the blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl for she rarely suggested an idea. Bubbles whispered into Brick's ear, and the stoic redheaded boy turned less stoic in an instant.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Brick's eyes appear to not agree with Bubbles' suggestion. Blossom sensed that something is going on in a very unexpected manner.

"You know you best." Bubbles winked at the shadow, and Break's eyes are looking at Brick in a rather mischievous manner.

"No." Brick adamantly voiced his opinion.

"No?" Bubbles pouted her lips.

"NO." Brick said his opinion with more force and determination.

"No?" Bubbles gave Brick her best sad puppy dog eyes all and hugged his arm in her embrace. Brick clearly is not comfortable with a puppy-eyed Bubbles holding him hostage with her embrace of his arm in her bosom and hands. Brick wondered why on earth did he allow her to do as he pleased with him, as he is clearly experiencing a contrast of feelings within him.

 _Gotcha_ , Bubbles squeezed her grip on Brick's arm and Brick gave a very loud sight.

"Fine." Brick relented, and Blossom clearly did not expect her sister to use her assets the way she did, while at the same time was inwardly jealous that Bubbles could use such assets when it suited her.

"I knew you'd agree in the end!" Bubbles cheered.

* * *

Tommaso and Buttercup are walking down the streets of Little Italy, and although they looked as if they just jumped into a pit of dirt they are both smiling. Smiling for the simple reason that they had a good time and able to overcame their issues. It felt that they can overcome anything if they worked together.

"So how should we go about this thing of yours Buttercup?" Tommaso asked.

"What thing?" Buttercup asked.

"This dream thing." The mood immediately went a little darker when Tommaso asked the dark-haired girl.

"Well Boomer, it appears that I can communicate to my sister when you're asleep. But if yesterday was any clue, that's when you also have that crazy mode." Buttercup frowned once more, and she hated thinking too much about anything.

"Well, tie me up then." Tommaso suggested, catching Buttercup offguard.

"But-"

"If you need to speak to your sister, then I'm up for it." Tommaso will take no for an answer and as they both looked at each other, they knew that it is the only thing they can do right now.

"Sorry." Buttercup uttered softly the word that caught Tommaso by surprise. Buttercup does not look like a person that would willingly say that she was sorry, and indeed he can see her reluctance to say the word.

"Sorry for what?" Tommaso asked.

"For not telling you from the beginning."

"How could you Buttercup? I would not believe it to begin with." Tommaso scratched his head, trying his best to reason with her.

"And now you do?" Buttercup asked. Tommaso shrugged, knowing that something within him believed her with all his heart, something that blared within his psyche that he can trust her.

"I found myself down on the ground this morning. And I knew what you were singing about,even though I never heard the song before. Freaky and can't be explained by anything logical. I'm a simple man." Tommaso winked and clicked his tongue cheekily.

"Smartass." Buttercup said, and Tommaso noticed that Buttercup is much more cheerful than before.

"Well, if I'm not a smartass then what am I?" Tommaso asked.

"A dumbass." Buttercup answered, and there were a silence between them. Before long both of them started to laugh out loud.

* * *

Brick is now sitting beside his unconscious brother, and Butch being unconscious for a few days is unheard of. Something is definitely wrong with Butch, that is for sure. What is Butch's condition trying to tell Brick? Brick felt as if he was missing one final screw to fit in the complex machinery that is the truth of the matter.

"Butch, what did you do?"

No answer came from the unconscious raven-haired boy

"Is this the real life? Or this is just fantasy? Or are we all caught up in a landslide with no escape from reality?" Brick asked his brother despite knowing that there is no response.

"Open your eyes, and look up to the skies and see."

"Does it really matter to you? Nothing really matters to you isn't it?" Brick asked once more. Realizing that he should not waste any more time,Brick got up and walked away from his brother.

"The show must go on, whether you like it or not Butch." Brick parted an advice to Butch before walking away. Unbeknownst to Brick, Butch's fingers twitched at his advice.


	60. Chapter 60: Intrigue

Chapter 60: Intrigue

Brick honestly wanted to speak to Blossom further about the things she had told him about if he find the copper-haired girl. Brick needed to clean his thoughts and needed to get things straight. The red-haired boy wanted something more substantial than just a theory. Brick needes something more substantial,something more tangible. Like a voice of an angel telling him that everything that Blossom told him is the truth and nothing but the truth. But Blossom would be a far more realistic choice.

"There she is." Brick found the copper-haired girl sitting down near some of the empty homes.

"Oh hey Brick." Blossom greeted the boy, and he waved back in return.

"Heya Pinkie, needed to speak to you about the things you spoken to me."

"Yeah, I knew you'll come back. This time I can prove it Brick."

"Blossom, what do you mean by proof?"

"Guess who?" Brick's eyes are covered, and catching the carnelian-haired boy by surprise. All he can hear is a rather youthful female voice,a voice as sweet and angelic as it can ever be, speaking to Blossom.

"You know, I was expecting him to throw me over." The voice informed Blossom.

"I think he was about to."

Clearly, this is a trap or a sign of an ambush. Clearly, Brick understood that this is a very unnatural situation that he needs to get away from. Clearly, he also knew that he was enthralled by the mysterious angelic voice. Clearly, he believed that he may be screwed by his hormones. Clearly, Brick needs to get his bearings. Clearly, he needs to get out from this situation. But what was not clear to Brick is what are those things pressing on his back. They are soft, and rather warm and nice.

"Well, he's kinda quiet Blossom. Do you think he's like a hamster or something when you covered their eyes?"

"I don't think so. You are not really holding his neck, just covering his eyes. He must be wondering why stop at that?"

"Stop playing games and show yourself!" Brick yelled out as he started to struggle around. To his surprise, the arms lifted away and Brick turned around to see the mysterious person. Suddenly Brick's face was buried in between two soft things and he struggled before realizing that the two soft things are a pair of breasts. Realizing this, Brick turned red instantly and he became rather docile. Meanwhile, a single cyclopean red eye is watching the scene unfold.

"This is hopeless. " Brick said as he watched his younger self lose out to Bubbles' busty hug. He never expected his younger self to fail to defend himself when 'ambushed' by Bubbles. Bubbles was right when she proposed her plan to just cover Brick's eyes because he relied on them far too much and will not act unless he can see. Also, Bubbles suggested that just covering his eyes will not cause an adverse reaction like being thrown over or had her arms broken. Lastly, Brick is a gentleman and will not hurt a lady not seeking to hurt him. Brick do not agree with all accounts, as Brick knows himself best. But Brick was proven wrong all over, and conceding that Bubbles know human nature best. Or his nature to say the least. Lastly, Bubbles suggested to bury Brick's face into her chest to totally pacify him.

That, Brick conceded, will pacify him. In fact, it will pacify most men.

"Alright Bubbles, time to let him go. And you," Blossom called out to the elder Brick, "Time to get out from the shadows."

"Yes Ma'am." The elder carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy walked out.

As the young Brick was pulled back from the weapons of mass distractions, he come face to face with a young woman with golden blonde hair, that is placed into two curled-point ponytails, by two white trimmed scrunchies, and a few bangs across each side. Her fair skin, soft features, light blue eyes and curvaceous figure were complemented by her pristine white dress with frills at the edges of her skirt. Her appearance entranced Brick and his eyes are fixated on the pristine beauty before him.

"Hello there." The woman greeted the Rowdyruff Boy and gave Brick a smile that made his heart jumped a beat. But his mind soon sensed a previous information that caused his mind to immediately sober up.

"Wait... _Bubbles?"_ Young Brick exclaimed and turned towards the red-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"The one and only." Blossom crossed her arms and waited for the next part of Brick's reaction.

"The crybaby ditz turned into a sexy bombshell ditz." Young Brick called out, and a vein popped on Bubbles' temple. Brick soon realized that he is still in her embrace and he immediately realized his folly. As he looked up with a crooked smile, Brick sensed Bubbles' wrath. Watching close by, the elder Brick facepalmed as he realized how stupid his younger self is. He will not defend his younger self, for he had brought that down upon himself.

" _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned._ " Break warned before a loud smacking sound is heard.

"Ouch!" Young Brick cried out,causing the the elder Brick to break out in laughter.

"What are you laughing at smartass!Show yourself!" Noticing the presence of abother individual, The younger Rowdyruff Boy barked for the person to reveal himself.

"At myself." Brick came out from the shadows of a ruin, with Break materializing in the dark shade behind the individual. Despite the facial wrappings, the young Rowdyruff Boy sensed something peculiar about this individual and his mind slowly realized the identity of the individual. The way he presented himself, the way he moved,the way he spoke. There is only once answer,and an answer he knows best.

"Brick I assume," Young Brick pointed towards the man with the wrapped face with one red eye showing, then pointed down towards Elder Brick's shadow, "And what are you supposed to be?"

" _I'm Darkness_ _, your old friend."_ Break joked. The young Rowdyruff Boy is almost speechless given the

"Okay...Blossom, you win this time." Young Brick conceded, and slumped against the wall before sliding down to take a seat.

"At least we know that this is not your dream Brick, for the real Brick is here with us." Blossom pointed out.

"No, that is not entirely correct Blossom. I came to this dream from my dream, so it is best to say that this place is connected to my dreams." The elder Brick pointed out.

"If that's the case, who's dream is this?" Bubbles asked.

"Butch's." Brick and Blossom answered at once. Both redheads looked at each other, and after a short and brief moment of silence, Blossom decided to speak first.

"I've been seeing Butch acting all weird and stuff, and whenever he goes into some frenzy or something a malevolent green crack always appear. I figured that it was linked to Butch, and Him confirmed that suspicion for me."

"Him's in this dream?" Elder Brick's one eye opened wide.

"Yes he is."

"That's bad, Blossom."

"Yes it is Brick."

"Brick how'd you know that this is Butch's dream anyway?" Bubbles asked, unsure of how Brick came to the same conclusion. Younger Brick noticed that Elder Brick

"If there's any memory that my brother will have a nightmare about, it will be Syria. This is the memory that haunts him. No, it is a memory that haunts all of us, but him especially. Maybe that's why Bubbles, Break and I were able to enter into this dream."

"If that is the case Brick, why isn't Boomer here with Buttercup?"

"Bubbles, Boomer coped the best among all of us when it comes to Syria. At the expense of hiding it in his musical pursuits."

"Music?" Bubbles and Blossom asked Elder Brick at the same time.

"It was Renée that introduced Boomer to the world of music. And what do you know, take a listen." The elder Brick pointed up and both Bubbles and Blossom can hear a very youthful voice singing up above them. Bubbles recognize the the voice, for the bright voice with a smokey and ethereal smoky timbre that is unique only to the blue Rowdyruff Boy, though the voice is not as deep perhaps due to his age in this dream world. Blossom recognized the song that was being sung by Boomer, for it is the same song as the one played in the movie that Boomer was watching when she came by for some advice. It is also the same song as the one in the pendant that made Butch an emotional wreck.

"What are you talking about?" Young Brick is very uncomfortable with their conversation, and the others realized that this is technically the past where things had not come to pass yet.

"Spoilers." Break informed in a candid manner, but the gravity of the situation is not lost on everyone.

"Looks like we need to meet up with Butch first to see his condition." Elder Brick suggested,but Young Brick shook his head.

"You guys stuck out too much and it is best if you guys stay here. Blossom, you're coming with me" Young Brick pointed towards Bubbles, Elder Brick and Bubbles respectively. .

" _Fine,leave us out in the cold."_ Break gave a very disapproving tone.

* * *

Butch opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed is that his sight is out of focus. The jadeite-green boy had not true recollection of what truly happened, but he remembered that it was a twisted experience. As he got out from the chair, he wondered how long has he been unconscious. As his eyes slowly returned to focus, he felt a dull pain in his head.

"Damn." Butch gently massaged his temple, soothing the headache he got as he sat on the edge of his bed. His jadeite eyes slowly scanned the room around him, and he saw none of his brothers around. Of course they would be out, Butch thought to himself. As he took the time to digest the sight of the room, he noticed that the room is not the same place as the room they called home for the past few years. The room is a simple room, with three beds and nothing else of note. The window to the outside is but an opening, the window frame taken out.

"Ah right." Butch remembered. There was an attack on their base, and it was then that he was unconscious. But what made him unconscious is something he failed to remember, and it hurt his head even more. Butch took a really deep breath before exhaling it all out slowly. He covered his mouth with one of his hands while he rested his other elbow on his lap, taking in the fact that he is still in a war zone.

"Now what?" Butch asked himself a simple question. A question so simple yet profound. His stomach answered the question for him with a growl that sounded more like a protest. Seeing that his stomach had spoken, Butch got up and realized that he is weaker than he thought and decided to take it slowly.

As Butch took the steps needed to get to the door, he sensed something was off. Something that was not there before. Something unexpected. Something green.

"Green. Neon green?" Butch marveled at his sight, for he is seeing everything in shades of neon green. Looks like he'll need to see his brothers to find out if they had experienced such an odd experience before. Butch opened the door to see two individuals;before him, one a boy with a long, untied and messy waist-length hair with a sharp, edgy eyes and the other a teenage woman with waist-length hair with slender arms and legs before him.

"Butch!" The boy called out to Butch.

"Brick." Butch duly noted the presence of his brother and his eyes turned towards the teenage woman. There is something in her eyes that made Butch very uncomfortable, as if her eyes are probing into his soul. He walked past them, intentionally bumping into the girl.

"Butch, where are you heading off to?" Brick asked his brother.

"Getting myself something to eat." Butch snapped back.

"We're coming with you." The woman informed, and Butch did not answer back, for had no reason to refuse or avoid the two individuals.

"Suit yourself Blair." Butch walked on, and the two other individuals followed behind. It was then that he realized that he had no idea where the mess hall is. He froze for a moment, and soon enough both Brick and Blair passed him and both of them looked back at Butch, as if to ask if he is following them to where the food is. Butch grumbled under his breath, and he was forced to follow their lead.

* * *

"He's still not right in the head." Blossom whispered under her breath, barely enough for Brick to hear what she had to say.

"You noticed something else." Brick whispered back.

"His eyes are glowing emerald."

"Emerald?" Brick asked, and Blossom realized that she may be the only one that can see the unnatural eye color of the raven-haired boy.

"A neon emerald. And he smelled sickly sweet." Blossom pointed out with brief glance towards Butch. Brick wanted to cast his doubts on the matter, but within the past hour or so, he was greeted by sights utterly impossible for him to comprehend. From knowing that Blossom is from the the real-world to seeing his real-self and a talking shadow-thing, he had no reason to doubt the Powerpuff Girl anymore.

"So, what do you have in mind?" Brick queried.

"I'm gonna split and get some clothes, and bring the others in here and say that they're refugess." Blossom suggested, but Brick shook his head. Enough that Blossom understood his disagreement, but subtle enough that Butch failed to notice the body language.

"No, I'll say I find the refugees. You lead Butch to the mess hall." Brick proposed. Blossom nodded her head, and they went on to play their part.

"Ah, I need to get Boomer. " Brick said out loud, and turned to his brother for a response.

"Yeah, he's an airhead. That idiot had no idea when's meal time at times. Go and get him." Butch growled, his mood clearly still a shade of grey.

"Blair, I'll leave it to you to bring him there." Brick informed the red-haired girl and she nodded. Brick then splits from the group, leaving Blossom alone with Butch. Both individuals continued on walking, none saying a word.

Blossom barely knew the Butch in the real world, and the Butch in the dream world even less. There is nothing they had in common to begin with, other than the banters that somehow always ended up being misinterpreted by others as flirting. However, she will need to know Butch in order to get them all out from this living nightmare in one piece. Butch on the other hand is utterly suspicious of the long-haired girl, for he felt that she had more hidden under the surface. Yet, there is something else in the girl that Butch is familiar with, like he had seen her somewhere in a distant memory. Like he had exposed his true self to her. Like he had been accepted by this girl before her. That made Butch very uncomfortable, for he felt vulnerable around her.

Both of them soon entered into the area that they dubbed the 'mess hall' though it is more like an abandoned parking space, with several people serving soups from large cooking pots and unleavened breads for the militia members and the refugees. Nothing fancy, nothing of note, and nothing that stood out. Butch and Blossom made their way towards the food queue through the sea of people dining on the ground. It was uneventful, and both Butch and Blossom were able to get their rations of lentil soup and unleavened bread.

"There's a spot over there." Blossom pointed out, and Butch trailed behind the teenager.

Before long, they reached the spot where they can sit down and take their meal. Butch and Blossom sat down on the ground and Butch immediately tore part of the unleavened bread to dip it in the lentil soup. Blossom followed suit and both of them ate their meal in silence. Halfway through their meal, the atmosphere of the mess hall became a little tense as there were more murmurs and whispers among those within the halls. Butch and Blossom noticed the commotion and they looked around only to see Brick and Boomer with two other individuals behind him. One appeared to be a woman in a burqa, while the other appeared to be an injured man with his head wrapped from the eyes up, with blotches of blood visible around the wrappings around the man's eyes. Brick's face is visibly uncomfortable as he asked for the people in the hall to make way. After getting the provisions of food for the two individuals, Brick led them towards where Butch and Blossom were seated.

"Take a seat here." Brick gestured to the lady to sit down and as the lady takes a seat with the injured man, Blossom noticed the sky-blue eyes of the lady. The lady winked at Blossom, and immediately Blossom knew the identity of the lady and the man. The man struggled to take a seat, but with his hand on the woman's shoulder he managed to take a seat.

"What happened to them?" Blossom asked Brick, her question showing signs of concern on the surface. Brick understood what Blossom was trying to ask and he tried his best to speak in a code that Blossom would understand and the other militias and refugees would take it at face value.

"Saved them earlier today. Man appeared to be injured by shrapnel, and both the man and his wife are trying to seek shelter. I asked them to take shelter somewhere while I get Boomer just in case we found ourselves in a sticky situation." Brick explained himself with the skills of a master dissembler.

"I see." Blossom is rather impressed by Brick's ability to lie, and if she had not known any better she would believe him. But just like Bubbles, Brick is surprisingly adept in speaking and acting in the appropriate manner to let someone believe him. Blossom understood that it is a plausible as it comes, though it is impressive how Brick managed to get clothing for both Bubbles and elder Brick while getting Boomer to help him in his schemes without Boomer's knowledge.

"Those animals..." Boomer hissed, not realizing that he was adding more substance to the lie that Brick had fabricated. Several more murmurs were heard behind Boomer and Blossom realized that the other people believed the story.

"Anyway, what are your names?" Butch asked, but he realized that they may not speak English.

"Khadtijah." The woman spoke, her feminine voice having a serene and angelic tone despite her Arabic accent. Blossom is always impressed by Bubbles' ability to speak the languages of all living beings, but she is always even more impressed by Bubbles' mastery of speaking any language with an accent of a native speaker.

"What about the guy?" Butch asked the woman.

"Hassan. Sorry, he lost his sight due to an explosion." Bubbles answered. Once again Blossom is impressed by how Bubbles can replicate an accent and use it for any language.

"Right. Sorry about that." Butch apologized, which Bubbles and Blossom finds surprising.

"Anyway, let's eat shall we? I'll explain this to Renée later." Brick beckons everyone else to eat.

* * *

"I can't sleep if you stare at me like that."

Tommaso is lying down on his bed as Buttercup stood above his bed watching him. The peridot-eyed girl is dressed in a light green pajamas with little cross patterns imprinted on the clothing while Boomer is neatly tucked in his bed. In order to let Buttercup communicate with her sister, she will need Tommaso to fall asleep. But it will not work if Buttercup is staying watch over him like an eagle hunting for prey, for Tommaso is very uncomfortable with someone staring at him as he tries to fall asleep. In addition, it is not every day that Tommaso gets a girl to watch him go to sleep, let alone one as pleasing to the eye as Buttercup. Obviously Buttercup is not aware of these concerns, and she is perplexed why Tommaso is unable to just fall asleep just like that.

"What's wrong with me looking at you as you fall asleep?" Buttercup is ticked off that Tommaso may be hinting that she is a creepy woman of sorts.

"How would you like if I were to look at you as you fall asleep?" Tommaso decided to let Buttercup try to empathize with his point of view.

"I'll sleep with my eyes open." Buttercup answered without any hint of irony, and for a second Tommaso was wondering if she was joking. But seeing Buttercup's expression, it appear that she does sleep with her eyes open.

"Seriously?"

"Did it a few times, and the only one among my sisters that can do just that." Buttercup said proudly.

"You really aren't a shy one huh?" Tommaso pointed out, and Buttercup blushed for a moment before slapping his arm.

"Wht do you mean by that?" Buttercup is not pleased that Tommaso was implying something imln between the lines. Tommaso can see that her cheeks are rosy, and he smiled as deep down,Buttercup is still a woman at heart.

"You do have a pure maiden's heart. " Tommaso winked and grinned towards Buttercup.

"Shut up." Buttercup looked away, not pleased that Tommaso is picking on her.

"Anyway, it will be easier for me to sleep if you leave the room." Tommaso stared at her for a while, awaiting for a response from the raven-haired girl. She turned her attention back at him, and she is not pleased that deep down, Tommaso is right. Her stubborness is often both her strength and weakness, and she often will not take no for an answer. This time however,she will have to take no for an answer.

"Alright, alright! I'll leave the room..." Buttercup relented,and she stormed out from the room and slammed the door.

As Tommaso stared at the door,he can only likened her to the wind. Buttercup can be as gentle as a warm breeze, or can be as destructive as a violent tempest. How did he come to appreciate her presence is something he need to think a little harder to understand. If only he knew the true Boomer that Buttercup knew. What kind of person is he? Is he a calm person? Is he a fickle person? Those are things wondered as he looked up towards the ceiling.

 _Hold on, when did my ceiling had that mark?_

Boomer noticed a large crack of electric blue light above him and its ominous presence is disturbing the teenager. Looks like he will need to call Buttercup back into the room.

"Buttercup? I think you need to take a look at this!" Tommaso called out to Buttercup.

"Look at what?" Buttercup's voice can be heard despite the door being shut.

"A blue crack on my wall that's glowing sinisterly." Tommaso's reply is soon met with thundering footsteps and the door to his room was open once more to reveal Buttercup looking upwards towards the ceiling. Her eyes widened as she registered the crack.

"Hold on, I need to get a chair." Buttercup said before she rushed out from the room. A few moments later, Buttercup returned with a chair and she placed it where it is closest to the crack. As she climbed up the chair, Tommaso noticed that he is now looking up to a surprisingly sensual pose as Buttercup stretched to reveal her stomach and a little bit of her undergarments. Her lean and athletic figure is clearly visible and Tommaso likes what he sees.

"I can't reach the ceiling! Boomer,help me out here!" Buttercup commanded the young man and Tommaso got up from his bed to reveal his fair-half naked androgynous figure, with an ocean blue pajama pants with white stripes.

"Where...how do you want me to help you out? Tommaso asked.

"Turn around!"

Tommaso turned around only for him to sense a weight upon his shoulders and a sensation around his head and neck. Tommaso almost lost his balance for a moment, but he managed to regain his balance. The teenage boy soon realized that Buttercup is now sitting on his shoulders with his head in between her thighs. Which means the sensation behind his head must be-

"Stay steady Boomer!"

"You ain't the lightest per-OUCH!" Tommaso cried out in pain as Buttercup slapped his head.

"Well, ex-cuse me! You should know better than to talk about a girl's weight!" Buttercup scolded the blonde teenager.

"Right...anyway,can you reach the crack?"

"Yeah. I'm seeing some color now. This thing is definitely a positive sign!" Buttercup ran her fingers over the crack and sensed a slight vibration in the crack.

"So, what's next?"

"Let's see if we can open it up." Buttercup said before she tried to pry open the crack with both her hands.

"Do you think it is a good idea to open the crack?" Tommaso asked Buttercup as his concerns grew into unease.

"No, but if a stupid idea works,then it is not stupid!" Buttercup tried her very best to open the crack with all her might. Unbeknowst to Buttercup,Tommaso is now experiencing an odd feeling within him.

"Buttercup...I don't...think it's...a...go..od...idea..." Tommaso is now experiencing a feeling that is best described as a towel being squeezed dry.

"Hold on just a little longer you big baby!" Buttercup barked back as she finally found a weak point in the crack.

"I'm...I'm...not feeling...al...right."

"Just a little bit more..." Buttercup ignored Tommaso as she finally found a point where she can rip open the crack.

"Butter..."

"Gotcha!" Buttercup pulled with all her might and the crack opened up to shine the room with a bright electric blue light. However Buttercup failed to sense that her platform is now collapsing and she fell down on the floor with a thunderous slam. Buttercup voiced her pain and rubbed her butt as she regained her bearings only to realized that she is now sitting directly on Tommaso.

"Oh shit,Boomer!" She immediately got up and away from Tommaso and soon rushed to check on his condition. Buttercup saw to her horror the same crack on Tommaso's body and the presence of color in her sight is a sure sign that this is something bad.

"Boomer! Hey! Get up!"

"That's not good at all." A voice commenting on the situation caught Buttercup by surprise.

"What the? Who's there? Show yourself!" Buttercup called out, challenging the mysterious voice to appear before her.

"Looks like I need to pull you guys here instead."

Buttercup felt a sudden weightless sensation and she soon realized that both Tommaso and herself are now levitating towards the large crack in the ceiling. Buttercup attempted to anchor herself down but to no avail. As her vision was blinded by the bright blue light,Buttercup grabbed on Tommaso's arm and swore to herself that she will never let go of his arm.

The last thing that Buttercup remembered is feeling herself being stretched beyond her comprehension.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.00pm]

Professor Utonium is watching the dream scenes of each Powerpuff Girls and Rowfyruff Boys with great unease. No amount of science had prepared him for the situation that is now unfolding in their dreams. It had not even been two hours and things had escalated. Their vitals are now slowly edging towards uncharted territory. The Rowdyruff Boys in particular are faring off much worse than his girls. And this all happened two hours after he had made the machine that allowed him to view their dreams, and five hours since Butch had almost destroyed his lab as he went into a seizure of sorts. Too much is happening within the span of a few hours, almost fooling the professor that all of these happened over a few days.

 _Ding-Dong!_

Professor Utonium heard the doorbell, but did not even attempt to leave his lab to answer the door. He will leave that to J.E.E.V.E.S as he is now preoccupied with finding out a way to help his little girls, and to a lesser extent the boys as well. As he observed them, Professor Utonium sensed that time is moving very differently in the dream world, for based upon his calculations Blossom and Butch had been trapped in their world for about twomonths. Buttercup and Boomer are trapped in their for almost ten months and Bubbles and Brick were trapped in their dreams for less than fourteen hours. Professor Utonium sipped his coffee just as the door to his lab opened itself.

"How's everything?" A feminine voice asked, her breath a little short as she took a few light steps down towards the dark-haired man.

"Not sure Lilith, but it is escalating." Professor Utonium informed the woman but his eyes never left the monitors. A slight squeal from the wheels on the chair and a soft thud signaled the presence of the gray-eyed lady beside the professor.

"What...is this?" Lilith asked, amazed and afraid at the same time.

"I'll call it my Dreamscreen. It basically shows what people are dreaming about." Professor Utonium took another sip of coffee. Realizing that Lilith needs a drink, he keyed in the code for J.E.E.V.E.S to prepare coffee for her. He turned his chair around to face a visibly fatigued woman with bags under her eyes. Professor Utonium sympathized with her, for her job is particularly taxing and the burden of having her boys in such a state only served to put a burden on her mind. Professor Utonium is particularly amazed of her mental fortitude as most people would already be broken by the chains of such misfortunes.

"I see. Did they... are they hurt?" It appeared that she is now watching the screens with a certain amount of dread in her, and Professor Utonium sensed that there is a conflict within her heart.

"So far they are surviving."

"Him?" Professor Utonium was taken aback by Lilith's sharp response, and he sensed a brief moment of overwhelming hostility before things calmed down once more.

"Well, Him was present in a few of the scenes though it felt more like a flashback than-" Professor Utonium trailed off as he noticed that Lilith is particularly gaunt and pale once the demon's name was mentioned. Professor Utonium soon realized that Him is part of what made her stressed out, for the demon is the leader of the merry group that is causing all the problems in the first place.

"You're welcome to talk to me if you want to. After all, we're the only two humans in the world with superpowered teenagers as their children." Professor Utonium gives a small smile, hoping that it will help loosen her up. Lilith turned her attention towards the man, and she hesitated for a moment. Professor Utonium decided to let her take her time to speak, if at all. What came out from her lips instead surprised Professor Utonium.

"I'll need to correct you on that part." Lilith spoke out, causing the professor to raise an eyebrow. As Professor Utonium looked at her, he can see her distraught state and a looming darkness is now upon her. The way she uttered the words bellied something much darker,and something that should not be pried open like a Pandora's box that may leak out the darkest secrets and evils.

"Which part...Lilith?" Professor Utonium decided to ask, becoming the Pandora that will open up the darkness within Lilith.

"The human part." Lilith responded.


	61. Chapter 61: Déjà Vu

Edit: Sorry guys, noticed that I accidentally uploaded a wrong section of the story. Editted.

Chapter 61: Déjà Vu

If it is one thing that Butch can trust about himself, it will be his instincts. His instincts are telling him that Blair and the new arrivals are not to be trusted. For that reason, he is now watching Blair from behind a street corner. Blair had decided to take a walk down I that they knew each other before their encounter in the mess area. Khadtijah is a prime suspect for her body gesture suggested that she is particularly comfortable with Blair and Blair showed the same amount of ease with the lady in the burqa. As for the blind man, Butch spotted the man joining in the conversation between Blair and the lady in the burqa and somehow Butch was reminded of someone whenever the man interacted with the two women.

Butch continued on watching the copper-haired woman as she stopped to look at a few products laid on a carpet by a peddler. Butch felt a sense of familiarity with the rose-eyed girl as if he had seen her somewhere before. He was suddenly reminded of a certain redhead in Townsville and that further incensed his unease. Blossom had always been a pain at his sides whenever they confronted each other for she always tend to outsmart him at every step of the way. But in her own odd way, Blossom earned Butch's respect. Blair on the other hand had not earned his respect nor his trust, and he watched uncomfortably as his target squatted down on the ground and picked up one of the objects in her arm.

 _A pendant_ , Butch remarked. Something about Blair and and pendant made him felt something crawling under his skin and more vulnerable. A very sad and bitter emotion started to well up within him and Butch is not liking it with every moment. Butch's heart started to pump harder little by little as his uneasiness slowly grew.

"What are ya doing?" A voice called from behind causing Butch to instinctively swing his fist backwards over his head. A yelp revealed the identity of the voice to Butch.

"Boomer. Don't. Do. . ." Butch is clearly displeased by his airheaded brother's lack of common sense and situational awareness,or at least his priorities of such common sense and awareness.

"Douche." Boomer insulted his brother,who in in turn bit back.

"Dumbass."

"Anyway,why are you trailing her?" Boomer asked his brother, knowing well that Butch is not the most subtle of the Rowdyruff Boys.

"There's something about them that feels weird." Butch is further incensed by how Blair and the other two people somehow manage converse with each other only around things or areas where Butch is unable to fully utilize his superhearing. Either they were really lucky that they found themselves in such a spot or they knew how to mask their conversations, and Butch is inclined to believe the latter. The onyx-haired boy is convinced that Blair is an enemy spy and he will make sure that he will expose her for what she is.

"Well she does know our names and she didn't fear us when she first noticed who we are." Boomer pointed out. Butch found his blonde brother's ability to think outside the box and take notice of things that no one else does a very respextable assent but Boomer's capricious tendency often offsets the reliability of his abilities.

"She must be real hardcore if she's not afraid of us."

"Nah, she asked me to read out a letter that she wanted to send to her family-" Boomer was hit on the head by his brother before he could even complete his sentence.

"Boomer,you idiot! That could be a coded message that she can send to our enemies!" Butch loudly hissed at his brother,almost forgetting that he was supposed to be spying on Blair. Boomer realized the folly of his actions as he shifted his body uncomfortably.

"Did she pass the letter to anyone?" Butch hissed at his brother,not believing how stupid hia brother can be.

"No...and she moving." Boomer pointed towards Blair. Butch cursed inwardly as he realizedthat he took his eyes off his target ans Butch immediately moved out from hiding and started stalking Blair once more. Boomer accompanied his brother, worried that he might do something stupid.

"God damn it..." Butch muttered under his breath. Butch is not pleased by this development for it implied that Blair may had started communicating with her sources.

"It is on that same day that those two new people arrived." Boomer pointed out, and Butch immediately elbowed his brother in the stomach,causing the blonde boy to bend over and grunt in pain.

"You idiot! Those two had been speaking with her! Who knows what-" Butch was cut off when Butch was hit in the back by the blonde Rowdyruff Boy, who is clearly not pleased by his brother's action. The pal strike caused the dark-haired boy to fall down on the ground face first.

"Screw you Butch!"Boomer cursed. Angered by the provocation,Butch immediately made a scorpion kick upwards and the kick hit Boomer in the jaw and Boomer fell down on the ground on his back. As the two Rowdyruff Boys got up, they are now staring at each other with every intention to hurt the other. Both of the boys roared as they slammed into each other and wrestled to the ground. Unbeknownst to the two boys,a figure soon approached them and stopped just short of the scuffling boys.

"What on earth are you two idiots doing?" A stern voice asked the two wrestling boys and the two boys instinctively answered at the same time.

"He hit me first!"

"No he did!"

"You kicked me in the chin!"

"You smacked me in the head!"

"You elbowed me in the stomach!"

"Yoy deserve it for being an idiot,allowing Blair to pass information like that!"

"Information?" The voice queried,curious about the accusation.

"Yeah reading Blair's spy letter for her before she passed them out like that!" Butch said, assured of his accusation as he punched his brother in the stomach.

"So you are tailing me because you think I'm a spy." The strong souring tone making it apparent that she is not pleased by Butch's accusation.

"Of course you are a spy...ah shit." Butch trailed off,realizing that he had just blown his own cover.

As both Boomer and Butch stopped pulling at each other's clothes and looked up, they realized that they are in a lot of trouble. And that trouble is called Blair. The slender copper-haired teenage girl looked at them with a dark stare, two rose-colored eyes stared directly into their soul,sending a chill down the two Rowdyruff Boys' spines. Despite the chill down his spine,or because of it, Butch stood up and stared at Blair in the eye with his jadeite green eyes. Butch wanted to resist but Boomer pulled his brother away, knowing well that this is not worth fighting for.

"What are you doing Boomer! Why are we the ones backing away?!" Butch called out on his brother before Boomer whispered to his ear.

"If Brick got wind of this, we're in more trouble than the time we screwed up in Brazil." Boomer's reason is enough for Butch to not resist anymore. Seeing his brother calming down, Boomer lets go of his brother and breathe a sigh of relief."You're lucky Boomer's here or else-" Butch was about to give a warning to Blair but he paused when he noticed something very peculiar.

Butch saw a subtle reflection from one of the buildings from a building three blocks away. Butch's countless battlefield experience informed his mind of the nature of the object and his instincts took over his body. Butch focused the energy in his eyes and unleashed the energy in his eyes towards the object, causing the others within his vicinity to react. Butch's mind blanked out the other noise and his eyes are focused on eliminating the threat. However, his action was a second too late as the air cracked with the sound of an object travelling in the air just moments before his beams hit the target. A scream was heard shortly, and Butch realized that someone was shot by the sniper's bullet. As his jade eyes cooled down, he looked around to see who was shot. Through the chaos of running civilians, it took a second for him to realize who was down on the puddle of rapidly expanding blood is a copper-haired woman, whose copper-colored strands of hair is sticking into the puddle of blood like strands of spider's web. Butch rushed towards the red-haired teenage girl, instinctively fearing the worst.

 _Is she dead,_ Butch thought as he helped the copper-haired girl up. Butch's ears picked up on the labored breathing of the injured girl, and for a moment he breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that this is particularly contradictory to his previous actions. Moments ago, he had suspected her of being an enemy spy, but now he finds himself worrying if she is alive or not. He is not sure why he is particularly relieved of Blair being alive, but he is glad nonetheless.

"Urgghh..." Blair groaned in pain, and her clothes stained deeper in red with every breath and body twitching.

"Breathe in and out deeply." Butch told the injured girl, and the Rowdyruff Boy tried to spot where the wound is. His eyes scanned from the bottom, and as he looked upwards, he noticed how small she was. Even though Blair was taller than he is, but her frame is small and almost delicate. He is reminded of the stories he heard about a crane and he immediately spotted the bullet had penetrated the shoulder and coming out from her chest.

 _She's lucky that the sniper's a bad shot,_ Butch commented as he realized that the bullet did not hit any vital organs. However Butch recognized the wound of a Dragunov rifle, for it created a unique wound that is hard to treat. Butch can attempt to use his beams to cauterize the wounds, but he is unable to take out the bullet fragments within her shoulders without causing further damages. If it is one thing that Butch can't do, it is to do things delicately.

"Butch!" Boomer called out, and the raven-haired boy snapped out from his daze.

"Damn it." Butch cursed knowing that the copper-haired girl needs treatment fast. Butch was forced to move the copper-haired girl, causing her to groan in protest and pain. Butch immediately carried her on his back, knowing that time is of the essence. As Butch adjusted her in a piggyback position, he felt her warm blood soaking into the back of his shirt. As the warmth of the blood continued to spread across his back, his hands felt the touch of her skin and how it is slowly becoming colder to the touch. Sensing Blair's life seeping away, his mind no longer cared if she is a potential enemy.

Something in the boy told him he can do something.

Something in the boy told him that he does not want to lose anyone.

Something in the boy told him that this is a situation he will not want to face again.

Butch know not why he felt that way, but once more he felt a great aching within his mind. The pain in Butch's mind is all-engulfing, numbing him to his surroundings, and he wondered why it pained him so to see her in such a state. He had seen many rebels dying and getting injured and most of the time he did not even care about them. Sometimes he left them where they fall, for he cared not. But why of all the people, _she_ , sparked such emotions and contradictions within his mind and soul. His body did not give him the time to justify an answer and he is now running with the bleeding girl on his back.

Butch ran and ran, and he never felt like he ran that much in his life before. Butch ran and ran, and he never felt so exhausted. Butch ran and ran, and he never felt such urgency in his life before. His brother ran beside him, but Butch paid little attention to his brother. All that matters is the girl on his back. His mind started to flash with some odd images, and he is afraid once more. He had experienced seeing the images once before, and that caused him to be knocked out for a few days and having his green vision. To his surprise, the vision is not colored in hues of green.

"STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH ME PINKIE! TELL ME!"

Butch heard a much more older and huskier tenor voice shouting, realizing that it is coming from himself. His vision slowly digested his surroundings and manifested itself into what appeared to be a classroom of sorts. There were students, desks, and other school things that Butch cared nothing about. His perspectives are odd, for he is seeing things from the point of view of another person. Who this person is, Butch had no idea. What he know is that a familiar slender knee-length copper-haired lady with a red ribbon is now standing before him, with eyes closed and uncertain of what he is about to to do. He sensed that his hands are gripping the forearms of the girl before him and he sensed his grip tightening like a vice. The other students are now looking at both of them,wondering what is going on. Butch is trying to get something out from Blair, but why are they in the classroom? And why is he much, much, much taller than her?

"STOP!" Blair shouted,snapping the Butch out of his vice-like grip. As he realized what just transpired, he looked at the wrists of copper-haired girl and sees the bruise marks of his grip on her wrists. Butch had just tried to hurt a girl physically without any provocation and a great sense of guilt overcame him. As the other emotions within Butch rushed into his head, Butch was overwhelmed by all the deep emotions welling up within him moments ago when he carried her in a piggyback.

 _What the hell am I doing_ , Butch wondered as his vision become watery and his lips quivered uncontrollably. Streams of hot liquid ran down his face and his breathing is erratic and slow, and the sniffling sounds shocked Butch. Butch realized that he was crying, and crying before this copper-haired girl. Butch's male pride is not accepting that he is a crybaby right before a girl whom he suspected of being a spy.

"Butch? What's going on?" Blair asked Butch as he cried.

"Blossom, what's going on? Sounds like there is a fight and suddenly Butch is crying and stuff." One of the student asked Blair as her slender fingers pats the head of the Rowdyruff Boy.

 _Blossom?_ , Butch was surprised to hear the name, and he is now even more perplexed than before.

"I'm taking him over to the nurse's office. Just inform Miss Krakow for me will you, Tim?" The rose-eyed girl informed the student. The student nods and Blossom led the student out from the class. As the other students watched and started murmuring, she smiled uncomfortably as she tried to reason with the class over this situation. The fact still remains that Butch is now crying like a little baby.

"Alright, come on Butch. I need you to walk with me alright?" Blossom asked Butch to cooperate with her, and surprisingly he is complying with her. Butch would rather get away from the classroom instead of showing his embarrassing behavior in front of random people. As both of them walked out of the classroom and into the corridor, Butch noticed a peculiar object hanging around Blair's neck. A pendant with a cross emblazoned on it and an emerald stone at the center of the cross is hanging around Blair's neck and his surprise and shock over the item is overwhelming. Butch wondered why is Renee's cherished heirloom is hanging around her neck.

Butch was led by the slender girl into what appeared to be a hospital.

 _A clinic,_ Butch immediately corrected himself as he looked around at the clean environment. Butch was lead towards one of the chairs and he sat down. Butch did not know what to expect, given that he had never felt so vulnerable and insecure in his life. The welling emotions within himself is just waiting to burst from within, and his uncertainty was answered with a surprising action.

Butch can feel her warm embrace and he noticed how small she is as his boy trembled, and the sensation of her soft hands embracing the back of his head and shoulders instinctively made him more calm and secure. He had never been hugged before in his life, and the nurturing embrace made Butch realized that this is something he never knew he needed in his life. Once more, Butch felt streams of tears running down his face once more, and he hesitantly thought for a moment.

 _Should I return the favor_ , Butch thought but soon realized that his impulsive nature made him realized that he is a slow thinker. His arms embraced the copper-haired girl in his embrace. If he wondered how small and fragile she appeared moments ago, Butch can now confirm how small her shoulders and body is. Butch wondered how such a small figure could be such a bastion of warmth, and as he felt his chest meeting hers he cared not if she is flat-chested. This warmth is something Butch's body wanted all this time.

Butch regretted the things he thought about her, but at the same time he wondered if this is his hallucination to take his mind off the fact that he is carrying her slowly dying body, or if this is a memory flashback of something that truly happened sometime ago. But how can it be that this will be a memory from a long time ago if he appeared to be an adult in this vision? There is something wrong with everything in this world, and he slowly stopped embracing her.

"You alright?" The rose-eyed girl asked uncertainly. Butch can sense that she is not sure of how he is feeling, and to be honest so did he.

"Not really, Pinkie." Butch's voice trailed is significantly calmer than he was before, but the sadness in his voice surprised him. Blair lets go off her embrace and her concerned eyes surprised him. Butch had never seen her eyes being so caring and nurturing before and as the teenage girl touched his arm for a brief moment, Butch felt the warm touch of her fingers.

"I see..." The teenage girl trailed off, not sure what else she should be saying to Butch.

"Thanks." The sudden token of gratitude by the onyx-haired teenager caught Butch and the girl by surprise, and Butch admitted to himself that he tend to be an obnoxious person when interacting with her.

"Thanks for?"

"Thanks for bringing me here, and..." Butch's voice trailed off, and Butch wondered why is he being such a wuss. However, the rose-eyed girl's smile made it all worthwhile. Her smile is simple and sweet and that in itself is very attractive in itself. Butch noticed his folly and immediately he shook it off his mind. Butch do not understand why his hallucination is showing such an intimate moment to him.

 _Speaking about intimate_ , Butch's eyes trailed towards the pendant and he noticed that the slender redhead lifted her hair as she took the necklace off her neck and passed the necklace to the male teenager.

"Go ahead Butch." Blossom beckoned, and the jadeite-eyed teenager held the pendant into his palm. Butch presses the pendant once more before it opens up, playing the somber song once more. His eyes turned to the cover of the pendant and he showed the pink Powerpuff Girl the words that are carved into the cover of the pendant.

"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things still apply." The girl read it out loud and looked at Butch with her gaze.

"Over here!" A voice caused the visions to fade away, and his eyes adjusted itself to the greenish reality that he had known for the past few days. The voice snapped him out from his vision, and a tap on the shoulder is all Butch got before the burden on his shoulder lightened up. His eyes returned to its greenish hue once more and he saw several individuals are now crowding around him. He recognized the lady in the burqa and she appeared to be very distraught by Blair's injuries while the injured man that came with the lady in the burqa finally revealed one eye from behind his bandages, showing his red-hued iris.

"Butch!" Butch recognized Brick's voice, and his eyes are now honed on his redheaded brother.

"Sniper. Dragunov. Shoulder." Butch voice is abnormally calm despite the turmoil in his body, mind and soul. As his eyes saw Blair being taken away from him and the entourage of people followed the injured girl, he planted himself in one spot. Brick patted his brother on the shoulder before turning around and following the other people. Silence once more descended upon Butch, and his thoughts about the visions he saw haunted his mind. The hallucinations seem so real, and his world now seem so unreal. His mind recalled the weird hospital-like scenario and his mind soon remembered who the man in the labcoat is.

"Professor Utonium." Butch muttered the words out loud.

* * *

It had been a few days since the shooting and Blair, or otherwise known as Blossom, felt rather uncomfortable with her arm in a sling. The Powerpuff Girl was fortunate that she was brought to the medics in time for her to be treated for her bullet wounds, but her shoulder blade broke in three pieces as well as some muscle damage from the fragments of the bullet. The pain from her shoulder combined with her fatigue from the healing process had made her particularly pale. Blossom grumbled under her breath, as she clearly dislike her situation. Fortunately, they had managed to put her in a room allowing her to recuperate peacefully by herself.

Blossom touched her own wrapped wounds with her hand that was not wrapped in a sling, soothing the pain from her saying that feeling pain in a dream will wake a person up is thrown out of the window in this dream, for she can feel the sensation pulsing throughout her nerves despite knowing that this is a dream. This incident was a close one,for she had no idea what would happen if she were to die in this dream. Would she be awake? Would she be trapped forever in the dream? Would he real body die? Those were things that flashed in her mind as she phase in and out from consciousness when she was shot. Blossom vaguely remembered how Bubbles cried her heart out twice, once over her being shot and once more when Blossom was out from her critical situation.

"This honestly sucked." Blossom groaned.

"That it does." A voice from behind answered her. Blossom turned around rapidly,only to realized that her shoulder was injured. Blossom growled in pain before she gently moved around stiffly to face the voice thas answered her. A dark-haired boy with jade-colored eyes stared at Blossom awkwardly before realizing that he should not stare any longer than needed.

"Butch." Blossom clearly did not expect her visitor, knowing well of his suspicions of her. At the same time, Blossom was informed by her blonde pigtailed sister as well as the two Bricks of how the same dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy was the one that had carried her to the medics. Blossom wanted to express her thanks to Butch, but she was prevented from thanking him as he spoke first.

"Um...feeling...um...alright?" Butch scratched his head as he looked away clearly can see Butch not being very comfortable with his conversation with her.

"Not really, but thanks for asking." Blossom did her best to be on her best behavior despite a great desire to just curse and scream out in pain.

"I see." Butch is clearly not used to small talk, and it shows in his continuous awkward scratching of his head. There is also something about the flow of the conversation that he found particularly familiar but he is unable to put his finger on it.

"Thanks." The sudden token of gratitude by the copper-haired teenager caught Butch by surprise, and Butch was reminded of the image he saw when 'he' thanked 'her'. He wanted to ask her about it, but he is also afraid of being called crazy at the same time.

"Thanks for?" Butch can not help but to use the same line that he saw the copper-haired girl in his vision used to answer 'his' thanks.

"Thanks for bringing me here, and..." Blossom's voice trailed off.

 _This is so creepy,_ Butch thought to himself. The way in which the conversation is going about is eerily similar to his vision, and Butch figured he needs to sit down and brace himself. Butch looked around to see if there is a chair in which he can pull over and sit down. He found a simple wooden chair and pulled it over to himself before taking a seat on the chair. Butch wondered if the vision he saw is not a vision, but also wondered what the vision meant if it is not a vision. If that is the case, there is no denying of the fact of who she is. The Rowdyruff Boy wondered if she is who she is, then why is she in his dream?

"What's wrong? Your brain got shaken while you were shot?" Butch answered, stopping short of saying what was in his mind. The causing a change of mood in the copper-haired girl.

"No, but I sure did not get myself into a seizure and got knocked out for days at a time."

"Your tongue taints your loveliness." Butch remarked with a rather cheeky manner, and he is speaking honestly from his heart. If it were not for her attitude, she would be a very attractive lady.

"You better keep that mouth shut and...did you say lovely?" Blossom was taken a little bit by surprise over the current exchange of words, and Blossom noticed that this conversation felt very familiar. The gears in her mind started to move and she decided to try an audacious plan.

"Lovely yes, but too goody two shoes for your own good. Just let it go once in a while and it will be liberating." Butch said with a smirk as he gestured the motion of his fingers squeezing her shoulders. For some reason, he is enjoying this moment as he goaded her on.

"Spare me your morality and talk, Butch. Or perhaps I should slice that tongue of yours off to silence that insolent tongue." Blossom asked curtly causing Butch to twitch his eye for a moment. Blossom knew that maybe, just maybe, this can be the key to something.

"Easy there. No one's slicing any part of me off. If you want me, you've to take the whole package." Butch gestured to his whole body.

"Sorry but I don't take rotten goods, especially spoiled brats such as yourself Butch."

"I would consider myself as a well-aged product. Surely you know about fine wine don't you?"

"You? Fine wine? Please Butch! Put yourself into a recycling plant, at least they would melt you up to become something useful. Or would you preferred to be shattered to a thousand pieces? I would personally prefer you to be skinned alive." Blossom retorted.

"Wow, I must say that given your mannerism right now, I would say that you have chosen the wrong career. You would be a fine villainess, in which the world would never see before." Butch folded his arm and smiled, but soon enough his mind is now screaming for something else. Something about the way this conversation is going about is unnatural. Butch did not pay any heed to his inner suspicions and continued on.

"Well I make exceptions to particular scumbags like you." The rose-eyed girl retorted with a huff.

"I am honored that you would make such an exception for me. I would reckon we can be perfect partners in crime." Unfolding his arms, he animates his arm around to convey his points across by handing out an arm for her to grab on. The teenage girl slapped his hand away, and pointed at him.

"I am servant of justice, and justice is always looking for new recruits. Give up your life of crime and allow me to help rehabilitate you instead." The teenager's words elicited a whistling sound from the green-eyed superhuman. Unperturbed, the jadeite-eyed, black-haired youth folded his arms back on himself.

"How would you rehabilitate me, if you don't mind sharing? If it is too much, I must resist." Butch commented as he points to her and then to himself, before resting his chin on one hand, while the hand was supported by his arm wrapping around his torso. For some reason, this conversation between the two had escalated to something unexpected and Butch is plagued by both its sudden playfulness and also its familiarity.

"By collaring you first, Butch." The rose-eyed girl's malicious and playful smile is something Butch had never seen before, attractive and alluring at the same time.

"Ooo...feisty. No handcuffs for the criminal?" Butch said mockingly as he held his hands before him as if gesturing for his hands to be handcuffed.

"The way you are behaving, a collar with a leash is appropriate. And perhaps you would need a whipping too." Blossom remarked and she whips her pointing arm aside.

"Whipping me? Are you sure you can do it?" Butch asked suggestively.

"I don't think you could even handle me, Butch."

"Oh really?"

"Really Butch."

"Well I don't believe you, goody two shoes. You don't have the guts."

"Want to try it out now, Butch? Come and get it." Blossom's pointing, caressing and beckoning gesture, her apparently flirty facial expression, and the line she had just said is a blatant invitation that Butch will not back down from.

"You're on Pinkie." Butch slipped the words from his mouth, and he immediately realized what he had just said.

Something within Butch's mind immediately collapsed and his body reacted violently to the sudden sensation within his mind. Both Butch's arms are now wrapped around his head, trying to contain the expansion within his own mind. Blossom immediately pulled the little boy towards her and held her in an embrace with her one free arm. Butch felt the warmth of the slender girl's body on his forehead, and her head slide towards the side of Butch's head. The pain within his head is now hot and fiery, and he felt as if he is being burned by his own burning inquiries within his mind. Butch hold one part of his head with his hand before getting up from his chair.

"Sorry, I need to be alone." Butch immediately ran out from the room, leaving a very distraught Blossom watching the boy running away. Blossom is bewildered by what she saw for her gambit worked. The real Butch that she saw trapped is now breaking through. Blossom heard a sound and she noticed the cracks in the world cracked even more and some of the cracked fragments started to fall down on the ground. Blossom sensed that something bad is about to happen because of this and she hoped that when it comes, she will be ready to face it head on. It also helps if she got someone that can kick some ass by her side.


	62. Chapter 62: Olympus

Chapter 62: Olympus

[Unknown area, unknown time]

A brunette with a waist-length braided hair with a scar on her face is staring with her sky-blue eyes at a broad shouldered male wearing a granite-colored bat-like mask with a flat leaf-shaped nose. Two cloudy gray eyes stared from within the mask with simmering dislike before the man slammed his hands on the table before them. The man stared at her for a few moments but the woman did not even pay any attention to the him and that irked him off.

"Explain yourself, you damn fox."The heavily accented voice demanded an answer from the woman.

"I don't need to, you dumb Mexican."The woman's response clearly angered the man and he broke the table in half with a kick in a display of brutal intimidation. The woman is clearly not pleased by this act, annoyed by the childish manner. The man stepped forward and grabbed the woman by her clothes and pulled her up towards him, but if his purpose is to intimidate her, her expression is deadpan and utterly not impressed by his show of force.

"You'll going to regret that you said that." The man is clearly insulted by her words, and the sound of his teeth gritting is audible to both masked man and the braided woman.

"Get your hands off me, Murciélargo." The woman snarled, but that only serve to antagonize the masked man.

"Make me Fennec." The man challenged her. The woman's skin slowly turned into chalk white before the rest of her clothing and body followed suit,and streams of red liquid soon started to run down her cheeks like a claw scratching upon a wooden surface. Her hair started to glow a cruel crimson and several pristine white brush-like tails formed from behind her. As the gray-eyed man stared at her eyes, the woman's cold stare slowly turned into a frosty otherworldly ice-blue. Her hand soon grabbed Murciélargo's arm, a malevolent red glow descended upon both individuals.

"Suit yourself" The soft utterance is the only clue the Hispanic before his senses were distorted beyond his comprehension. Instinctively, Murciélargo clicked his tongue, causing a high-pitched tone to spread over a wide area and immediately discoloring the entire area in shades of black, white and gray.

"Enough!" A roar snapped both individuals from their impending showdown. Murcielargo was surprised that he was no longer holding Fennec in his arms and was grabbing thin air. Fennec on the other hand is cupping one of her ears,and her stance was a little wobbly.

"Crazy bitch!" The masked man shouted at the new figure in the room.

"You idiots should not be weakening us before we move on our offensive." A slender Asian woman with a short and messy golden blonde hair with five braided locks running down her back barked at the man, her aquamarine eyes staring daggers at the stare was intimidating enough that the man stopped arguing further with the woman.

"He's blind as a bat,don't waste your breath." Fennec said, snidely poking at the Hispanic gangster. The high collared woman in the cheongsam stepped closer towards the braided brunette and before anyone can react, a wide and sharp swinging palm slapped Fennec in the cheek causing her to turn her head violently to the left.

"He is right on one thing; your class act in the Townsville Hall is utterly foolish. We may move on our own accord, but we all are moving towards the same objective. Don't do anything stupid at this juncture." Tigress snarled at Fennec, who in turn hissed at the Asian woman.

"Ladies and gent. Time to go." A gruff voice rumbled and the attention of Murciérlago, Fennec and Tigress turned towards the owner of the voice; an exceptionally sculpted barrel-chested man with a black business attire and a white sleeveless undershirt horizontally striped in light blue and an olive green military trenchcoat draped off his shoulder. Murciérlargo curtly acknowledge the presence of the pristine white-haired Russian mobster with a burned face by strong square-jaw, cleft chin man with the bushy silver facial hair acknowledged the Hispanic's response with a curt nod.

"You being here means that we are ready." Tigress pointed out for the other two Lunatics.

"Operation Pantheon starting in ten minutes. Device also ready. Trinisphere powering up device perfectly." The Russian curtly informed the three Lunatics.

"What about Abracadaver?" Fennec asked, spitting out blood as she got up. She wiped her mouth before turning her attention on the bear-like individual.

"He good distraction. Disgusting, but good distraction." Medved said with a sour expression, as if disagreeing with the methods used by the cadaverous lich.

"Where's Ananse?" Tigress inquired about the whereabouts of their remaining member.

"He's making last finetuning for Operation Pantheon. Promised that things will be trapped like flies to spider's web." Medved informed the Asian woman.

"All that's left is whether Him's joining in the fun or not." Murciérlargo stretches his body while awaiting for the one that saw Him last to provide the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Him will not join us. Him's found something to play with for the moment." Fennec informed,and the others did not prod further. When Him is in midst of doing something, no one is supposed to interrupt until Him decided to approach them instead.

"Operation Pantheon don't need Him joining. Him's plan can run with or without Him." Medved pointed out and the other three Lunatics nodded.

"So, where are we all going?" Murciélargo asked the bear-like Russian. The Russian gave the Hispanic gang leader a vicious and cruel grin.

* * *

[White House, Washington D.C, 8.30 pm]

The President of the United States.

The most powerful man in the world,protected by the best security service in the world.

That is what the sleazy man with a stocky build with yellowish blonde hair combed to one side that resembled a mop thought to himself. The complexion upon his wrinkled skin is a ruddy orange-colored tan with whitish circles around his sleazy, sneaky slit eyes. He had crawled out from Queens to be where he is today, and he is feeling really good about it. His family are outside the White House in Florida, and he stood alone looking outside the window of the Oval Office.

"Good evening ."

"What the-?" The man turned around,clearly not expecting any company.

His eyes soon took notice of a slender, long-braided brunette hair sitting by the edge of the room, sporting a khaki beret with the logo of a fox sewn on it. The man is now looking at her and noticed that she is wearing a particularly odd but surprisingly fashionable combination of a sleeveless dark blue sweater top, black combat boots and baggy desert-schemed fatigued cargo pants that sag slightly.

The woman looked upon the room that she is now standing inside with mild bemusement. The sky-eyed woman stared at a desk in front of three windows, the mustard yellow curtains draping over the three windows blended seamlessly with the stripped off-white and beige wallpaper.

"Answer me!" The man called out with every ounce of his authority but was rudely ignored.

The woman slowly walked towards the antiquated desk in front of the windows and slowly touched and gently moved her arms around the edges of the morocco-covered tabletop and felt the borders and the embossing of the table. The President saw upon closer examination that her arms are covered with grooves and vents steaming out revealing its artificial nature.

The lady's eyes caught on the details of the carved medallion portraits of a man and woman with the side panels with Arctic subjects in the relief and top cornices of the pedestals were appropriated to carved representation of the Arctic and Antarctic circles with the flags that resembled the flags of the United States of America and the flag of Great Britain crossed while bust of what appeared to be Arctic explorers supporting the cornices.

The orange-toned man edged away from her as the intruder paid more attention to his table. The intruder soon took a seat on the table and looked down upon the sunbeam colored rug and at the center of the rug is a seal with paleways of thirteen pieces argent and gules with an bald eagle displayed with wings opened wide with its right talon holding an olive branch and in its left talon a bundle of thirteen arrows, its beak holding a white scroll inscribed with Latin. The whole image is surrounded by whites stars arranged in a circle with one point of each start outward on an imaginary radiating center line. Framing the image is a ring of pale yellow with an emblazoned words that revealed what the symbol stands for: Seal of the President of the United States.

The woman looked up to see a man with a stocky build with yellowish blonde hair walking backwards away from her. However the man forgot about the sofa in the room and soon knocked over the edge of the armrest and fell on the sofa i. the most ungraceful manner. The woman chuckled as the man regained his posture.

"You're really enjoyin' yourself aren't ya?" The president snidely remarked, the timbre of his voice somewhere between a squawk and a scream over his Queens accent.

"You have no idea." The woman answered. The president's shark-like persona appear to not be intimidated by the presence of one of the perpetrators of the force that took a mere thirty minutes to neutralize the defenses of the White House. Indeed, the brunette felt as if the president is utterly clueless about his current predicament. Compared with the mayor of Townsville, the Lunatic find the president to be a more gritty and tough person to handle.

"I don't think you understand what you'r-"

"I am the President of the United States and I deserve be treated as such!" The president cuts Fennec off with a rather boastful and prideful aggressive remark.

Guess this is my punishment for acting out of line, the woman thought as she massaged her temple with one hand and breathed deeply. Of all the things they had to assign her to do, they just had to give her the most psychologically demanding task of all; dealing with the President of the United States. Or to be exact, this particular President of the United States. If it were previous presidents, the sky-eyed brunette would find that they will be a much more understanding lot. But the American people had elected this self-serving, self-aggrandizing Queens businessman that had used a platform of nationalism and isolationist policies that literally brought America's reputation down a few notches.

"Alright Mr. President, read my lips; If you don't do what we ask you to do, history will mark you down as the last President of the United States. If you do, you will at least leave your office intact and maybe...maybe get a chance to be the president once more." Fennec decided that she will not beat around the bush anymore, and her eyes stared at the President of the United States with a stare that froze hell over. Fennec's threat is further enforced when the room took on a much redder hue, and her ghastly appearance made the president balked back.

" _Renée,Renée, Renée, do you need to end everything in violence?"_

"What the? Who's there? Show yourself!" The president stood up and a column of reddish pink smoke rose up opposite the man. As the column of smoke disintegrated, a figure with a black widow's peak and emerald eyes appeared. Dressed up in a long black woman's trenchcoat with a candy-pink scarf wrapped around its neck and a bright red belt around its waist, the figure would appear normal if it were not for its red complexion and its lobster claws instead of hands. The individual licked its black lipsticked lips as it lets out a sinister grin.

"Him!" The female intruder voiced her surprise at the appearance of the cross-dressing lobster-armed demon.

" _Hope you all don't mind me dropping by. I need to get some errands done while I toy around with my distractions. Be a dear and let us be_." Him pointed out to his subordinate, and the woman immediately knew what is going on and what will happen and exited the room, leaving the two individuals alone. The president attempted to talk and move, but all he can do is to stand froze before the effeminate being as it approached him. The president felt a chill down his spine as the demon caressed the chin of the blonde man with its cold, hard claw.

" _You and I are going to have so much fun together. Then you'll wish that you've taken her up on her offer_." The President of the United States squeaked as the dark figure licked his face.

* * *

[White House, Washington D.C, 9.30pm]

Renee looked up to the off-white ceiling of the room known to the world as the Blue Room,choosing an beech arm chair with enclosed sides to sit upon. A marble-top center table adored the center of the room. The distinctively French chandelier of cut glass and gilded wood hung above in a wreath of acanthus leaves, and Fennec remembered a time where she had such a chandelier. As she started to relax, her mind recalled a better time. Where the boys had enriched her life in a way she never could think of. Each one of them are quite a handful to take care off, especially in their unique circumstance. But each one of them had left an impact upon her.

Renee remembered how Brick had always been the more brooding one, a human personification of the hound. He is highly evolved, being very intelligent, somewhat villainous and menacingly calm. Renee remembered the boy's mannerism, speaking in a sly, sharp tone. Quick to anger, however, and will make sure that he gets what he wants. Supremely skilled in the meshing of the various arms of combat, being capable of meshing disparate forces into a single tactical operation with precision and flair. In personal combat he is ruthless, vicious, overwhelming and utterly focused on his duties. It is almost as if he has willingly burned out any personality, education, or characteristics that do not contribute to the swift and resolute execution of his duties. It is this quality that makes him a vicious opponent in any confrontation. Although Brick is a gifted tactician, but Renee remembered that he is merely a competent strategist. His genius is not in the planning, but in the fighting of battles. He combines situational awareness with a near-perfect assessment of the capabilities of both his own men and the opposing force. However, Brick had his moments when he took away the persona of his ruthless nature and become a much more lax, polite and refined person with gentle soul that put those he hold dear above all else. She remembered a time where she saw him speaking and playing with the little refugees in their camp and that put a smile on her face.

Boomer on the other hand is the most carefree of all his brothers. The sand-blonde boy is always laid-back and flamboyant general and is usually smiling from ear to ear as he took the world in his own pace. This personality is at contrast with what the blue-eyed boy is often entrusted with during combat operations; long-range reconnaissance and infiltration. If there were real ninjas in the world, Boomer would qualify to become one and be one of the best (if not the best one). His senses, movement and spatial movements allowed him to be the best at what he is, and yet Boomer retain a level of humility and is not overly arrogant about his strengths. His simple outlook in life allowed him to enjoy almost everything, but his passion in music is something that she enjoyed seeing. His disposition allowed him to understand the finer acoustic properties and create complex musical pieces. Last but not least, Boomer is also more people oriented than his brothers. All this made him the baby of their group and indeed in many ways, he is the heart that bind the brothers together.

And then there is Butch.

If Brick is the epitome of a commander, and Boomer the epitome of a scout, then Butch will be the epitome of a brute. No, that does not do justice to Butch. A medieval warrior would be a better way of saying it. Butch may appear to be a laid-back individual, but Butch posssessed a brutal, impulsive, and excessively violent personality alongside a lethally short temper. However, despite his aggression and obvious blood lust in battle, Butch possesses a feral cunning and has a knack for quickly exploiting any opening his opponent reveals. In addition, he is blunt, sarcastic and quite sadistic, revealing a psychotic grin or laughing maniacally whenever he becomes excited. Renee remembered how his twitches made her very uncomfortable and how it made her wondered if he is about to attack her.

Butch is also very rude and displayed little respect for authority and says whatever is on his mind, regardless of whether or not it is appropriate. This attitude leads to conflicts with many other individuals, and it does not help that Butch tend to be more arrogant than his brothers in some aspects. Nonetheless he does have some form of a code of honor, though it is often related to displays of strength and personality. Still, Butch had always been the more emotionally fragile one among his brother, for he had always been treated as a brute without any other defining trait. His tendencies to rely on his instincts and emotions had often put him in situations that only enforced people's perception of the Rowdyruff Boy. It is perhaps because of this vulnerability that she had treated him with more care than with his brothers. This in turn earned her Butch's trust and among all his brothers, he is the closest to her. She remembered how they often talked about topics that the raven-haired boy found peculiar, and how Butch expressed his insecurities to her and her alone.

Those imperfect traits are what endeared her to the boys, and she had grown to accept them as her family. Perhaps even more than her original family. If Renee was given the chance, she would had taken the boys with her and to live in long and happy lives. The brunette started to imagine her home where her father's ancestors had called home for countless generations and she wanted the boys to grow up without the conflicts of their previous lives. To grow up, be in school, to fall in love, to be successful, to be happy. Just four of them, living a simple life.

Alas, that was robbed of all of them. All of them are now living from the trauma of that fateful day.

But the boys are slowly healing.

Renee saw that the Rowdyruff Boys are now trying very hard to integrate back into society, under the care of a person called Lilith Morningstar doing what she could not do. They are learning very hard to let someone else in their lives again, and she had watched the Rowdyruff Boys slowly opening up to their caretaker. Even though she know the woman for what she truly is, but she had been doing a great job. Then there are these Powerpuff Girls. Each one of them are connecting with the boys in ways that helped them face their traumatic past, and hopefully overcome it. That opportunity however was lost for her.

The Lunatics had traded such spiritual solace for a dark opportunity, for each one of them had sold their soul in a moment of of great despair, in exchange for a precious sacrifice. The sacrifice required is always a thing that defines their humanity– something which when relinquished, is as if abandoning a part of one's soul. She had no idea regarding the circumstances of how the others had relinquished their souls, but she knew what she had relinquished in return and how she was forced to do so. She gave her soul for the chance that the boys may live long and peaceful lives. How ironic that she is now the harbinger of turmoil and chaos in their lives. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps and she averted her gaze to the distraction.

 _Time to return to being Fennec once more_ , Renee thought to herself. Work is work, and things need to be done.

"Him wants us in Oval Office now."

"Alright. Give me a moment Medved." Fennec replied. The large Russian walked away,leaving Fennec alone once more. As the brunette got up from the chair, she took a deep breath and walked towards the Oval Office. Fennec cared not for the sights of the decorations and the architecture of the hallways leading up to the Oval Office as her mind is clouded by a dark thought.

 _What are we looking for_ , Fennec asked herself. It took only five of them to take down the White House and if they wanted to,they would had taken over the American government. Instead Him's instructions on the matter boiled down to one instruction; Leave everything as it is. Still, if they wanted everything to remain as it is, the storming of the White House is not the best way to do so. Before long Fennec reached the door to the Oval Office and turned the doorknob.

" _Ah,Fennec._ " Him's unmistakable voice greeted the French woman. Him had made itself very comfortable on the couch , the President of the United States nowhere to be seen. The other members of their coterie are now within the confines of the Oval Office save one person.

"The Asian and the president are not here." Fennec remarked as she strided towards the sofa. Fennec found the sofa opposite Him unoccupied and took a seat, knowing well that it is in her interest to do so.

" _They have went ahead before us to the location of_ _Zeus' Thunderbolt."_ Him informed, as if it the most obvious matter to say in the world.

"Zeus' Thunderbolt?"

Within seconds, the room was engulfed by a reddish pink fog. Fennec is used to the peculiar teleportation method by now, as it is part and parcel of being bonded to Him in eternal servitude. As the fog dissipates, Fennec noticed that her feet are now floating a few inches above the ground before she lost control of her bearings. The weightlessness that she felt disoriented her, and she realized that the force of gravity is not present in this place. The other Lunatics are also taken by surprise over their weightless environment and they soon attempted in their futile attempts to recompose themselves.

"Welcome to Olympus." A monotone voice belonging to the Asian Lunatic cuts their attention away from their efforts to orientate themselves. As she floated towards them, Him appeared to be at home in this particular environment.

" _Ah, Lou Fu. How is our orange host of honor doing?"_

"He is in the command bridge, guarded by two of our candy-infused soldiers." The Asian woman tilted her head, beckoning them to follow her to the bridge. As they floated towards the bridge, Fennec saw the circumference of Earth's orbit through the small circular window panels and it dawned to her that they are upon a space station.

Their journey through the hallways is filled with a deafening silence, and it brought unease into Fennec's heart. The bodies of personnel taken down in the defense of the space station slowly started to increase in numbers and Fennec saw the telltale signs of Candy-infused berserkers tearing through the defenses. Mangled limbs and torn bodies were floating around the walkway and the smell of blood and gunpowder pierced into her nose. Some of the more unfortunate defenders were embedded into the walls, floor and ceiling of the hallways, and a steady droplets of blood are floating out from the holes like little red seeds. They had no choice but to go through the sea of droplets, staining their clothes with blood.

Fennec knew that these men had no chance against the new strain of Red Candy that Him had provided to their troops and they had died very futile deaths. It would take a super to make them stop in their tracks, and indeed this is what they will use for their eventual final push in their final phases of their plans. The gates towards the bridge were open wide and Fennec pushed a body away from her, only to see the sight of a whimpering orange-tanned men flanked by two large, brutish red-skinned hulks as she entered into the bridge while Him and the others were observing a large screen right in front of them.

"Please don't hurt me..." Fennec can smell the fear perspiring from his pores as the president sweated like a man caught in a rain.

" _Relax, and take a seat and be quiet. We'll call you when we need you."_ Him hushed the man to keep quiet.

"Seems like the show had already started." Fennec asked, causing Him to turn its attention away.

" _Not yet, but it will soon be. Little kitty, please be a dear and start bringing the people needed to make this place orderly again."_ The Asian woman groaned for a moment when she heard Him's commands. Nonetheless she obeyed by disappearing away in a reddish pink fog.

"What's next?" Murcièlargo's uncertainty is expressed in his voice.

" _By our mercy will we be life, creators of worlds and by our wrath we become death,the destroyer of worlds."_ Him's gleefully growling baritone voice struck fear and unease in the heart of those present in the room, sending an ice-cold chill in their spines. Him soon broke out in a dark chuckle that is unlike his usual diabolical laughter and the other Lunatics watched in silence as they gave Him the means of holding humanity's soul hostage. Fennec realized that she no longer need to stay in the room and decided to silently move out from the her leave was not inconspicuous enough.

"What the-" The bat-masked Hispanic was about to point out Fennec's action, but a nudge from the large barrel-chested man stopped him.

"Leave her be." Medved advised.

"Why does that bitch have so much free reign around-"

"She is invaliable in final phase of plans. You mess with her, you mess with Him." Medved pointed towards their leader.

* * *

[Olympus, Earth's Orbit]

She strode past the floating bodies and wondered what she had helped unleash upon the world. With Olympus taken and the Thunderbolt under their control, all they need is for 'that' to fully synthesize itself and the last gear of their plan will move and there is no one that will stop them. With every moment, the light of hope is slowly setting in the world and the long night of darkness will soon descend upon the rest of humanity. Humans, being as weak as they were, will not resist the overwhelming presence of such immeasurable power. If they wanted to have a chance, they would need those with immovable hearts and unwavering sense of justice and righteousness. But people with those distinct qualities are in short supply, especially those that can stand on equal ground with Him and the Lunatics.

Fennec sensed an odd sensation and she picked up a defiant groan and felt her ankle being rudely grabbed by something. Fennec looked down and saw a horribly-mangled man with his only intact arm grabbing her ankle with all his will. The rest of his limbs were twisted beyond recognition and his uniform is stained with blood. As the man looked at her with bloodshot eyes, Fennec recognized the defiance and suffering within his eyes, and knew that he had very little time left. Fennec looked on as the man wheezed and labored with the last remaining moments of his life. She knew the pain from dying in such a manner and it is something that can never be described in words. She watched as the light of life in his eyes slowly faded away and she watched with a heavy heart as the man finally breathed his last. The man did not let go of her ankle and as she attempted to release his hold, something floated out from his shirt and floated towards Fennec's face.

Fennec caught the object with her hand and as she opened her hand,she saw a simple dull locket in her palm. Her sky-blue eyes are now focused on the object and with her other hand she opened the locket to find a photo portrait of a man with dark brown hair and gray eyes with an auburn-haired woman with bright green eyes in an warm embrace along with three children, wrapped in light blue bundles. Fennec's mood darkened as she looked at the picture. She closed the pendant and she went on to pry the man's fingers gently. Once Fennec is released from the vice-like grip, she gently placed the pendant into his palm and closed his fingers over the pendant. Fennec rests her hands over his wide-opened eyes and as she moved it in a downwards manner,she closed his eyes.

" _Je suis tellement désolé_." Fennec apologized, knowing well that he left the world in such a painful and violent way. Fennec looked around and she is all alone and surrounded by floating mangled bodies whom had died with their hopes,desires and dreams violently and abruptly taken away from them. Fennec took a deep breath and as a reddish fog surrounds the braided brunette, she knew that deep down inside of her, she wished that her boys and those girls would snap out from their dreams.

Deep down inside of her, she knew that they are the world's only hope in beating the cosmic madness that is Him and also her salvation.


	63. Chapter 63: Into The Breach

Chapter 63: Into The Breach

It is a warm August night in Aleppo for the heat from the day releases itself during the cool nights of Aleppo. Butch had made himself comfortable in a broken minaret of a mosque a few blocks from their camp and within rebel-controlled territory, whom Butch considered as his fortress of solitude. Butch found this minaret by accident and due to its isolation and difficulty to reach the spot, Butch had made it his hideout whenever he wanted to be alone. With time,this place had become a little more furnished with carpets,cushions and even a radio. As he looked up towards the moonlit skies, he slowly loosened up and attempted to recompose himself after his encounter with Blair. Butch found her presence to be a growing concern for his self-being,for she had a way of making him doubt himself and the situation that he is in. To make it worse,all his visions and weird symptoms all happened as soon as he bumped into her in the sniper alley in Aleppo. However he was interrupted by a voice he knew all too well.

"Butch."

The dark-haired boy turned around to see his fiery red-headed brother alongside his blonde brother floating above him. It appeared that Brick had found his hideaway spot where he prefer to isolate himself in solitude whenever he is down in this war-torn place. Butch thought that no one else would find his 'fortress of solitude' and he clearly did not expect his brothers to find out where he like to spend time alone, but Brick has a way to know what his brothers are up to. Butch had wanted to spend more time to recompose his thoughts after his encounter with Blair and he clearly did not want company.

"What do you want?"Butch expressed his desire to be alone in his tone,but as he expected it is not heeded. When it come to his brothers, he had to take notice. They tend to take no for an answer.

"We need to talk." Brick landed in the minaret along with Boomer, looking around to see if there were any threats of being observed or worse,being ambushed.

"This place's clean. What's up?" Butch clearly wanted the matter to be done with in order to get back to being alone. Both Butch and Boomer made themselves comfortable the best way they can in this little man-cave,Boomer taking a seat on the carpet while Brick leaned on a wall. Butch stayed out on the cushion he is sitting on with an expression best described as a person rudely forced to participate in a discussion that warrants no interest.

"We need to leave Syria." Brick voiced out the purpose of their gathering under the moonlit night sky of Aleppo, and Butch is clearly not pleased by what his red-haired brother had mentioned. Butch stood up in protest Boomer watched the confrontation between his two brothers.

"They overtook the hill overlooking Castello highway two months ago, and the city is effectively surrounded. It is just a matter of time before they take down the rebel-held area of the city. I'll give them till December at most, but the city will fall before the year is over." Brick knew the reason for his brother's protest, but he will have to explain some facts first before resolving the point of contention.

"Hell, we can always use our powers and kick their asses!" Butch countered while beating his chest once.

"You may kick their ass, but you'll not solve the famine, disease and hopelessness in this city. We're lucky that our bodies are essentially build to withstand the shittiest situations. But these people...no. They will starve, they will fall ill, and they will definitely fall into despair." Brick's callousness is apparent in his calculations and a silence fell upon all three Rowdyruff Boys. Both Butch and Boomer knew deep down their brother is right. The past few months had been particularly violent with the boys having to use their powers more often than before instead of the rifles they were issued with.

"Besides...if we stay, we might be captured by the Russians and be tested upon. Those Russians are heartless I tell you, but they sure know how to fight a dirty war." Brick laughed hollowly as he scratched his head. It is true that the Russians had single-handedly turned the tide of the war in the regime's favor, and it is also true that they wanted to make their own superhuman army. That marked the Rowdyruff Boys with a bulls-eye on their back, for they are prime targets to be experimented upon.

"Nope. Not gonna be someone's guinea pig." Boomer shuddered as his mind imagined the worst scenario.

"I'm not leaving." Butch voiced his opinion.

"You are not leaving because of the fight or because of Renée?" Brick threw the piercing question at Butch. Butch's silence answered Brick's question.

"Butch, we all like Renée. We know it sucked balls if we had to leave her here. " Boomer is sympathetic to his jade-eyed brother's plight,but even Boomer knew that it will be hard to get a person out of Syria if they had no superpowers.

"Still, we don't have the means to get her out. We need to decide soon."

"Then you guys go ahead. I'm staying." Butch insisted.

"Butch don't be a dumbass. You know that we don't care if the rebels win or not. The Agency's paying us to keep the rebels alive,but if they're wiped out we're not gonna get paid." Brick stood up and prodded his finger on Butch's chest.

Butch responded by grabbing Brick's collar with both hands and pulled it up, lifting the carnelian-haired boy off the ground. Brick is not disturbed by this show of force, and instead grabbed his brother's arms and pulled them apart forcefully. Butch did not appreciate that his show of force is negated so readily by his brother and the jade eyes stared daggers at his brother. Boomer cut himself between his brothers hoping that they will stop fighting and by that extension, not reveal their location to the enemy. However Butch pushed his blonde brother aside easily and pointed his finger towards the bridge of Brick's nose.

"Don't you dare say that she didn't affect you in any way." Butch's simmering anger is laid bare for everyone to see.

"That will not change the fact that we will not be taking her with us. We do not take our dogs with us if-" Brick argued but instead of a verbal reply, Butch struck his brother's face with his fist. Brick was not fast enough to evade the hit and he received a blow that would had taken out lesser men. Brick's reflexes kicked in and Brick delivered a liver blow almost simultaneously at the same time as he received the hit from Butch. The dark-haired teenager dropped down on the ground, paralyzed by the pain from the liver blow that would had killed a normal person. Brick's vision turned black for a moment before returning to normal and his sense of balance is very off and a sense of pain and numbness was briefly felt in his jaw.

"Don't you dare compare her like that." Butch's voice tensed as his jaws clenched hard. Butch's willingness to resort to force is heard audibly as his fist cracked with the force of his grip, while his willingness to fight showed itself as he forced himself to stand up despite his liver blow.

 _He threw an uppercut at my jaw in that state_ , Brick came to his senses and wobbled as he struggled to stand upright.

"Before her, no one treated us as anything more than a tool to get their shit across! NO ONE!" Butch roared as Brick watched silently.

"She never judged us for what we are, but for who we are!" Butch turned towards Boomer and pointed towards his chest, his pair of jade eyes tearing up. Butch faced his other brother and continued on.

"She gave us things that we can enjoy that is not vandalizing or beating things up! She gave us a heart!" Butch is clearly immersed in his emotions, he as his voice cracked while getting his point across.

Brick finally got his balance in check and he saw in his brother's eyes the tenacious and hardheadedness that will clamp down on Brick's desire to get the Rowdyruff Boys out from Syria. If it goes down to the wire, Butch will not hesitate to hurt his brothers very badly to get his point across. That is not how Brick saw them leaving the Aleppo theater of war, and no way will he be hurt because of a stupid fight like this. Brick decided that he needs to make a decision that will make his brother more pliable.

"Alright." Brick surrendered,and Butch's shoulders relaxed a little by instinct before tensing up once more. Butch is suspicious of his brother,for Brick is a schemer at heart.

"Alright?" Butch asked.

"Make the arrangements." Brick responded.

Before Butch can further ask about what will Brick do,Brick flew off in a bolt of red lightning. Boomer looked back at Butch for a moment before he flew off in a bolt of cobalt blue lightning. Boomer managed to catch up to his brother and he is curious about his sudden change of heart. If there is one thing the Rowdyruff Boys all shared, it will be their stubbornness and willingness to get what they want. But then Boomer realized what Brick meant when he asked Butch to make the arrangements for Renée's exit.

"Butch didn't realize that he's set up to fail." Boomer highlighted to his brother, clearly upset at Brick's lies and manipulation of his brother.

"At least he will believe that I let him bring Renée with us. If that is what it takes for Butch to lift his ass and leave, I will even tell him that pigs are flying around the skies of Aleppo." Brick answered resolutely.

"You're an ass." Boomer called Brick out, despite agreeing that they need to get their brother out of this hellhole called Aleppo. Brick did not even attempt to defend himself from his brother's scrutiny for his priorities is for all of them to get out in one piece.

 _It'll be convenient if she is taken out of the equation for us to escape this stupid hellhole_ , Brick thought.

* * *

"What the hell?" Buttercup found herself sitting down on a chair in an otherwise empty car park lot as far as the eye can see. The last thing she remembered was being sucked into a light from inside Tommaso's bedroom. How did she end up in here? And where is Tommaso? Buttercup felt something slamming behind her and she fell down from the chair face down. She felt the pain from hitting the asphalt directly and as she groaned in pain, she felt a weight upon her peridot-eyed girl turned around and attempted to get it off, only to notice a half-naked sand-blonde teenager with pajamas pants.

"Oh shit! Boomer!" Buttercup laid Tommaso on his back before noticing that someone else is watching them. As she looked up,a figure in a black high-collared hoodie with streaks of luminescent dark blue flames are visible around the sleeves and the rims of the hood staring down at them with cold ice-blue eyes. A notable design of a skull and crossbone emblazoned on its collar marked the identity of the person watching them.

"Welcome." The figure answered, and Buttercup finally recognized the voice that pulled her into the light.

"Boomer?

"Somewhat. I am not the Boomer you're looking for."The hooded figure answered and pointed towards the unconscious man.

"Right." Buttercup said in a sarcastic manner.

"Yeah." The hooded figure responded without any prejudice or hint of understanding Buttercup's snide remark as he folded his arms around his body.

"Then wake up and get a life." Buttercup suggested wryly.

"Not possible, not when Boomer's own inner demons is running rampant ."

"Inner demons? You?" Buttercup then started to break out in a guffaw. The hooded Rowdyruff boy watched her soullessly for a while before Buttercup realized that Boomer was not joking and she stopped her guffaw awkwardly.

"I know what Boomer's inner demons are. His brothers were less fortunate in that sense." The hooded figure explained.

"Um...okay...and that would be?" Buttercup asked, her husky voice a little more toned down.

"Boomer's issues consist of a few things things. Firstly, it is not being respected by everyone for what I can be. The first one is not even a big issue these days thanks to you girls. Each one of you had, in your own way, gave me the respect that Boomer deserve. The second is much harder but he is coping well with it. Renee's death had affected the Rowdyruff Boys deeply, but he will always remember the good times he had with her." Buttercup kept quiet as he continued on as she can sense his sorrow in his voice. Boomer never appeared to be a person with dark issues as she always thought of him as a happy-go-lucky addition.

"And then there's you." Buttercup was taken even more by surprise at the last point that Boomer brought up and her expression was plain for the hooded Boomer to see.

"Wait...so I'm one of his inner demons too?" Buttercup clearly did not expect that line of conversation to even come up. Boomer took a deep breath before explaining to Buttercup.

"No,you're more like the thing that always take him outside his comfort zone. You are making Boomer a conflicted person. He's comfortable with you, but at the same time he don't know what to do with you. Even here,you are able to take him out of his comfort zone and made him question himself."

"Hold on, hold on. Comfort zone?" Buttercup struggled a little with this hooded Boomer's explanation.

"Well, you did break him out from his comfort zone and now we are all here." Hooded Boomer shrugged.

"You mean that world I came from...that is his comfort zone?"

"Hey it doesn't have to make sense. Right now, you're cradling one part of my soul in your arm. That guy is more or less my honest feelings so to speak. He's the guy that you've come to appreciate as a friend. The good me, the funny me. The other one must be somewhere else. The me that is experiencing the nightmares. The me that wants to cry. The me that wants to scream." The hooded Boomer pointed out for Buttercup. However, the hooded boy noticed that there is something else that Buttercup wanted to ask him.

"What are you then?" Buttercup asked.

"I'm the thing that fights and suppress all these things. The Boomer that fought against you Powerpuff Girls. The Boomer that can fight. For me the equation is simple, I will do what is necessary to help myself."

"So you're the dickish part of Boomer. Go figures. That's how you manage to be such an annoying idiot." Buttercup remarked, and the hooded figure shrugged, clearly not denying Buttercup's conclusion.

"If that description makes you understand, so be it. Right now, you've help one part of mine to break out and I can see that you're the key to helping Boomer out." Hooded Boomer unfold his arms and extended his hand out to Buttercup. Buttercup stared at the arm for a moment before turning her attention towards the Boomer before her. Having too many Boomers to look at is a pain in itself.

"Not like I got a choice." Buttercup is not pleased by the implication of what he said, but she extended her arm and shook Hooded Boomer's arm.

"Indeed."

"So what about this Boomer?" Buttercup pointed her head towards the unconscious teenager, only for the unconscious Boomer to regain his consciousness. As the sapphire blue eyes opened up, the half-naked teenager looked up towards the hooded figure with a smile. The hooded figure lets go of Buttercup's hand and helped the half-naked individual up along with Buttercup.

"Well, you must be the Boomer I've heard about." Tommaso pointed his inquiry towards the hooded figure.

"Not exactly, I'm the serious part. You're also part of the Boomer that you've heard about." The hooded figure replied dryly.

"So we're supposed to be one individual or something?" Tommaso asked.

"Yes, yes we are."

"So let's merge." Buttercup immediately grabbed Tommaso's arm and pair of unwilling peridot eyes are now staring at Tommaso with disbelief.

"ARE YOU CRAZY? Wait...no...but...no! You're way nicer than that idiot over there!" Buttercup protested despite knowing well that this is meant to be. Tommaso gave Buttercup his best smile before holding her hand.

"Well, seeing how everything is happening the way it is, it feels somewhat right."

"You are taking this way too lightly! Aren't you afraid of losing yourself?! Seriously, you're an idiot!" Buttercup gave Tommaso a tight slap and his head jerked sideways violently. A line of blood came out from Tommaso's jaw, and Tommaso gave Buttercup a tight slap back, surprising both Buttercup and their faced Tommaso once more, and rubbed her cheek, stunned by the sudden reaction. Despite the act, Tommaso's face is still in its cheerful smile.

Buttercup is at a lost for words, and she knew that her reaction is just her reacting to her emotions in the moment. She honestly did not expect herself to bond well to Tommaso in any meaningful way, but it appeared that she had grown more attached to this image of Boomer than she previously thought. The raven-haired girl is not sure what to make of her emotions, for it is far too conflicted for her to make a meaningful argument. In her heart, Buttercup knew that she had been getting rather close to Boomer with every moment. This Boomer is almost perfect in every way, a nice guy that cared for her deeply. But him slapping her in the face is slowly waking her mind up to the truth; this Boomer is not real. The real Boomer that she came to rescue is a much more flawed character, an idiot but an idiot with a kind heart that no one saw.

"I'm an idiot, not a saint." Tommaso answered before hugging the stunned Powerpuff Girl. As he slowly patted Buttercup's back, he noticed that Buttercup's body is surprisingly small. Buttercup did not want to be hugged, but at the same time her body did not resist. Buttercup's turmoil cooled down immediately as if a gush of cold water was splashed at her face.

"Idiot." Her husky voice is but a whimper as she tried to fight back, but she knew that she lost.

"I will be an idiot no matter what." Tommaso answered, not letting her go.

"Excuse me, this is really odd so can you stop it?" The hooded Boomer interjected the moment, and both Tommaso and Buttercup glared at the hooded figure with eyes that can intimidate a monster from Monster Island. The hooded figure backed away, knowing when he had no chance at all.

"Alright Boomers," Buttercup separated from Tommaso as she felt a tinge of uneasiness addressing the two Boomers, "now what?"

"Well, do you see the crack below your feet?" Hooded Boomer pointed towards the ground and both Tommaso and Buttercup looked down to realize that the parking lot they are standing on is opaque and they can see through to a barely visible world of tall half-demolished buildings with columns of smoke rising up to cloud the other side of the surface that they were standing on. The world below appear to be burning, and it gave off a hellish vibe.

"What the hell is that?" Buttercup asked as she turned her attention back to Hooded Boomer.

"This is the world of nightmares I was telling you about. This is Syria." Boomer informed as he gaze into the hellish landscape with melancholy. Buttercup sensed that the world that they are seeing right now must be filled with memories and experiences that Boomer had yet revealed to her, and she is now slowly seeing the layers hidden within the airhead known as Boomer.

"So...what are we supposed to do again?" Buttercup paused, waiting for Hooded Boomer to tell her their next course of action.

"Do what you do best; break through stuff." The hooded figure winked at Buttercup causing the other sand-blonde individual to laugh out loud at the expense of a visibly fuming Buttercup. One Boomer is already a challenge to handle by herself, but two of then is just a little too thoughts. There is also the issue of Hooded Boomer's trustworthiness and her expression is quite visible on her face, for the hooded figure proceed to answer the thoughts in her mind.

"I'll behave if you can get us to the other side."

"What will I need to do for you to be on your best good behavior?"

"A kiss. Your's tasted of vanilla and cinnamon, with some lemon zest." The hooded figure pointed out, causing Buttercup to pop a vein on her forehead.

"So...you're the one..." Buttercup's voice is surprisingly calm, and Tommaso realized that someone is about to get hurt real bad. Tommaso hopped away from the two individuals and immediately Buttercup unleashed a fist towards the hooded figure's face. As Buttercup felt a sensation on her knuckles, she soon realized that her fist is not feeling the sensation of flesh but instead a sensation of hitting air.

"Luckily for me, Boomer's reflexes are top-notch." The hooded figure spoke and Buttercup saw that he had dodged her punch. Not one to lose out, Buttercup continued on with her offense and Boomer dodged each one with the most minimal of effort. Something within Buttercup started stirring and it soon revved up to an intensity that she can not contain anymore. Buttercup launched her left first in a jab, causing Boomer to react.

 _Gotcha_ , Buttercup thought as she switched her offense mid punch and swings a downward chopping right arm toward Boomer's shoulders. To her surprise, Boomer's leg tripped her and she landed the chopping right with all her might upon the ground. The ground exploded and soon she realized that she is falling down.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

"Buttercup!" Tommaso cried out, not expecting the ground to give way.

"That worked out well. I figured that you'll be the key, though you're more like a battering ram instead." The hooded Boomer answered as he looked down at the hole that the Powerpuff Girl created.

"Aren't you going to help her?!" Tommaso called out to the hooded figure

"Well we are, but not exactly in this form. At least for you and me. We can't cross unless we are in one piece." Boomer explained.

"Right. Will I still be me?" Tommaso asked.

"You will be, and you will also be me." The hooded Boomer replied.

Tommaso and Boomer stared at each other for what appeared to be a lifetime, though it was actually for a few short seconds. Both Boomers took their arms out and shook hands, only for both of them to merge in a wondrous and at the same time disturbing manner. As their bodies merged violently, the amalgamated mess tipped towards the edge of the hole before descending down into the hole. As the whirling mess descended, it slowly moved towards the direction of the falling Powerpuff Girl. As it got closer, an arm soon formed out from the mess and grabbed Buttercup's arm. Buttercup turned around to see a sight unlike any other, bewildering and terrifying. The mess slowly took on a human shape and as Buttercup recognized the form the blob failed to voice out her surprise as she felt a hand supporting her back and holding her tightly and another arm under her legs. Not knowing what will happen next, Buttercup is forced to leave her fate in the hands of the Rowdyruff Boy.

* * *

Butch outwardly appeared calm as he walked towards Renée's office , but he is clouded by his own conflicting thoughts. His grip upon reality is slowly being lost as his thoughts delved deeper into the thoughts that everything is not as he thought it would be. That copper-haired girl with the rose-colored eyes had done this to him, and he wondered how he can reconcile his internal turmoil the best he can. But the more he thought, the more tumultuous it became. Things he took for granted had become things that haunted his waking moment.

To add to the horrible mix, his brothers had just approached him with a decision to get out of Syria.

Deep down, he knew that the situation in Aleppo is turning for the worst, and it will be the battle that will decide the fortunes of the rebels in this civil war. But he will not let Renée be a casualty of Aleppo. Aleppo itself is bloated with the sacrifices and casualties of its inhabitants and it should not be fed anymore. Brick had informed him to make the arrangements to get Renee out from Aleppo, only for Butch to realize a day later that he sucked at making intricate plans and negotiations.

 _That sly asshole_ , Butch cursed his brother, but at the same time if he can prove Brick wrong he will be able to rub it in his face. That is why he took about two days to figure what he can do before he approached Renée. Butch figured that this night will be the night to throw the dice and hope for the best. Butch hope something will become his compass of sanity.

Butch arrived in front of the door where Renée had stationed herself and he knocked the door in a peculiar way to signal the person within the room. Within a few seconds, the door opened up to reveal a sky-eyed pale woman with dark brown hair braided in a single pony tail behind her back that is surprised by the presence of the young Rowdyruff Boy at her doorstep.

"What's wrong Petit Verde?" Renée asked.

"We need to talk." Butch answered.

Renée beckoned the boy to enter and as Butch stepped into the room, Renee closed the door behind her. As the French mercenary walked past him, Butch can only be mesmerized by her elegance and poise, and the way she combed her braided hair made his heart skip every single time. As the Frenchwoman took her seat and turned her attention towards Butch, he swallowed hard and wondered what he can say given the situation.

"Um..." Butch tried to focus away as to not gawk at Renée.

"Are you here to talk about what we will do next?" Renée smiled as Butch looked at her with eyes filled with surprise.

"Come aga-"

"The word is out that if the rebels surrendered Aleppo, they will have safe passage to Idlib. Still, if we were to go to Idlib it will only be a short time before the government forces will besiege the province. The Baathists are not known to be merciful. In this rate, it is as good as us leaving Syria for good and leave it to the wolves. With the Castello highway cut off, the rebels in Aleppo are as good as dead. " Renée went straight to the point and Butch wondered if this is the time when he can ask if she wanted to leave with them.

"I will not stop you or your brothers leaving." Renée watched as Butch struggled to compose his answer.

"We...I..." Butch struggled to get his point across, but all he could do is stumble upon his own words."If anything, can you do me one thing; please get Blair out of Syria." Butch stood up and slammed his hands on the table, not believing what Renée had suggested him to do.

"What the- are you serious?! What about you? You're important to all of us! If anything, that bitch should be left to-" Butch wanted to continue on, but Renée looked at him with very dissapointed eyes. Those eyes are enough for Butch to feel that his heart had sank to the bottom of the cavity within his chest.

"What had she ever done to you to have such harsh words against her?" Renée asked with a disapproving tone. Butch struggle explain himself but each effort only made it worse than before.

"How do I even start...well...she...ever since she arrived things are...things got weird."

"Maybe you just need to know her and things would not be that weird anymore." Renée advised.

"But...she's feels out of place. Like there's something about her that make things...unreal."

"Unreal?" The woman tilted her head as she wondered what the young boy meant by Blair being unreal.

"She's feels unreal. Something about here stands out, something about her feels out of place. No...something about her feels extremely real and everything else is fake ." Butch admitted, and indeed it has been the case.

Ever since Blair came, he had these visions and berserk-seizures that pulled at him. Something in him wanted to break free, and it is tearing him apart in more ways than one. The last one was the worst, with the images of Butch crying over her shoulders. Throughout that vision, his mind accepted for a moment that Blair is Blossom. That should not make any sense, for Blossom should be the same age as himself. Yet again, in that vision, he is also much older. Renee raised an eyebrow, and Butch knew that he is spouting nonsense right now. Or is it something else?

"Maybe it is just me, that's all." Butch tried to shrug it off as it is something happening only in his mind. Butch looked up to see a pensive look on Renee's face.

"It has been a stressful stretch for all of us. I do not blame you. This situation had eroded the morale of many comrades."

"So...will you be leaving?" Butch asked, testing the water for his eventual request.

"I'd be honest and say that it is the wisest idea." Renee conceded.

"Then-"

"No." Renee answered adamantly.

Butch is perplexed by her answer, for she is a mercenary like the rest of them, and to see a mercenary not thinking about their own survival is an unusual reaction. Butch wondered why would Renee refuse to leave this living hell, and he can not fathom the reason why she would stay and fight another person's war. No reason at all. The moment however was rudely interrupted by a violent tremor rocked the entire building and a loud boom echoed throughout the room.

* * *

"Any news from Buttercup?" Brick asked Blossom.

Blossom, Bubbles, Break and Brick are now gathered together,dressed in their disguises,sitting in a circle to discuss their next course of action. They had decided to meet up on the rooftop in order to get away from any unwanted attention and also to watch out for any incoming threats that may attack the rebels. It also provided them with the closest thing to fresh air for the crowded makeshift shelters are hot and stuffy. Ever since Blossom and Butch spoke to each other a few days ago, Butch had not talked to Blossom and his brothers. Blossom had told them about the situation, and Brick knew that the situation had turned for the worse.

To make matters more complicated, it appeared that his younger self had not met them for the past two younger Brick is now with his brothers, and they had decided to leave them for the time being. Brick in particular knew best, for the younger Brick is him in every way. The three brothers had survived on the streets and battlefields together, and even though they are perhaps the most dysfunctional brothers ever, they are bonded in a way that no other siblings did. It is for this reason that Brick need to help his brother Butch to get out from this hellish world for his dark-haired brother for his dark-haired brother is always the most emotionally vulnerable.

"No...she's been quiet." Blossom is unable to shake the concern in her voice, though having her other sister sitting beside her helped quelled the negativity within her heart. Bubbles had not received any word from her sister since their last communication and she wondered if things had gone for the worse on Buttercup's side.

"This place is creepy." Bubbles voiced out her unease as she looked around the world and saw the ominous green cracks everywhere. Ever since Butch regained consciousness, the world around them is cracking more frantically than before and that is a cause of concern.

" _It is a dark place, the cesspool of all of Butch's insecurities, fears, guilt...all the bad things welled up inside of that guy. It is a different kind of mess than those of Brick here._ " Break commented as Brick glared daggers at his own shadow.

"I'm in this place for a few weeks but...I still don't understand one thing." Blossom voiced out her thoughts to no one in particular.

"Understand what exactly?" Brick noticed that Blossom is rather perplexed by an issue on her mind, and Brick decided to facilitate the matter by asking the copper-haired girl.

"If he had a dark memory about her death," Blossom pointed out as Bubbles wondered who is her sister talking about, "Why isn't his mind looping the memory? Why is his mind..." Blossom stopped as she failed to find the words to describe the thing that had been bothering her about Butch and his relation to this dream world. Bubbles and Break turned their attention towards Brick, and the crimson-eyed teenager breathed a sigh before answering Blossom.

"Blossom, I'll need to ask one thing; do you really think that this is Butch's real memory of Syria?"

"I-I...I don't know." Blossom wanted to protest of her lack of knowledge about the dream, but she soon relented and admitted her shortcomings.

"Sorry, that was actually a trick question. That idiot never really know the difference between his guilt and desires and he's stubborn to boot." Brick acknowledged the issues with his own brother that he finds hard to deal with. Blossom did not appreciate Brick's toying with her, but for the sake of getting an opinion from one of the people that know Butch best, she will swallow up her pride.

"Then...what is this world?" Blossom asked the Rowdyruff Boy.

"This world is both his reward and punishment." Brick answered.

"Wait...Butch wants to be here?" Bubbles' perplexed look is also shared with her sister.

"If it means seeing Renée again, he'll withstand all the pain."

"Wait...who's Renée?" Bubbles asked.

"You've faced her in Fort Marks with Butch before. She is the other female member of the Lunatics." Bubbles' eyes widened as she remembered the fox-like lady with a lantern floating upon her head causing her senses to go wild during that fateful night. Bubbles expressed her recollection of the memory with a loud exclamation, causing Brick to cover her mouth to avoid any further unwanted attention. As Brick and Blossom surveyed around them, they sensed no one else is up on the rooftop with them and both redheads breathed a sigh of relief.

"Seriously Bubbles, control your voice!" Blossom hissed but she is also glad that Bubbles, like herself, is devoid of her superpowers. If Bubbles had screeched, there would be a lot of people hurt by her hypersonic screech. A vein popped on Bubbles' temple and her light blue eyes are looking at her sister angrily before she tried to reprimand her sister. However Bubbles soon realized that all she is making are some unintelligible noises as Brick still covering her mouth.

It was then than the earth shook. The buildings several blocks away were erupting with long black columns, and before long the other buildings were carpeted with explosions. Blossom and Bubbles saw a neighborhood being obliterated in seconds and as the inferno picked up, the earth shook once more with an even greater intensity and the whole carpeted area soon erupted into what is best described as an apocalyptic explosion. Brick stood up and looked at the latest explosion and his eyes narrowed at the rising mushroom cloud that illuminate Aleppo.

* * *

A deep crater is the only physical evidence of their landing as Buttercup looked around the landing site that is best described as apocalyptic. Boomer and Buttercup crashed to the ground with enough force that the the buildings surrounding them are pulverized and the ground smoking from the impact. The area around them is covered with burning dark fumes illuminated with reddish-orange flames smoke giving their landing area a hellish view. As their surroundings burned, Buttercup only thought to herself is that she did not expect her first bridal carry to be this explosive. As she entertained the thought to herself, her heart is now beating furiously as she looked upwards to the figure in awed silence. The individual carrying Buttercup in a bridal carry soon let her down, and as Buttercup stood up with wobbling feet the individual unzipped his collar to reveal his mouth.

"Alright, we're good to go." Boomer tilted his head to beckon Buttercup to come along with him. Buttercup shook her head and snapped herself out from the surreal sight that she just saw and grabbed Boomer's shoulder

"Wait, wait, wait! You just came up from that weird blobby thing and landed like that without getting hurt! And I just burst through dimensions! What the hell?And where is the other Boomer?" Buttercup is clearly not accepting the situation, and Boomer looked at her and shrugged and pointed towards his chest. Buttercup realized immediately that the two had merged into one individual and she have not got the chance to say goodbye to the person that had accompanied her for the past few months. Her mood turned dark for a moment and she looked down on the ground in a dour mood, and Boomer can sense the light fading from her eyes.

"When we get out of this world, I want to try your _Pasta alla Norma_ for real." Buttercup looked up with widened eyes, pleasantly surprised that Boomer remembered the meal that she had made before. Buttercup gave out one of her rare smiles and Boomer gave her a smile in return.


	64. Chapter 64: Reunion

Author's Note: Hello everyone, this chapter will mark the 1st year anniversary of my Fanfic account activated and also the one year birthday of the Powerpuff Girls A story. Thanks for those that have been reading this story since the beginning and for those that followed and favorite this story throughout the time this story was written.

Chapter 64: Reunion

"That is not a barrel bomb." Brick voiced out as he watched the unnaturally large mushroom cloud rising from the city and illuminating Aleppo in its radiant light. Both Blossom and Bubbles turned towards him with incredulous surprise.

"Then what do you think it could be?" Blossom asked, knowing that there is something else on Brick's mind. Brick did not want to say out his other deduction, for that would entail other, more dire things to come.

"No idea, but we're about to be in a very messy situation." Brick answered, expecting that the night is about to get very lively very soon. True to his deduction, the city soon erupted in an orchestra of gunfire and smaller explosions throughout the city. An explosion like that is often a sign of a new offensive, and both warring sides are not sure who is is that is planning the offensive in such a brazen manner. As more columns of smoke and mushroom clouds erupted throughout the city, Brick had seen a familiar scene like this barring the mushroom cloud. Something about the whole scene felt as if it is part of a very important but distant memory. If he is not mistaken, the next sound that will come will be-

Blossom and Bubbles rose up at the same time and the sound of screaming jets are hears cracking up on the skies above before the chorus explosions accompanied the screaming jets' wake. Several more whistling sounds are soon heard and an entire neighborhood is carpeted with a wall of fire and explosions. Blossom and Bubbles watched in horror as the world around them is being engulfed by the drumming beats of war.

"There you are!" A youthful voice called causing Brick,Blossom and Bubbles to focus their attention towards a young red-haired boy.

"What's happening?" Bubbles asked the young Rowdyruff Boy.

"The government forces are attacking! We need to get off the roof now!" Young Brick delivered the warning with much urgency in his voice. The older Brick immediately moved his body and Blossom and Bubbles glanced at each other for a brief moment before they followed the two Bricks.

As they ran down the stairs, Brick is unable to shake the uneasiness within his heart. Something about this particular place is making him very uncomfortable and deep down, he felt that he wanted to run away. Brick felt even more uncomfortable when he realized that some details are off,though why he would think that some details are off is disturbing to say the least.

"Brick!" A voice called,and Brick was about to answer when his younger self answered instead. Brick's crimson eye spotted his blonde brother standing before his younger self and he was mildly surprised at how they all looked at the time. Boomer looked more like a girl than a boy. The explosions only grew louder with every moment, and everyone is forced to resort to yelling out to get their point across.

"Boomer! What's the situation?"

"It's bad Brick! The defensive parameter is collapsing and if they break through, the rebels here will be dead meat!"

"Right, Boomer move out with Rashid's unit and try to hold the assholes off!"

"Where's Butch!" Young Brick yelled out amidst the loud percussive sounds of the explosions in the background.

"I don't know! What about you Brick? What are you gonna do!" Boomer is clearly worried about his brother, and something in Brick clicked.

"I'll head off with Jubair's unit and get the refugees out!" The younger Brick barked at Boomer.

"Oh." Brick's uncharacteristically dumbstruck and ominous comment caught the attention of both Blossom and Bubbles. As the young Rowdyruff Boys discussed about their course of action, Blossom nudged Brick with her elbow as she sensed Brick's dread building up. Brick did not respond to the first nudge, and it took another nudge for him to notice Blossom staring at him. Her rose-colored eyes are seeking for an answer that only Brick can answer, and the blood-eyed Rowdyruff Boy does have an answer.

"Oh what?" Bubbles asked and she sensed that Brick is reluctant to give out the answer for it will only affirmed what is on his mind.

"This...this is the day Renée die." Brick said out loud, his voice masked by several more bombardments hitting the compound.

* * *

"What the hell is that?"

Buttercup voiced out as she sensed the ground shook with a force that is out of place barring a superhuman brawl before several loud cracking booms whipped through the air. As Buttercup wondered what just happened, Boomer looked up and pointed up to the sky. Buttercup averted her eyes towards the sky to see several aircraft flying above them. Buttercup had no clue what Boomer was trying to point out but she soon got the message when some of the explosions rocked the earth underneath her and she is clearly uncomfortable by the proximity of the explosions.

"Fuel air bombs. They're bombing the neighborhood to flush the rebels out. That or they are making a path for the army to storm the rebels." Boomer's voice is stoic and cold, causing Buttercup to miss the goofy and air-headed Boomer that she knew.

"Shit...you think that-"

"Maybe. We best be making our way towards the bombing area." Boomer sprinted before Buttercup can even react, and Buttercup is not pleased that Boomer had a head start.

"Wait up!" Buttercup called out,but the sand-blonde teenager is already navigating through the urban jungle as if he truly belonged in the urban jungle,swinging and vaulting over obstacles like a simian moving among the trees. As he hopped upwards on the wall and climbed on the ledges of the ruins, Buttercup knew that she was outclassed. Buttercup had always prized her speed and agility,but Boomer's movements are fluid and natural and each obstacle was solved with a rather humble creativity that is both simple and beautiful. Buttercup slowly trailed far behind, cursing under her breath for her lack of mobility through the ruins.

 _I didn't know Boomer does parkour_ ,Buttercup thought before she saw Boomer slowed down around one of the rooftops. The hooded teenager turned around and sat on the ledge while resting his forearms on his lap,looking down upon Buttercup with a slightly offended look on his face. Buttercup despised his condescending look and she pushed herself to reach where he is. Buttercup's perception of her surrounding blurred as her focus on reaching where Boomer is sitting intensified. It felt like an eternity for Buttercup and as she finally reached where Boomer is sitting,she glared at him with an intensity that can melt steel.

"You fly too much." Boomer admonished the brunette while shaking his head. If Buttercup had the strength,she will be launching her fist into his smug face.

"Screw you."

"Much appreciated." Boomer answered and it took Buttercup a while for her to realize that Boomer had just said something cheeky and lewd towards her.

This time, she had enough strength in her to throw a punch at the hooded boy. The Rowdyruff Boy fell back to dodge her fist and Buttercup almost lost her balance and she almost fell off the edge of the building. However a hand pulled Buttercup's shoulder, preventing her fall and pulling her to safety. Buttercup had mixed feelings about the fact that she was saved by the blonde boy, as she appreciated Boomer pulling her to safety yet at the same time he is also the reason why she almost fell in the first place. Boomer noticed Buttercup's expression and kept quiet, knowing well that there is no need for him to pour fuel into the simmering fire.

"Looks like we're in the right track." Boomer informed the Powerpuff Girl while pointing towards a building several blocks away from where they are now. Buttercup squinted her eyes before she recognized two familiar figures looking up to the skies from one of the rooftops and her heart stopped for a moment as she struggled to believe what she just saw.

"Blossom? Bubbles?" Buttercup's voice trembled as her mind is flooded with gave out a thin smile as he saw the brunette's peridot eyes teared up. The Tommaso memories in Boomer remembered that she had been trapped in the dream world for close to a year and seeing her sisters for the first time must be overwhelming.

"Alright. Let's make a move. Hopefully,we will be able to meet them peacefully." Boomer patted Buttercup's back,causing her to rub her eyes with the back of her hands. The blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy saw a renewed sense of purposes in the Powerpuff Girl.

"Lead the way Boomer."

Boomer and Buttercup navigated through the ruins, their ears bombarded by the sounds of explosions emanating from all directions. Buttercup is clearly not pleased by the constant crescendo of war for it is not a pleasant experience. Buttercup looked at Boomer, noticing how the blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy easily kept calm and moved on. Buttercup remembered Brick's slip of how they were once mercenaries and she never took him seriously. But now Buttercup saw the martial professionalism of their mercenary roots with the way Boomer is moving around the ruins. Despite their speed, Boomer had been looking out for any traps or explosives that may cause more problems than they wanted. Whenever Boomer saw troops moving about or an explosive trap, Boomer will pull Buttercup away from danger and moved on. This in turn made Buttercup particularly conscious, for she had never been led in such a manner before.

Suddenly a fist nearly hit Buttercup's face, only for Buttercup to realize that Boomer is signaling for her to stop. Buttercup slowly move beside Boomer and she saw several men in military uniform with rifles advancing while hollering orders. Soon a large battle tank emerged from behind the figures and slowly advanced into the street. The main battle tank appeared to be covered in several angular boxes that gave the tank a distinctively clam-like appearance. Two boxes flanked the main armament of the tank, giving it the appearance that the tank had eyes. The hull of the tank is covered with several square-like panels, each panel looking like grids on a map. The main cannon fired, causing a ringing sound to echo through Buttercup's ears. Buttercup's ears were soon bothered with the salvo of gun fire from the rest of the soldiers. Buttercup soon noticed that the tank had a flag of a snarling tiger within a light olive green with yellow wordings that looked like a child's scribbling.

"Tiger Forces. One of the best units the government can use in the war. If they're here, that means the rebels are in deep trouble." Boomer whispered.

Buttercup's eyes looked at the soldiers that Boomer called an elite force and her eyes honed in on a particularly familiar figure. A large white-haired man with a half-scarred face is leading the soldiers and Buttercup recognized the man. Seeing the large burly man caused her to instinctively recoil, her body remembered the blow that he had dealt to her while her mind recalled the trauma of being touched and groped by his lackeys as she laid on the ground defenseless. Her recoil caused her elbow to hit part of the ruins covering them and a piece of brick was broken loose. As both teenagers' eyes opened wide, the brick fell down towards the ground below them. The sound of the brick shattering attracted the attention of several men, including the large burly man with the scarred face.

"Oh shitbiscuits." Buttercup cursed.

The salvo of gunfire rained upon the teenagers' position and they ducked for cover. The masonry around the building were slowly being carved away by the bullets before a loud screeching sound was heard. Boomer recognized the sound as the sound of a turret turning and he immediately wrapped his arm around Buttercup's waist and bolted. Buttercup was surprised by the sudden jerk she felt around her waist and also the strength that Boomer musteres in that short span of time. A blast was soon heard and both Boomer and Buttercup are now covered in dust and pulverized concrete. Boomer did not look back and he continued on running away.

"Put me down!" Buttercup demanded, but Boomer's mind is now focused on a more immediate matter. The sound of bootsteps echoed in his ears and he knew that he needs to shake them off if they were to have a chance.

"Wait a second!" Boomer was struck with a sudden realization and he turned around. Buttercup was about to call out his sudden turnabout before noticing his eyes are now glowing bright ice blue. Two whitish blue beams exited his eyes and blasted two holes into the floor. Several shouts and screams are heard as the floor gave way, as Boomer moved his head left and right to widen the damage. Boomer took several steps backwards before turning around and speeding off. Buttercup's eyes are now wide open at the sight.

"You got your powers back!"

"Realized that I landed here without any injuries! Thought that I should try out and see what happens!" Boomer is visibly pleased by his attempts as a smile formed on his face.

"Wait...if you can do that, then I-" Before Buttercup can complete her sentence, several armed men appeared from the holes that Boomer made and started firing at them. A bullet grazed Boomer's cheeks causing him to hiss in pain and drop the Powerpuff Girl. That few moments is all it took for the men to charge towards their direction and as Buttercup got up, she wished that she could use her powers and hold them back. Instead she was forced to dodge bullets by seeing the trajectory of the bullets.

Wait _a second, I'm_ _seeing_ _bullets?,_ Buttercup realized the absurdity of the situation and the onyx-haired girl figured that she had nothing to lose in this situation and rushed towards the armed soldiers. She rolled down on the ground and hit a few of the men like bowling pins, causing them to lose their balance and fell down on the ground. Several of the men started firing at her but hit their comrades instead. Buttercup picked up one of the fallen soldiers and threw him towards the other soldiers, causing them to all fall back into the hole that they came out from.

A roar came up from behind Buttercup and her fighting instincts took over as she slammed her back towards the assailant,slamming him towards the wall. Buttercup grabbed the man's outstretched arm and threw him over her head,slamming him on the concrete floor. The sound of the ground and bone cracking brought a smile on her face. The familiar sound of her unique throws are now coming back. Buttercup did not have much time to celebrate her returning strength as she saw several bullets heading her way and she was forced to dodge. The section of the wall that she previously stood is riddle with bullets and Buttercup is now running for her life as the bullets trailed after her. Buttercup had only moments to react as she saw two beams of light heading towards her and she dived as the beam flew overhead.

"You idiot!" Buttercup cried out.

"Sorry!" Boomer apologized as he directed the beam upwards, causing the ceiling to explode and the rubble to fall down on the hole on the floor. Buttercup wasted no time to continue on crawling towards Boomer and as Boomer deactivated his eye beams, Buttercup got up and walked towards Boomer.

"Damn...of all the powers you got back,you got back that can kill us both." Buttercup chided Boomer.

"At least it is something I can control." Boomer retorted.

"Let's get out of here...that will not buy us a lot of time." Buttercup moved away from Boomer, and to Buttercup's surprise the next thing to return to her is her volume of barking commands and soldiers mobilizing to find another way to move the rubble increased with every second,while the smell of burnt gunpowder and blood crept into her sense of smell. Her vision is slowly becoming much sharper than before as she looked back at the injured men laying down on the ground. A sudden explosion caused Boomer and Buttercup to duck for cover, coating them with even more dust and tiny specks of rocks. Both teenagers looked back and they saw a large man with white hair and a half-scarred face looking at them.

Boomer heard the man spoke to them in a rather rough and intimidating manner, and Boomer recognized the edgy language that the Russians called their mother tongue. Boomer's omni-language comprehension is not as good as Bubbles, but he can pick out some words from the man's conversation. The Russian man expressed his surprise by their presence in this battlefield and started laughing. Boomer is not sure why this man is not afraid of his show of power, as most men would had ran away from his display of strength.

The man smiled wickedly as he raised his arm parallel to his face and clawed into his face. Boomer and Buttercup recoiled as the Russian's fingers dug deeper into his face and started to bleed. With a violent pull, the man tore away part of his face and threw part of his face on the floor. To Boomer and Buttercup's disgust, the bloodied face of the man started to elongate and the teenagers saw what appeared to be a snout protruding from the torn face. The abomination snarled at them with glee, and the man's back started to stretch in unnatural ways and his size increased as the man's bulk start to tear through his skin. The ursine-like humanoid with its white fur and sharp claws drenched with blood only made the affront to nature more intimidating to the two teenagers.

"Ah shit." Boomer commented, knowing very well that it is an understatement.

"Werewolf. Fucking werewolf." Buttercup responded, and Boomer shook his head.

"Werebear. Russian werebear." Boomer added, knowing well that the correction is not needed.

"I hate you so much." Buttercup expressed her annoyance, and Boomer nodded again.

"I know." Boomer answered,knowing very well that Buttercup's response is very appropriate.

A roaring howl from the werebear snapped the two teenagers into action and Boomer fired beams from his eyes. The abomination managed to move with an unnatural agility and closes in on Boomer within a singke stride. A clawing motion from the werebear's arm barely passes by Boomer's face as the blue-eyed boy's reflexes kicked in, barely cutting the edges of his hood. Boomer did not have any time to launch a counter as the werebear's attacks were relentless,causing the boy to dodge in increasingly more creative ways.

"Eat this!" Buttercup manages to sneak a a hooking punch towards the werebear's liver, causing the monster to buckle under the pain. The brief lull is enough for Boomer to jump over the Russian werebear.

"Run!" Boomer cried out and Buttercup retreated at the suggestion. The beastman growled as he stood up,and both Boomer and Buttercup realized that it will take more than that to bring him down. As the Russian werebear gave chase,Boomer asked Buttercup about the thing chasing after them.

"Friend of yours?"

"No,he's my cute little teddy bear!" Buttercup sarcastically bit back.

"You sure know about him!"

"He's the idiot that impaled Butch!"

"He is?!"

"You don't know?!"

"Nope!"

"You're an idiot!" Buttercup is flabbergasted by his ignorance.

Boomer's hand pushed Buttercup's head down and as she was about to say something about his unwarranted action, a large piece of boulder flew past where her head was previously located and slammed at the wall before them. The wall crumbled and a large gaping hole is now visible to both teenagers. There is only one course of action for both of them; go through the a great amount of uncertain faith,both individual jumped through the gaping hole.

* * *

Brick, Blossom and Bubbles are now running alongside the younger Brick as he escorted the civilians to safety with several other rebel soldiers. Every few moments,the younger Brick fired a few suppression fire from his rifle beams to halt the incoming fire from the storming troops. However it becomes very apparent that younger Brick's fire are becoming more frequent with every passing moment and the incoming fire become more intense and chaotic. It is a miracle that none of the projectiles had hit the civilians yet.

"Small Brick will be overwhelmed if this goes on!" Blossom pointed out to Brick, and the red-eyed Rowdyruff Boy agreed with the Powerpuff Girl's assessment. Brick tried to remember the memories of those dark times and what he did then. He hoped that this dream is accurate to its details.

" _Do I get to play?_ " Break asked gleefully.

"Knock yourself out." Brick gave the shadow a green light to fight,and a dark humanoid shape separated from Brick's shadow and heads off towards the direction of the incoming fire. Within seconds the sound of screaming and shrieking echoed in the air along with a more haphazard sound of guns firing from a distance. Blossom soon noticed that the incoming fire is reduced almost to nothing.

"We need to get little Brick to complete his task and let him regroup with the rest." Brick observed that the boys can turn the tide if they are gathered together. But at the same time,he also knew what truly happened on this day. As Brick tried to recall what is next,the civilians are now exiting the building that they were in and Brick's lone eye soon opened wide as he realized what is coming next.

"Everyone get down!" Brick roared and instinctively everyone ducked.

A loud boom rocked the ground and part of the building was blown away,raining building fragments on everyone. A few feet away,Brick saw a tank facing them and Brick wished that he got his powers back. Young Brick immediately fired the beams from his eyes and the beams blew of the barrel of the tank and part of the turret. Brick knew it will take more to neutralize the tank but before he was forced to take action, Brick noticed something exiting the shadow of the tank. A formless shadow entered into the smoking barrel and within seconds,the tank did not fire any more.

 _Good work_ _Break_ , Brick commented. The silence of the tank sparked young Brick to beckon the civilians to move.

"Move!" The civilians moved as if they were a herd of sheep being herded by a shepherd and young Brick led them forward. Brick sensed that his shadowy companion had returned once more,and his suspicion was confirmed when the shadow spoke to the Rowdyruff Boy.

" _Never knew what got them._ " Break said with a sadistic glee, leaving both Blossom and Bubbles with a great distaste in their mouth.

"We'll need more of that moving onwards-" Brick was cut short when a large explosion was heard. He looked up only to have something fell on him with such force that he fell down back first, causing a mild concussion. To his uneasy surprise,whatever that fell and landed on his face is surprisingly soft.

"What the-"A voice spoke out and the voice sounded very familiar to Brick. He instinctively breathed into the thing that covered his face and as he reached his arms up he felt something soft between his two hands.

Two soft things.

Two very soft things that each rested comfortably in each of his hands.

He squeezed the two objects only for a feminine husky yelp responded to his action. A strike on his stomach is the next response and Brick felt the wind knocked out of his body. As Brick's hand lets go of the two supple object,the object covering his lifted away and he finally managed to make sense of what landed on him. A black-haired girl with line green eyes are now looking down on Brick,clad in what appeared to be green pajamas.

"B-B-Butters?"

"Brick?" Buttercup looked down at the thing that had just molested her and saw a person with half his face wrapped up with only a crimson eye looking back at her,

"Buttercup?!" Buttercup hears two very familiar voices calling out her name and turned around to see a copper-haired girl with rose-colored eyes clad in a khaki brown t-shirt with green pants and another figure draped in cloth. As Buttercup registered the individuals in her head,the cloth-covered woman took off her headdress to reveal a yellow-gold hair girl with two pigtails and light blue eyes looking back at her.

"Guys?" Buttercup is unable to contain her shock and surprise at the appearance of her two sisters.

"Ohmygod Blossom it is Buttercup!" The blonde girl squealed and hugged the redheaded girl.

"Yeah Bubbles...it is Buttercup." A smile crept on the rose-eyed girls face, her eyes teary as she rubbed it with her finger.

"Damn,that's one bad landing..." A androgynous boyish voice commented. Buttercup and the two girls turned their attention towards a person with a black hood with blue flame patterns around the edges of the hood and sleeves. As everyone stared at the hooded figure, the person turned around and his cobalt-blue eyes are now trying to make sense of what he had just landed into.

"Boomer!" A sharp voice called out and the blue-eyed boy looked down to see a bandaged person with one blood-red eye looking back at him.

"Brick?!" The hooded figure expresses his surprise.

"Who the hell are you people?!" A young voice cracked and all the teenagers turned towards a young carnelian-haired boy looking at all of them with utter confusion. Before the boy get his answer, something crashed in between the boy and the teenagers causing a cloud of dust to erupt and cover the area in between dust dissipate to reveal a large muscled ursine-like humanoid covered in dust and dried blood standing up, causing the civilians to look upon the fantastic beast with awe and horror. Brick and Bubbles recognized the monster for who he is.

"Medved?!" Brick and Bubbles voiced out at the same time, and the ursine figure looked at the crowd of civilians and gave a vicious snarl. The werebear flexed his fingers as he slowly approached the civilians, whom by now are paralyzed with fear.

Blossom sensed the situation escalated significantly as the figure looked around to discern its surroundings, and she recognized the look as it licked the side of its maw. Blossom knew that everyone is in immediate danger but all her body did was to tremble. Blossom sensed her breath becoming shorter as the pounding in her heart grew stronger. She recognized the thing crawling under her skin, and the wounds within her soul opening up once more as she felt consuming and confusing pull beneath the surface. Her mind started to feel the walls closing in as her insecurities grew and she is confusing what is real and make-believe.

 _A blade wielded by fear, can never be used to save someone, let alone everyone._

The sentenced echoed in her mind, and without her even realizing her body started to move between the beast. Blossom was surprised by the action as much as the rest of the other people around them, and Blossom open her arms to block and protect those behind her. Her arms and legs are trembling, and her breath is slowly becoming shorter with every moment. The sweat on her eyebrow and temple flowed down her face and the droplets of sweat hit the floor one drop at the time. The large monstrous figure stopped just an arm's length away and stared at her with eyes seeking blood. Blossom's rose-colored eyes stared back, and she swallowed as she realized what kind of situation she had entered herself into. Her condition is far from ideal, as she is still recuperating from her gunshot wound and her strength is leaving her as her body labored to keep itself afloat. The adrenaline can only do so much, and the rest is all upon her willpower.

"Don't. Touch. Them." Blossom warned the monster.

The action stopped everyone else in their tracks.

The sound of explosions and gunfire are heard in the distant background as the situation turned into an eerie standoff.

Everyone watched as the monstrous figure started clapping, creating unease among everyone else.

Blossom's mind is trying its very best to hold her sanity in one piece, for the fear within her is creeping in her head like slithering vines with thorns. Each time she took a breath, the fear cuts deeper into her head. Blossom wondered why the fear is striking her so hard, and her mind soon came to an answer; she is afraid of her helplessness. Her mortality and weakness made apparent from her lack of superpowers struck fear into her heart just like how the Tigress played with her and broke her confidence. But here she is, standing before a being that can kill her with nothing else but a swipe.

"Then I'll touch you." The large monstrous figure reasoned and immediately he raised his arm to strike Blossom. Blossom trembled, but still she stayed put. Blossom did not close her eyes,or to be exact she is unable to close her eyes.

"Stay away from my sister!" Buttercup slammed into the monster's side with all her might and both Buttercup and the werebear fell down on the ground. Blossom's legs finally gave way and she knelt down and watches as her dark-haired sister wrestled with Medved.

"Move!" Young Brick barked and the civilians were finally able to love once more.

"Go with Brick! We'll catch up later!" Bubbles called out to the teenage Brick. Brick nodded and he turned around and left with Break in tow in his shadow.

 _That leaves Blossom,Buttercup and Boomer_ , Bubbles thought. Despite their presence, Bubbles wondered if they had what it takes to bring the Russian down. The obvious answer is a definite no. They are but mere humans as compared to the monster before them. Bubbles immediately corrected her thought as Buttercup performing a German suplex on the beastmen that rocked the earth and cracked the ground. Seeing the opportunity,Bubbles rushed towards her stunned sister.

"Get up!" Bubbles tried to get Blossom off her feet, but as her hand landed on her sister's shoulders she felt her sister trembling with fear. Bubbles wanted to comfort her sister, but the present situation is dire enough that she had to pull her sister away. However,Blossom proved to be much heavier than she thought she would be.

"Why?" Blossom asked, her voice surprisingly serene.

"We need to get out of here!" Bubbles answered back.

"Why am I afraid?" Blossom asked.

"This is not the time to think about that! Move!" Bubbles used all her might and managed to get her sister up before forcing her sister to run with her at the same direction where the civilians ran. Both girls were suddenly hit by something and the Powerpuff Girls are brought down on the ground. A groan allowed Bubbles to recognize Buttercup as the thing that had just hit them and as they all struggled to get up, Bubbles saw Boomer firing beams from his eyes, which the werebear skillfully avoided before rushing towards the sand-blonde boy.

"Shit, didn't expect this at all..." Buttercup rubbed her head as her mind started to wonder how to neutralize the threat before them.

"Buttercup, can't you use your powers?"

"I haven't got everything back with me yet. Just got them as I entered into this stupid world. What about you Bubbles?" Buttercup asked as she looked to see how Boomer is faring out. Seeing how Boomer is dodging every single hit, Buttercup figured that he is still fine on his own.

"You know...I've not tested it out yet." Bubbles admitted to Buttercup, the though of testing out her powers once she had crossed into this dream world never crossed her mind. Bubbles glanced for a moment and saw Boomer's head being grabbed before smashing it towards the closest wall. Bubbles winced, for she can empathize with the pain.

"Seriously?" Buttercup looked at Bubbles with disbelief. Bubbles shrugged knowing that her sister will not accept her reasoning.

"Watch out!" Blossom cried out, causing both Bubbles and Buttercup to turn around.

"HEEEEEEELLPPPPPMEEEEEEE!" A cry for help is heard as Boomer was hurled by the werebear towards the girls and the girls were caught by surprise as the unlikely projectile made contact with them. The boy hit them hard enough that they were knocked off-balance and they fell down on the ground once more.

"Urgh..." Boomer tried to get up before he noticed that his hands is on something particularly soft and squishy. He reaffirmed the odd texture by squeezing them a little harder and something reacted to his squeezing. Something in Boomer warned him that he is going to be in very deep trouble. As he looked down on his left arm, he noticed that his hands are squarely on Blossom's small breast and he turned to his right and noticed that his hand is on Buttercup's butt. To make matters worse, he sensed that his legs are wrapping around something, and to his horror he is on top of Bubbles with his sitting on her hips.

To make matters worse, the girls also managed to snap out from the initial attack and they realized the compromising position they are all in. Blossom turned beet red as she realized where Boomer's hands are resting while Buttercup is staring coldly at Boomer. Boomer knew that he will need to get his hands off those forbidden places, but his hands are enjoying the sensation under his palms. To Boomer's detriment, his hands instinctively groped both Blossom's breast and Buttercup's bottom once more. And then the worst sensation happened as he looked down towards Bubbles with her pigtails unraveled and spread out on the ground and her zircon-colored eyes looked up at Boomer with an innocent look. Something about the busty blonde girl lying down in front of him with torn clothes showing parts of her stomach and parts of her shoulders and upper portions of her breast is particularly erotic for Boomer.

"Oh." Boomer wished at that moment he was gay. His manly biological extension had inadvertently prodded Bubbles's hips to politely greet Bubbles of its presence. Bubbles's face turned from a neutral innocent expression to an indignant, violated expression and immediately Boomer knew that his body had betrayed his intentions.

"Sorry?" Boomer's feeble attempt at an apology was met with Bubbles grabbing Boomer's arm.

With a mighty swing of her arm, Bubbles hurls Boomer towards the advancing werebear and such was the strength and speed in which Bubble threw Boomer, the werebear was caught by surprise and was blasted into the building once more while Boomer ricochet violently on the ground like a skipping stone before crashing into the foundations of the building. The building collapsed under the extreme structural damage and soon collapsed upon itself and covered the entire area with dust and is the first among her sisters to get up, and she cracked her fingers as the rest of her sisters got up as well. Throwing Boomer towards the Medved is just a convenient way of killing two birds with one stone, and Bubbles jaw clenched as her eyes frowned and veins started to pop from her neck and her temple. Blossom and Buttercup did not appreciate that they were groped by Boomer, but Bubbles' rage is something else entirely.

"He dare to touch me with his little pee-pee...he's gonna pay. And that bear's gonna pay for causing it in the first place." Buttercup heard Bubbles' breathing and knew the cause of her sister's rage.

Buttercup felt an eerie sensation before her hair lifting itself up and repelling one another. Buttercup saw Blossom's hair started floating up as well and several filaments of electrical current started to travel on the surface of Blossom and Buttercup. Several small dark blue electrical plasma orbs reminiscent of plasma globes formed around Bubbles and enveloped Bubbles in a protective dome. To both Blossom and Buttercup's surprise, two injured figures clawed themselves out from the ruins of the collapsed building. Both individuals are covered with dust and debris and their clothing appeared to be heavily damaged, revealing more flesh than before. In the case of the werebear, he is essentially bare naked.

Bubbles took a deep breath before she screeched at the direction of the two unfortunate individuals, causing the earth to crack in the field of her screech. Blossom and Buttercup covered their ears as the volume of the screech increased with intensity. Such was the power of her screech that both unfortunate individuals and the debris that they are half-buried in were propelled off the ground and launched towards the other buildings causing even more collateral damage to the surrounding areas. Several of the buildings started to collapse, while others were partially ruined by the large ruins smashing through.

"Alright Bubbles! That's badass!" Buttercup cheered as her sister regained her powers but her cheers soon went silent when Buttercup saw Bubbles staring at a distance. Buttercup's lime-green eyes trailed to where Bubbles is staring and she saw that Bubbles had spotted Boomer lying down on the ground unconscious. Buttercup was worried for a moment before she noticed Boomer's chest moving up and down and she breathed a sight of relief.

"One down, one more to go." Bubbles' statement rand a cold chill down Buttercup's spine. Buttercup saw Bubbles looking at Boomer with eyes filled with disgust and rage.

Buttercup suddenly recalled what happened when they were kids when she went on her rampages and she almost hurt the Talking Dog. Buttercup turned towards Blossom and the same thoughts were also flashing inside Blossom's mind. Both Blossom and Buttercup saw a visage of Bubbles that they had not seen in a long time, and they are both terrified of what will happen next. It has been ages since they saw Bubbles enraged and when she is enraged, those who stand in her way are often hurt really badly. Without even needing any words or instruction between them, Blossom and Buttercup bolted towards Bubbles and each grabbed one of their sister's arm.

"Let go of me." Bubbles said coldly.

"Crap." Blossom muttered. That is itself is a sign that Bubbles is over the edge in her rage, for she rarely speak to anyone in such a cold manner. Unless she wants to pulverized them. The time she raged against the world in such a manner can be counted with one hand, with fingers to spare. With her powers returned, Blossom is like an ant stopping a human in its rampage.

"Hold it Bubbles!" Buttercup said as she struggled to hold her sister back.

"Enough Bubbles, they're-" Before Blossom can reason with her sister, Bubbles escaped Blossom's hold violently with a yank of an arm. Blossom felt like an ant stopping a human in its rampage. Fortunately for Blossom, Buttercup managed to hold back her sister enough that Bubbles jerked a little. However that relief is short-lived as Buttercup struggled to hold her sister.

"Shit, she's one hundred per cent! I can't hold her back!" Buttercup cried out. Buttercup is clearly not pleased by this development, for Buttercup is still not back at full strength. Her sister on the other hand is in her most optimum strength, and she's lose her grip on her sister. Buttercup shuddered at what Bubbles would do to him in such a state. Blossom hated that she had so little time to think of what she can do.

"Sorry Bubbles!" Blossom apologized before she closed her eyes and hoped for the best. She formed both her hands into a club and slammed it towards the side of Bubbles' neck. The impact caused the blonde Powerpuff Girl to collapse on her knee and her light blue eyes rolled up, revealing only her eye whites. Buttercup's jaw dropped for a moment.

"How'd you-?" Buttercup never expected her superhuman sister to be knocked out so easily, especially with Blossom being only as strong as a human.

"Chinese acupuncture art. Hit a nerve point. Works as long as they're human. Though I will admit it did more on me than it did on her." Blossom panted, and Buttercup saw a patch of blood growing from Blossom's shoulders and both of Blossom's arm swelling. Buttercup moved towards her sister and unbuttoned Blossom's clothes a little to reveal a bandaged body with an increasingly growing blood patch. Buttercup had seen such an injury before but to see it on her sister is almost inconceivable.

"How'd you get shot?"

"Got sniped, though Butch saved me. My shoulder's essentially busted, and it sucks not having our superhuman healing." Blossom tried to joke despite her growing pains. Buttercup focused her attention towards both of Blossom's hands and noticed that both of her hands had bruised badly. Buttercup reasoned that Bubbles' body is still tough enough to withstand such a blow, and it is only through Blossom's precision to hit the nerve point prevented any further issues. Still, to attempt such a move on a superhuman is reckless and stupid. But if a stupid plan works, it is not stupid.

"You're crazy."

"Have to, especially given what we face every day...and what we are facing now." Blossom smiled as her complexion slowly turned paler. Buttercup snickered despite her worries of Blossom's situation. Buttercup lifted her unconscious sister over her shoulders and carried her while helping her other sister up with her other free arm.

"Well, let's move. We need to meet up with the rest asap." Buttercup advised and Blossom nodded her head. But before they moved, Blossom asked Buttercup a question.

"What about your boyfriend over there?" Blossom pointed towards the unconscious Boomer, with a nudge of her elbow on Buttercup's side. Buttercup stared at her sister with an intense glare and immediately kicked Blossom in the shin, causing her to scream out loud and regret her cheeky joke. But Blossom noticed her sister blushing and in a way that is very adorable.

"Shut up Bloss." Buttercup said uncomfortably and definitely not enjoying her sister poking fun at her.

"So worth it." Blossom grinned.


	65. Chapter 65: A Forced Path

Chapter 65: A Forced Path

 _Both Butch and Renée looked at each other as the implication of such a large tremor becomes apparent. It was not long before several more smaller tremors were felt and the sound of explosions reverberating in the room. As the explosions increased with greater intensity, the communication walkie talkie on the table started to become alive with frantic communication and it is obvious for the two person in the room that the whole city is now engulfed in a fight the likes of which the city had never experienced before._

 _"This is the big offensive." Renée pointed out, and Butch is clearly disturbed by how Renée was thinking of the same thing._

 _"They're really going for it?" Butch asked the dark-haired woman._

 _"But night fighting is clearly is not their main strengths." Renée wondered out loud, her eyebrows turning into a deep frown._

 _"Maybe that's the main surprise. No one expected them to attack during the night?" Butch pointed out innocently._

 _Renée was about to respond when the ground rocked violently and a cloud of dust and dirt drizzled on both Butch and Renée. The building continued to rock with every tremor and the tremor is getting more intense the closer they get and the cracks on the walls became more apparent. Soon, the floor below them is trembling so much that it felt that the ground will give way at any moment from the sheer intensity of the offensive._

 _"We need to move." Renée informed and Butch raised his hand._

 _"Tunnel sounds good for now. We better go through the tunnel networks. We will be protected against the bombardments if we are underground." Butch suggested and Renée nodded as she agreed with the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy's suggestion._

 _"Lead the way, Petit Verde." Renée pointed out and gave Butch the responsibility to get them out of their predicament. Butch gave her his best confident smile and moved out from the room._

* * *

 _Right, now I remembered._

Butch tried to remember why he chose the tunnels and the reason alone is why Butch chose the tunnels. The tunnel network littered throughout Aleppo is meant for ease of movement among the rebels for various operations barring mass mobilizations,making the tunnels particularly well-suited to safely evacuate top personnels under heavy fire. However he did not count on a few things when he suggested the idea in the first place.

Butch took a deep breath as he questioned his life choices, especially his particular choice of using the underground tunnels to make their escape.

Firstly,he never used the tunnels before,which make him essentially walking in the tunnel network blind and the only reason why he is able to find the entrance to one of the tunnels is because both Brick and Boomer used it very often and he was forced to act as the distraction/backup to make their plans , the air made breathing a conscious task and the humidity within the tunnel made it even more unbearable as the combined heat of the earth and body heat from their perspiration made their breathing much harder. Thirdly,the ceiling of the tunnel rocked with every dull sound and some of the soil loosened itself and drizzled on Butch and Renée, giving rise to the risk of a tunnel collapse if the area above them was hit by a significantly powerful blast.

 _Stupid me_ , Butch called himself in his mind for failing to take notice of all those factors and also Renée's human with Renée in his grasp and both of them are isolated from the rest of the fighters, all he can do right now is to continue down the dark, dimly lit path. Butch is clearly taken aback by the development of everything that had happened so far, but at the same time it felt like he had experienced such a situation before. Not in a way that he had experienced in the many battles he had participated, but every step and body movement he made is following a macabre script of a dark narrator. Everything turned a darker shade of green,which impeded his navigation through the tunnels.

"Damn." Butch cursed, knowing well that he had no idea what will be his next course of action. At the same time, he had a gnawing thought of what he will be expecting at the other side. He felt that he should take a right within a few minutes time, despite not knowing how to navigate throught the tunnels. Indeed, Butch had never taken the tunnels before and he will not take the tunnels if it not for Renée. Unlike him, Renée is just human and will not survive through all that firepower being unleashed above.

Butch found himself exactly in a junction that only allowed him to go either left or right. He felt that something is leading him to his final destination, and that 'something' gave him much discomfort. He is never one to follow orders unless it was forced upon him and he stared at the right passage for a momen. He will not follow that feeling he had within and pondered for a moment before he attempted to turn left. An explosion was heard echoing through the tunnel and the left passage immediately collapsed, burying his option at once. Butch felt his goosebumps rising at the eerie coincidence and he pulled Renée arm and headed right. As they moved through the tunnels,the dull tremors reverberated throughout the whole tunnel and Butch sensed that the battle above is unlike anything he had experienced before.

The tremors increased with every second and suddenly a cloud of dust and dirt blew towards them, forcing both Renée and Butch to cover their faces with their forearm as they lost their balance. Both individuals braced themselves on the wall, barely preventing themselves from falling directly on the ground. As the dust and dirt stopped flying towards them, they uncovered their faces and saw a light at the end of the tunnel. However Butch noticed that the lights at the end of the tunnel are flickering with a dim reddish-orange light and his worst fears are confirmed.

 _The tunnel had collapsed_ , Butch remarked in his mind as he turned back to see Renée's wanted to call out to see if Renée is fine but a rough cough confirmed her condition.

"I'm fine." Renée's voice is hoarse but otherwise unhurt.

"Looks like they blew off a big section of the tunnel. We have to get to the surface." Butch pointed towards the end of the tunnel.

Renée nodded and both of them started to move towards the light. As they reached the end of the tunnel, Butch and Renée saw the extent of the destruction that collapsed the tunnel. The area that they exited had a steep incline in a shape of a crater with parts of the earth still smoking and burning from the explosion. Unidentified matter are also seen burning or half-buried in the soil. Butch looked upwards and the buildings surrounding the crater did not fare any better. Like macabre torches, the buildings that withstood the explosion are lit with flames. Several more streaks of lights were seen flying past their location before the booming sound of their engines were heard.

"Russians jets." Renée pointed out.

"Shit." Butch cursed again.

"We need to get out from this hole." Renée suggested and Butch took her up on the offer.

Butch stepped out from the hole and seeing that their surroundings are safe for now, he signaled for Renée to exit the tunnel. Slowly but surely,the two individuals climbed out from the crater and as they reached the top their eyes widened at the sight before them.

"Aleppo...it's burning." Renée said with a shocked voice and Butch agreed with her. Whenever they said that Aleppo is burning,they often used it as a figure of speech to show how badly mauled the city is from the fighting. But this time,the city is truly ablaze with columns of fire reaching out to the heavens from a sea of raging fire. The explosions are the the drumming beats of war,and the gunfire erupting throughout the city are the choirs of death. The skies above Aleppo is alight with anti-aircraft fire like droplets of flashing lights while downed aircraft fell like dying fireflies.

"Holy shit." Butch muttered as he saw the destruction before him. The Rowdyruff Boy within him is awed to tears from such an overwhelming sight,but the person within him is horrified by the extent in which humans will kill another being. He was designed to wreak havoc,but Butch personally believed that normal humans can do the job just fine,if not better than the superhuman being itself.

"We need to find a place to recuperate." Renée pointed towards a particular building and Butch nodded his head. The two individuals entered into the building without much incident. The building used to be a restaurant of sorts and there were several intact chairs in the building that they can use to take a rest. With their fatigue coursing through their bodies they took their seats and let their body loose.

"That's really rough." Butch's tiredness expressed itself though his husky voice and Renée gave a weakened chuckle.

"Yeah. Looks like they are using fuel air bombs and ballistic missiles to bombard the city in addition to their normal repertoire of barrel bombs and artillery."

"I wondered where's everyone at. Hope all of us will make it though tonight." Butch made himself comfortable as he stretched his worn-out legs. It was then than Butch noticed something about René Butch, Renée is not relaxing at all. In fact she is much more tense than before,and this is not lost on Butch. Renee is holding her body with her slightly trembling arms and Butch can not just leave Renée in such a vulnerable straigthened himself up before he inquired about what is troubling the mind of the French brunette.

"What's wrong?"

"Butch... is it alright that I tell you a secret? A secret that no one knows?" Renee looked at Butch with sky-blue eyes that are much darker and yet softer than her usual eyes, and Butch nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Do you know where you're from, Butch?" Renee asked, the manner in which she asked is meant to be a figure of speech.

"A toilet in the Townsville Prison Complex." Butch answered without any hesitation, causing Renee to raise an eyebrow. The woman chuckled, and Butch is a little lost as to why she is chuckling. Butch gave out a weak smile, knowing that his origins is never the most logical nor elegant one out there. But it is the truth, and it is a truth that can never be denied. Snips, snails and puppy-dog tails, those are the ingredients that he is made out off, with a dose of a Chemical X-equivalent in a toilet in the Townsville Prison.

"That's rough." Renee shook her head in lighthearted disbelief.

"I guess? Being born in a prison is quite hardcore." Butch shrugged, but he can appreciate the amiable atmosphere being cultivated between both individuals.

"It is, it is indeed."

"What's that gotta do with your secret?" Butch asked.

"I never told anyone this, but...Aleppo's my home."

"Wait...hold on...aren't you French? Aren't you from from that fancy-naming place?" Butch recalled that the sky-eyed woman is from Toulouse.

"Toulouse? Yes, my father's family had been in Toulouse for ages. And I am French. But my father's a Frenchmen and my mother a Syrian. Aleppo is where I was born and raised. We lived in Syria for a very long time and for a time it was good. This place is like home to me, and I can remember every single street and every single building in this area. Alas, we were forced to leave. Forced to leave because my mother was suspected of being a spy against the regime, and a person with a foreign spouse is high on the suspect list. They are forced to seek asylum in France, but deep down, we always considered Syria home. Home."

Butch watched as the woman reminisce about a life that was, a time that could had been her present. Butch did not interrupt Renée despite his desire to ask her what happened. Butch listened on as she leaned back on her chair, her expression turning darker with every moment. The memories within the French commander had turned darker, and the atmosphere around them turned much chillier despite it being a warm August night.

"Still, the Baathist would not let us go. That is how I lost my parents and I became a mercenary. That went on for a few years until the Arab Spring happened. When the wave of the Arab Spring came, I was hopeful that in Bashar's heart he will leave peacefully and allow all those who wanted to return to their ancestral home do so in peace. But that will not be the case. Syria was engulfed in fire and blood, and we are forced to fight for what we want. In my case, this war with Bashar is personal. I will not leave this place." Those words that Renée uttered are the exact words that Butch will not accept. Renée will not die a futile death in this hell, and he will get her out. His expression is not lost on the braided brunette.

"This is no place for someone like you and your brothers. You deserve a better life than this. Long and peaceful lives devoid of war and conflict." The softness of the French woman's eyes contrasts with her message and Butch is clearly not comfortable with this sudden situation.

"We're used to a bad life. We're the Rowdyruff Boys." Butch tried to brush it off, but deep down he is still reeling from Renée's decision to stay. Suddenly, Renée got up and walked towards Butch and embraces him in a hug.

"Never think of your lives as having no value. Promise me that whatever happens, please forgive and keep on living." Renée whispered in Butch's ear.

Butch is now blushing red from the sudden embrace. He had never been hugged by Renée in such a manner before amd he honestly enjoyed this turn of events. Still, Renée's words ringed through his mind and he is not fond of her message. He had a bad feeling about it, for this scene is particularly familiar to him. Butch's mind is trying very hard to remember what it is about this scene that is so familar to him. The sound of a bullet whisking by snapped him from his thoughts and he pushed Renée down just moments before a hail of bullets flew past their heads. Butch retaliated by firing beams from his eyes and the several agonizing screams were heard, causing a brief lull in the firing.

"Cover me!" Renée cried out as she took out her handgun and started running towards the stairs leading up to the upper floor of the restaurant.

"Time to kick ass!" Butch smiled wickedly as he calmly took a stride towards the exit of the building. The bullets are bouncing off his skin as the attackers attempted to mount an effective opposition. Butch exited the restaurant to see what appeared to be several dozen soldiers surrounding the restaurant.

 _How should I kick their asses_ , Butch wondered.

Clearly they did not expect something like Butch to face them. Three of the soldiers fired their rocket-propelled grenades at the Rowdyruff Boy in the attempt to stop Butch in his tracks. Butch formed an energy field in front of him and all the projectile violently exploded as the shield protected him. The futility of the soldier's actions is apparent as the dust dissipates and they saw Butch standing without even a scratch on soldiers aimed their rifles at the dark-haired boy despite knowing that bullets are no match against the Rowdyruff Boy.

A commanding yell stopped the soldiers from firing at Butch. The soldiers and Butch turned towards the source of the yell and an unassuming and plain man in military uniform appeared. The man's movement appeared to be rather stiff and awkward which caught Butch's attention. The man stared at Butch with his gray eyes and Butch is unnerved by his almost lifeless eyes. As Butch surveyed his surroundings, several dozen more unnerving lifeless eyes stared back at him.

"Impressive." The man spoke awkwardly and Butch is surprised at how cool the man behaved despite facing a superhuman.

"I'll make it more impressive when I kick my foot up your ass and send you all the way to Damascus." Butch snarled, but the man is clearly not intimidated at all.

"Renée Delacroix,I know you are in there. Come out. Unless you want me to hurt the little boy." The man threatened, causing Butch to snort.

"Seriously? Do you know what you're-" An orange beam immediately hit the Rowdyruff Boy in the face, causing him to violently turn his head to the left. Butch faced the direction of the attack immediately and he is utterly insulted that he was hit in the face without him realizing it.

"Alright. Maybe I should demonstrate it for you to understand." The man took out his pistol and fired at the Rowdyruff Boy. Butch was wondering what the man was trying to do,but that eerie sensation that he had within him is beckoning him to move his head a little to the right. Butch wanted to refuse, but his body moved at the physical suggestion and he felt a sharp sense of paint cutting through the side of his right cheek. Butch raised his hand to his cheek and as he touched his cheek, he felt a warm liquid trickling down his face.

"Blood?" Butch voiced out his surprise at being harmed by a bullet and suddenly his mind is now on high alert.

"Come out or else I will command my men to fire at the boy. I will count to five. One." The man raised his hand and his men raised and aimed their rifles at the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Two." Butch attempted to fire the beams from his eyes but realized that he is unable to do so. Butch's mind is unable to accept that his powers are gone from a single orange beam.

"Three." As the countdown continued, Butch's heart is now pounding louder than ever before. He will not be able to dodge the bullets in his current situation and he will definitely be dead.

"Four." Butch's eyes are now tearing up in fear for the first time in his life, and his legs are trembling. This is it for him, Butch thought to himself despite wanting to defy his fate.

"Wait! I will come down!" A female voice yelled and all the guns trailed upwards to the upper window of the restaurant.

A sky-blue eyed woman raised her arm with her pistol in woman disappeared from sight and the soldiers are still aiming towards the building and the Rowdyruff Boy for a few minutes. The tense situation became even tenser when the woman appeared from the building. Butch looked back and he saw that Renée is staring at all the soldiers with a defiant look.

"Good. Please unload the bullets from the gun and drop the weapon." The man commanded and to enforce his threat, the sound of rifles being prepared to fire at any moment were heard. Renée emptied her revolver and dropped the bullets on the ground before dropping the gun on the ground.

"Now kick the gun towards me." Renée heeded the man's demand and kicked the gun towards the man. The gun slid towards the man and stopping just a few inches away from the commander of the soldiers.

"Good. Now we can talk." The man waved his hand down and his men immediately lowered their guns. Butch and Renée stared at the man, uncertain of what to make of the situation.

"What do you want?" Renée asked.

"What do I want? It is more to what I need." The man's voice is particularly calm despite his sinister intention that both Butch and Renée can feel emanating from the man.

"Need?" Renée raised an eyebrow, not liking how this conversation is going about. Butch is staring daggers at the man as he clearly hate the man before him right now.

"You've been shot with an Antidote X weapon, and I would suggest that you do not do anything stupid Butch." The man warned Butch, causing alarm in both Butch and Renée.

"How'd you know my name? Answer me!" Butch demanded the man to answer him.

"Hush little one. One thing at a time, one thing at a time. Anyway , you have something I need." The man pointed towards the Rowdyruff Boy and the French woman.

"If this is about the rebels, I'm not giving anything to you." Renée said defiantly despite knowing that she is in no position to retaliate.

"Please...like I care about the rebels. Bashar can die in the hands of the rebels for all I care. This war was engineered to find the last piece of the puzzle, and I found it." The man pointed towards Renée man's reply caught Renée and Butch unaware.

"What do I have that you could possibly need?" Renée is clearly trying to understand the gravity of the situation, but it is clearly something beyond her scope of understanding.

The man took out a flare gun and pointed it up to the man snickered as he pulled the trigger and a streak of reddish-pink flare escaped the flair gun and climbed upwards to the night sky. As the man's snicker turned into a chuckle, Renée eyes widened at the realization of what the signal meant. The chuckle became a hearty laugh and the other men soon joined in the laughter. The disturbing atmosphere of the laughter unnerved Butch, and before he can even think of why the situation is eerily familiar, Butch felt a pull from his collar and his legs went with the flow.

"An airstrike is coming towards our location!" Renée yelled as the laughter from the other men increased in intensity and became hysterical. The rumbling sounds of approaching jets are heard from a distance and Renee pulled Butch under her and protected him with her 's world was engulfed in a bright light, blinding him to his surroundings.

* * *

Brick sensed the defining moment of Renée's death is drawing closer, and his memory is slowly being jogged back to speed. The fate of these civilians are already written on the wall and he knew that he will make a very difficult choice soon enough. Still, Brick's priority is to get back the final shard to make himself whole again and he is convinced that little young Brick is the last piece of the puzzle.

 _How do I even?,_ Brick asked himself as he wondered how all this will play out.

"Brick!" Both Bricks faced the direction of the voice and saw young Boomer landing before them. The sand blonde boy is panting and based on how torn his outfit is, whatever Boomer is about to say is going to be bad news.

"Status report!" Young Brick questioned his brother and Brick watched as his younger self is now visibly worried of what he will be listening to.

 _It's real bad_ , Brick thought in his mind.

"It's real bad." Boomer said, echoing Brick's thought.

 _The entire defense forces were blown to bits_ , Brick thought again.

"The entire defense forces were blown to bits!"

"By what? They can't possibly all die in one sitting!" Young Brick barked at his brother.

 _A big bomb strike. They've blown a few parts of the defense line to weaken us_ , Brick continued in his thoughts.

"A big bomb strike! They've blown a few parts of the defense line to weaken us!"

Brick is impressed that he remembered every single word that Boomer said during that fateful day, and that saddens Brick in more ways than one. Brick knew that the bombs that were dropped on the day were Russian fuel air bombs and a total of fifteen rebel groups were wiped out on the first wave on this fateful day. Unfortunately, Brick knew that the second wave will wipe out their group. That is for little young Brick to discover with his little young brother. What he did not count on is the world being pure green and the cracks in reality are now more like spider webs lining reality.

"Shit. Did you manage to contact Butch or Renée?" Young Brick asked his brother.

"No. You can't contact them. Communication's out for the past half an hour." Brick answered, and young Boomer is now looking at the bandaged man with a frightened and freaked out expression.

"Dude...how'd you know what I'm about to say? And did you just spoke?" Young Boomer is now wary of the bandaged man.

"What's going on? And what's next?" Young Brick is now waiting for his elder self to suggest something and Brick responded by pointing towards a lane.

"We'll need to move to that direction now if we were to have any chance. I'll say all of us will need to get there in fifteen seconds." Brick immediately started running, and both young Brick and young Boomer looked at each other before they followed Brick's lead. The civilians soon trailed behind and the whole group is now a moving mess. All the while,Brick is counting down to the eventuality.

 _Five, four,three,two,one._

Brick ended the countdown as Brick and the two young Rowdyruff Boys entered into the lane, they were all thrown forward by the shockwave of an explosion and a cloud of dust and debris covered the three Rowdyruff Boys. Brick is the first to get up and he looked back to see a column of burning smoke is now rising before him. Young Brick and young Boomer got up on all fours and as they turned around, their eyes were wide in Brick in particular is shocked beyond compare as moments ago, the civilians behind him were alive and now they are gone in a pile of smoke.

"How'd-How'd you-What the?!" Young Boomer turned around and tried to get some answers from but was silenced by something else. This expression is not lost on Brick as he reached for his face and realized that the bandage around his face is no longer there. Young Brick is the next person to turn around and be shocked to the point where he is utterly pale.

"Ah...I'll need to explain this to you guys." Brick scratched his temple, seeing that he lacked cheeks to scratch on.

"Brick!" A voice called and the near-faceless Rowdyruff Boy turned around to see Buttercup carrying Boomer in a piggyback while Blossom is doing the same with Bubbles in a distance. Both Powerpuff Girls drew closer Buttercup and Brick noticed that Buttercup's face had turned much paler when her eyes met Brick's face. Brick decided to ignore Buttercup's stare and focused on the issue on hand.

"Glad that you're safe and sound, Blossom." Brick decided to do with the formalities first with Blossom.

"Not exactly sound, but safe for now. Had to knock Bubbles out or else she's make a mess out of Boomer here. Buttercup's fine so far. " Blossom answered as she pointed her head towards Buttercup.

"Wait...Bubbles? Buttercup? Boomer?!" Young Boomer's questions are being ignored as both red-haired teenagers spoke to each other.

"For my side, I barely got lil' Rowdyruff Boys here from being struck by an artillery shell. That's the best I can do."

"Where are all those people that you're escorting?" Blossom asked and in response Brick pointed towards the crater beside them. Blossom covered her mouth as she saw several charred limbs protruding from the ground.

"As I said,I did my best." Brick showed no emotion as he explained.

"Oh god. Oh god. Ohhh...God. I'm gonna be sick." Blossom expressed her disgust and turned a shade of green. Seeing that Blossom needed help,Brick helped Blossom with her load and let her sprint off to throw up. The sound of Blossom regurgitating is the only other audible sound alongside the sound of burning objects and sizzling sand.

"Seriously, that is so hardcore." Buttercup watched the burning crater filled with charred flesh and dismembered limbs with a macabre interest. But deep down, even she was disturbed by the graphic outcome of people slaughtered in such reckless destruction.

"Indeed." Brick looked back to see Blossom still vomiting nearby.

"Anyway what's with the big black hole on your face? Someone punched you hard enough that it shattered your pretty face?" Buttercup snidely asked the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

"Be polite Buttercup." Brick expressed his exasperation, and the lack of a mouth speaking the words only made it more disturbing.

"Brick, it's hard to be polite when there is no other words to describe your face." Buttercup pointed out, and that made Brick more irritated.

"Seriously can anyone explain what's going on? What's with the names?" Young Boomer's question is ignored once more as Brick continued conversing with Buttercup.

"Boomer and yourself got your powers back somehow." Brick commented, noticing that their clothing had gone through worse days and their bodies appear to not be injured in proportion to their ragged clothes.

"Yeah, though not fully." Buttercup admitted, and the fact bugged her more than it should have.

"Any idea how you got it back?" Brick's curiosity is piqued as it could be a clue on how he will get back his full range of powers.

"Looks like it is related to how complete you guys are. Boomer's is more or less two-thirds complete after two personalities merged to become the Boomer behind me." Buttercup rolled her eyes towards the unconscious hooded Rowdyruff Boy behind her back.

"But Bubbles' back in full force while Brick's face is...well..." Blossom pointed out and essentially announcing her return. The red-haired teenage girl had finally stopped vomiting and she appeared sullen. Blossom stared at Brick's appearance and stopped herself from saying any further about the gaping darkness that Brick called his face.

"I'm just finding the last piece for my face and that's it." Brick informed the Powerpuff Girls.

"Hello? Anyone?" Young Boomer's agitation grew with every moment as he is being ignored by all parties.

"What do you mean 'complete'?" Young Brick finally found the time to interject in the conversation between the teenagers.

"Ouch..." Buttercup turned around to see Boomer regaining consciousness. She knelt down to allow Boomer to get off her back. As Boomer got his bearings back once more, his eyes widen in shock and surprise and he immediately exclaimed out his thoughts without even having the courtesy to filter it for the sake of his own brother.

"Holy...what the fuck happened to your face Brick?" The hooded Rowdyruff Boy is the fourth figure to be grossed out by Brick's face,or to be exact, a lack of one.

"Well, I was getting to that point-" Brick's irritation is growing by the minute, and before he could explain himself the young sand-blonde boy made his presence known.

"What the hell is going on?!" Young Boomer cried out loud, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the sand-blonde boy.

"What the hell is with Mini-me over there?" The hooded Rowdyruff Boy pointed towards his younger self. The younger Boomer's distaste and exasperation is visible on his face.

"Don't call me Mini-me, you damn dick." Young Boomer cursed.

"At least I got one." The elder Boomer retorted.

"Says the one being carried by a girl." Young Boomer rolled his eyes.

"At least I'm being carried by a banging girl,unlike you." The older Boomer said proudly.

"Stop." Both Bricks spoke out at once, and both Boomers went silent. Blossom and Buttercup glanced at each other. It was not long before Buttercup whispered to her sister.

"Feels weird to see two sets of Rowdyruff Boys acting the same way."

"Yeah, it is."

"Though to be fair, I like being called a banging girl for once." Buttercup sneaked a smile. Blossom blinked her eyes for a moment and Buttercup caught on her sister's response.

"You're really clueless aren't you?" Blossom raised one of her eyebrow.

"Clueless about what?" Buttercup asked, raising her own eyebrow in response.

"You really had no idea that people are selling pics of your butt huh?"

"Wait...what did you say about my butt?" Buttercup clearly did not see that line of conversation to come from her sister.

"My head..." Buttercup turned towards the source of the voice and Bubbles slowly opened her eyes while rubbing her head.

"Good morning Bubbles, glad that you're back with us." Buttercup joked, but Bubbles' eyes are now wide open and she looked around for a moment before spotting the elder Boomer on her right. Bubbles immediately struggled and causing Blossom to lose her balance and let her sister go. Within seconds, Bubbles punched Boomer so hard in the face that he slammed right into a wall. The Rowdyruff Boys were caught by surprise over the sudden act of violence.

"You asshole! You touched me with your pee-pee!" Blossom and Buttercup immediately hold each of their sister's arm to prevent her from doing any further attacks on Boomer.

"Shit! I'm sorry alright! Not my fault that I had an arm on each of your sister's boobs and you under me looking all sexy and stuff! That'll turn on any dude!" Boomer shouted back.

"Wait...what did you do to Bubbles?" The voice from the elder Brick is particularly cold and intimidating and everyone felt a dark chill down their spine. Before anyone can react, the hooded teenager was punched in the face by the one-eyed Rowdyruff Boy so hard that Boomer's face caused a crater on the wall. Sensing that things are about to get worse, the two young Rowdyruff Boys immediately held back the older Rowdyruff boy.

"Hold it there Brick! He ain't worth it! You know that!" Young Brick tried to talk some reason to his elder self,though he is not sure why elder Brick is particularly offended by Boomer's action.

"Dude, you don't have to beat him up unless he messed your girl up!" Young Boomer spoke to elder Brick, only for both younger Rowdyruff Boys to hear something particularly disturbing to both little boys.

"He _did_." Brick said coldly, causing Bubbles to focus her attention on Brick.

"I'm your girl?" Bubbles asked, and both younger Rowdyruff Boys looked uneasy over this situation.

"Brick's dating Bubbles?" Young Boomer asked with horror in his voice.

"I'm dating Bubbles in the future?" The same horrified expression appeared on young Brick's face.

" _Alright boys and girls, relax. We need each other right now or else we'll never get out of here_ " A dark voice announced its presence, and Brick stared at his shadow with his only eye.

"What the hell is that?!" Young Boomer cried out.

"Break, where were you?"

" _While you all went on in your high school drama, I did some work. There's some activity a few blocks away. We should leave and see what's up._ " The logic of the shadowy figure is sound, and it is implied that they should focused on more important matters. The Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls were quiet for a moment before they all agreed in their minds that they need to move on.

"Alright. You win Break." Brick answered.

"Fuck you all...my face hurts." Boomer voiced out his displeasure as he finally regained his senses, only for him to be silenced by the combined death stare of all the other Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. Young Boomer on the other hand shook his head in disappointment.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Renée asked Butch as the Rowdyruff Boy opened his eyes once more,only to see Renée's chest above him. Butch immediately panicked and his hands wanted to push her away, but his better judgement adviced against it for his hands will be touching her chest.

"I'm-I'm alright."

Renée politely stood up after hearing Butch's response and she looked around to gauge the severity of the attack. Butch dusted some of the dirt and dust off his shoulders before getting up on his two feet.

"Those crazy bastards called an artillery strike on their location. They must have known that the effect of the weapon they used against you will not last long." Renée suggested, but deep down Butch disagreed with Renée's assessment. Butch remembered something darkly familiar in the eyes of the mad soldiers. The jade-eyed boy remembered their glassy eyes and stiff movements, and more importantly they do not retreat like all the other soldiers when faced with his wrath. Worst of all, the the orange beam had Antidote-X properties for he felt his strength had just left him.

"Butch, are you alright?" Butch snapped out from his thoughts as he heard Renée voice.

"Yeah, just getting my senses back." Butch nodded, but he knew that he lied to Renée. Butch prefer to immerse his thoughts in the flow of the moment but that line of action is causing him to try and connect all the dots.

"Butch, we need to move . The government forces will be bombarding this area again just to make sure everyone is dead."

"Right, let's go." Butch answered, despite not wanting to move from where they are.

Butch and Renée were silent throughout their journey in the war-torn streets of Aleppo. Both had no idea what they wanted to say to each other, and both are unsure of their current course of action other than to meet up with others of their group. But both knew that once they met up with their group, they will need to figure out what they want to do next. Butch in particular believed that barring his brothers, the rest of their group had already met a grisly fate on the battlefield.

"Hold on a second." A hand prevented Butch from walking forward, Renée's eyes clearly disturbed as she looked around the corner. Butch blinked his eye and his vision is soon seeing in multiple spectrum and he saw through the walls to discern what the braided brunette is seeing. Butch saw a convoy of armored vehicles travelling through the street ahead and the dozens of armed men advancing beside the column is enough to give pause to both Butch and Renée.

"That's bad." Butch voices out the severity of the about the way things are going along is forcing him to take certain actions that felt oddly familiar and predetermined. Butch darkly joked to himself that whoever is planning this series of events is a true asshole (The narrator will not confirm nor deny this assumption).

"Allahuakhbar!"

The cry caught the attention of the soldiers and Butch and Renée looked around to determine the source of the cry. Butch stepped forward to peek through the corner and saw a chaotic situation unfolding before his eyes.A fusillade of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades soon rained down on the column, causing the soldiers to seek cover as they returned fire. A large explosion erupted from underneath one of the tanks, lifting the tank several feet in the air before crashing violently towards the ground. A few men ran out from some of the buildings and Butch watched as the soldiers fired on the men. To Butch's surprise, none of the charging men fired back and a few of them were shot down. The few that made it jumped on the closest vehicles or soldiers before they were engulfed in a cloud of fire along with their immediate surroundings.

"What the-!" Butch did not expect those men to blow themselves up with their targets.

"Jihadists." Renée's expression soured as she muttered the words with disgust.

"Those crazies?!" Butch had heard of dark recollections from the other rebels about the Jihadists. They go by many other names and various degree of organization, but they all had one thing in common; they are fanatical zealots that will not hesitate to fight those that are against them, even other rebel groups. The battle appeared to be going towards the Jihadists' favor initially, but something else started to change the battle in the favor of the government forces.

Several orange beams struck the rooftops and windows where the Jihadists were firing from, causing even greater chaos among the fighters. Butch and Renée watched as several blurry figures leaped out from the columns towards the holes caused by the orange beams. Several loud, pulsing, deep-throated growling sounds were heard and it was at this moment that the battle turned much more nightmarish. Butch saw several blurred masses leaping into the buildings while orange beams hit the upper levels of the buildings. Soon enough, men are thrown violently out from the buildings, either by the explosions causes by the orange beam or being thrown out once the blurred objects entered into the buildings. The ambushers were throw out from the buildings with such force that they smashed into the buildings or ground in a splat of blood. Frantic screaming were heard as flashes of fire flickered in the buildings before they were suddenly silenced. Several explosions were heard and seen within each building, with orange beams escaping out from side of the buildings.

Butch saw a man thrown through a brick wall and landed on one of the armored vehicles, and Butch focused his attention towards the thrown individual. The man is mangled beyond recognition, each limb twisted and torn to the point where only a few tendons are what holding the limbs to the body. The body had deep wide gashes and the face of the man is an utter disfigured mess, revealing innards and organs flowing out from the gashes and wounds. Butch is unable to comprehend what could cause such a horrific death, but his burning inquiry was soon answered with one of the building imploding.

A mass of something exited the imploding building and crashed into an armored transport causing the vehicle to topple over from the impact. The vehicle tumbled into one of the buildings while the corpse ricochet towards Butch's and Renée's direction. Both of them barely ducked in time as the massive object chipped part of the corner of the building they are taking cover, flying over their heads and crashed into the wall behind them. As both Butch and Renée turned behind them, they saw a rather surreal sight.

The object that crashed through the wall is a large humanoid object,heavily muscled and covered in a dark brown fur. Its fingers are tipped with claws and it has a ursine-like face. A large,rifle-like object is strapped and aligned to its back. Its chest appeared to be blasted, with the burning smoke of charred flesh escaping from its wounds.

"Is that a werewolf with a freaking laser beam guns on its backs?" But h said his thoughts out loud, and Renée shook her head.

"No, this looks like a bear than a wolf." Renée kicked the humanoid and breathed a sigh of relief once she had determined that the monster in front of them is dead.

"So...its a werebear." Butch suggested, not sure how to make of the situation.

"A Russian werebear." Renée kneeled down and pulled the oval dog tags from its neck and tossed it to Butch. The onyx-haired boy caught the dogtags with one hand and he took a look at the dog tags.

"I can't read this." Butch informed Renée.

"It's Cyrillic. Russian letters." Renée replied.

"So...Russian werebears with freaking laser beams on their backs. Great...how can it get any worse?" Butch said sarcastically before realizing that his sarcasm had bit him back in the butt.

Butch felt a cold hard object touching his head and Renée raised her arms. Butch saw a soldier coming into view before they were led out from the alley they were in towards the center of the convoy. Butch looked up and saw the destruction wrought from the battle moments ago as corpses and injured men were littered everywhere the eye can see. Flames from vehicle wrecks cackled like a dark sinister laughter while the smell of burnt flesh and gunpowder peppered the air like a malignant spice. Butch felt a rifle prod from behind his back and he was force to walk forward. The injured soldiers were pulled away into the armored transport and the living took away the gears of the dead. Several soldiers were seen firing on injured enemies while the least wounded enemy units were taken away for interrogations.

"Ah, greetings." Butch and Renée were greeted by a large burly man with silver-white hair and a military greatcoat draped over his shoulder like a cape and he turned around to reveal pinkish burn scars covering half his face. The man walked up towards Butch and Renée and offered a handshake, which was refused by the two individuals.

"I'll never thought I would see the Hound of Aleppo face to face." Renée voiced her displeasure and sarcasm as her sky blue eyes met with the man's tundra-like eyes.

"I would prefer Colonel Yevgeny Zhukovitch Sergetov of Squad Medved. Much more polite." The man's mannerism is marred only by his heavy Russian accent.

Butch watched as both Renée and the Russian man stared at each other for a few tense moments before a bestial soldiers appeared. The Russian colonel turned around to see the beastman ripping off his fur revealing a lean and well-build human body. Blood splattered on the ground as more of its furry hide were torn away from its body, leaving a mess of hide and skin under the transforming humanoid. A half-naked auburn-haired man is all is left after the outer layers were peeled off with a defined bestial eye. The auburn-haired man saluted before he curtly reported to the Russian colonel. After hearing his report, the Russian commander saluted the man before turning his attention towards Butch and Renée.

"Please follow these gentlemen to that building over there. I will be joining you shortly." The Russian man immediately walked away, leaving them with their two captors. With a prod of a rifle, both Butch and Renée were led towards a nearby building that made Butch particularly uneasy. The building appeared to be a simple cathedral with two magnificent belfries at its facade, but the simplistic beauty of the cathedral was overshadowed by Butch's glimpse of a disturbing shade of green shrouding the building. The uneasiness he felt is almost the exact uneasiness he felt when he is around Blair, but on a much more intense and concentrated level.

Butch understood in his heart that this building will be the building that will decide both Renée's and his own fate.


	66. Chapter 66: Mortal Combat

Chapter 66: Mortal Combat

Young Boomer is as pale as alabaster as they tried their best to digest the gist of the teenagers' conversation. Young Brick took it a little better, but still he not comfortable with the teenager's line of conversation.

It is not every day that a person is told that they were a construct of a dream and they are the possible missing piece of the real person of whom they shared the same identity. The situation is worsened by their future being revealed (rather rudely I might say) to them and the Powerpuff Girls are in their world to save them from themselves before everything is lost. A constant topic that is being brought up in their conversation is the idea that the two elder Rowdyruff Boys are 'incomplete' and that they need to find the missing pieces to become whole again.

And the pieces left are the two young Rowdyruff Boys.

"So what you're saying is that these two Rowdyruff Boys are the missing pieces?" Blossom pointed towards the two young Rowdyruff Boys. Blossom is clearly finding the idea of making the boys whole again by merging them with each other weird.

"Unfortunately we can't just merge at will. There's a need for a catalyst for it to happen." Brick mentioned as he wrapped his face back with a cloth he found nearby.

"That's a tough pill to swallow." Young Boomer voiced out his thoughts on the matter, an opinion shared with his brother.

"It's rough, I know." Young Brick consoled his brother. The situation did not give the boys much of a choice as to what they can do in their given situation, seeing that their actions will not be in the boys' best hooded Rowdyruff Boy sympathized with their apprehension as he is a product of a merger between two versions of himself.

"So Blossom, any ideas?" Bubbles asked her copper-haired sister.

"First thing first would be to find out where Renée and Butch will be when 'that' happens." Blossom felt a great distaste in her mouth as she mentioned the event that will happen to the Rowdyruff Boys.

"We know where it is, but reaching the location will be really tough. Tonight's is one of the heaviest fighting of the battle and there's no telling what will happen to us given we are all in various stages of vulnerability. We need to stick together or we'll never see the light of day again." Brick said as he pointed towards a particular direction.

"So what are we waiting for?" Buttercup asked before Brick held up an arm to stop her.

"Five, four, three, two, one." Brick counted down and the view of the direction where he is pointing at flashed with white lights and explosions. The flames that ignited from the area is burning a bright luminescent white.

"White phosphorus. Will melt the skin and lungs out from those not protected against it. We need to move carefully less we ended up in pieces, in crisps or riddled with holes." Brick beckoned the rest to follow his lead and the rest soon followed him, seeing that there is not much of a choice to begin with.

Time passes by slowly as the group navigated through the war-torn city. Bubbles had the most difficult time navigating through the city as her dress is not suited to traversing a war-torn battlefield. Her sisters did their best to help her whenever possible, but they can only do so much as her clothes made her movements awkward at times to prevent the boys from peeking at her at a particularly embarrassing angle.

"Let's enter in there." Brick pointed towards a building and they soon made their way towards the building. The four-storey building is surprisingly intact given the state of the other buildings surrounding it and Boomer moved ahead of the group to scout the building. Boomer entered into the building and as the group waited for a few tense moments, Boomer popped his head from one of the windows on the fourth floor with a thumbs up.

Brick gave the signal for the Powerpuff girls to move into the building and as each member of their group entered into the building, he made sure to make a head count just in case. The group made their way up the staircase to the upper floors to rendezvous with Boomer, and so far Brick is glad that there is no incident yet.

 _R-RIP!_

 _I stand corrected_ , Brick thought to himself when his ears picked up on the ripping sound.

"My dress!"

The boys' eyes are inevitably drawn to Bubbles and they soon found out what happened to Bubbles. A part of her dress is caught on one of the exposed steel bar from a wall, revealing her her legs, hips, and part of her exposed chest and shoulders. Brick is particularly drawn to the color of her pure white undergarments, now a little dirtied by the dirt from the battlefield and with her usual pigtails now let loose, Brick understood why his brother had his boner when he was on top of her. But he will need to keep on moving or else-

"Sorry Bubbles, but we have to rip the dress." Buttercup warned her sister as she inspected the severity of the wardrobe malfunction.

"Noooo! I'll be in my bra and panties if you-Eeeekkkk!" Bubble shrieked as Buttercup pulled her sister away,causing the whole dress to tear apart.

The involuntary stripping proved to be Brick's undoing as he tripped on one of the steps and his attempt to regain his balance only served to further unbalance the red-haired boy. Brick crashed into Bubbles and both of them fell down on the ground.

"Damn..that hu..." Brick looked up only to see Bubbles in a rather compromising position above him, with her arms on his chest and her breast directly in his line of view. Brick tried to look away from her breast by looking down but he was greeted by the sight of her hips touching his own in a rather erotic fashion. Flustered by the sight, he looked away and looked upwards only to see Bubbles looking down with her hair let down and her zircon-colored eyes staring at Brick rather intensely.

Bubbles is unable to react as she watched the boy looking up at her with the same intensity and a mewling sound came out from the corners of her mouth as her cheeks turned bright red. Her mind blanked out as she recognized the sensation and her eyes started to tear up. Buttercup saw her sister's expression and immediately stomped on Brick's face,causing Bubbles to squeal at the sudden show of violence.

"You red-eyed pervert! And that goes for all you boys as well!" Buttercup yelled at Brick as she lifted her leg from his face.

"I can't get married anymore!" Bubbles covered her breast with her arms, but tightly hugging her chest only served to make them more is reluctant to believe that her sister's accidental striptease will be an issue, but yet it is happening right now as the younger Rowdyruff Boys are now gawking at the blonde Powerpuff Girl.

Blossom shook her head as she stepped forward . She empathize with her sister's situation but at the same time she is glad that she is not wearing a dress in this dream world. As she lifted her blonde sister from Brick, she saw a bulge on Brick's pants and knew what happened. Even though Blossom empathize with Brick's situation, but her sister needed a different kind of encouragement. Blossom glared at Brick for a moment as Brick's eyes trailed on Blossom with Bubbles in her arms.

"Brick, I know it's an accident, but I need to do this." Blossom apologized.

"What happe-ooowwwwdaaayyuuummm!" The hooded Rowdyruff Boy appeared only to be greeted by Blossom kicking Brick's manhood. The young Rowdyruff Boys winced as they imagined the pain in their groin. Brick's face turned red as he realized that his superhuman durability has not returned and he felt a sharp jolt of pain from Blossom's attack.

"Ouch...Blossom, you're nasty." Buttercup contorted her face as she saw Brick's expression of unimaginable pain.

"It's an accident and Brick didn't mean to do that. But as a sister I am obliged to deliver a sense of camaraderie." Blossom commented on her actions.

"T-thanks? But you don't have to be so...mean...to Brick..." Bubbles is conflicted over her sister's action. Blossom in turn voiced out the most insignificantly pressing matter for the moment.

"We need to find Bubbles some clothes or she will end up with nothing to wear."

"What's wrong with having no clo-Owww!" Young Boomer was hit in the head by the younger Brick.

"Dumbass! Do you really want to get your balls kicked by three girls?" Young Brick hissed. Young Boomer turned pale as he imagine the possible world of pain that he will be in.

"I can hear that." Buttercup is not pleased that the boy's perverted nature are flashing like neon lights. At the same time, she was a little jealous that her sister is drawing the boys' undivided attention.

"Still, where can we find clothes in this juncture?" Blossom looked around to find something that she can drape over Bubbles. Her eyes spotted a tablecloth on a ruined table beside her and Blossom pulled the table cloth. Bubbles looked at the table clothe for a moment and looked back at her sister. Bubbles' bright blue eyes are reluctant to use the table cloth as makeshift clothings, but Blossom's rose-colored eyed looked back at her sister and her eyes are telling Bubbles that it will have to do. Bubbles sighed, for she know that the tablecloth is a better alternative as compared to running around a war-torn city in her undergarments. Bubbles took the cloth and grumbled as she wrap the cloth around her, and Blossom shrugged.

"Guys...guys...help..." Brick's hushed voice as he hold his groin sneaked through their conversations. It was at that moment that Boomer returned to see his brother on the floor. Boomer rushed up to his brother and helped him up.

"I feel you bro, it ain't your fault that you groped her." Boomer comforted his brother, expressing his empathy for his unfortunate situation.

"How'd..you?" Brick expressed his surprise for Boomer had not seen anything and no one told the sand blonde Rowdyruff Boy about what happened. Boomer however is adept enough to piece together the sequence of events that caused his brother to be kicked in the nuts based on the way the conversations between all the parties is currently going about and their expressions.

"It's okay. I know." Boomer experienced such a situation a few hours ago and he will have to admit that having a beautiful curvaceous woman in any compromising situation have that 'effect' on men.

"Seeing how our group is in this moment in time, we should take a rest here." Young Brick made his suggestion known and no one wanted to object to his suggestion.

A sudden rumbling sound woke up the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys. The boys and girls looked around to discern the sound of the noise, but the rumbling sound is soon accompanied by sound of screeching metal and marching boots. Young Butch edges closer towards the window and his crimson eyes had spotted something.

"What's -" Blossom was cut off by the young red-headed boy.

"Hush!" The young Rowdyruff Boy hissed and Blossom decided to come closer towards the window.

"Ah." Blossom understood why the young Rowdyruff Boy cut her off; A convoy of armored vehicles is visible the road below them flanked by several dozen advancing soldiers.

"An armored battalion. Looked like the normal rank and file of the government forces." Young Brick informed Blossom.

"Shit...they're really pressing on their offensive." Young Boomer whispered his concern as he popped behind Brick and Blossom.

"Either that or they are reinforcing a pivotal battle in the city." The elder carnelian-haired boy answered as he leaned against the wall next to the window.

"What about those guys?" Buttercup pointed towards a small group of men that stood out from the rest. The half-naked mens' pale skin stood out from their beige-skinned Middle Eastern allies, along with their unique equipment. Attached via a harness, a long, rectangular object protrude from the square box from their back with wires trailing towards their mouth and a square box behind their back.

"Don't know, but don't want to mess with them." Boomer answered as he watched the situation from another window. Blossom nodded as is not interested in being hurt any more than necessary, especially when she is the only one lacking any form of superpowers.

A cry was heard and immediately the sound of gunfire erupting on the convoy,with the armored vehicles and soldiers started firing back. An armored vehicle suddenly exploded and it lifted up in the air for a moment before landing down once more erupting further in incoming fire forced the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys to duck down from the incoming fire.

"What the f-"Buttercup was about to complete her sentence when several more explosions are heard.

"We're in the middle of an ambush!" Brick yelled.

"Great! Just great! As if this situation couldn't get any worse!" Buttercup yelled back amidst the deafening exchange of the battle they are inevitably stuck in.

A sudden chorus of loud, pulsing, deep-throated growling sounds are heard and Buttercup immediately took a peek and saw a surreal sight. The half-naked men soon started to tear off their own skin, revealing a coat of brown fur beneath their skin. Buttercup watched as the half-naked men turned into hulking brutish furry humanoids with ursine-like heads,and soon the monsters crouched down on all fours, the square pipe-like object aligned behind their back perfectly and within a split second later a crimson beam escaped from the pipe.

"Holy shit!" Boomer cried out as the orange beam made contact with one of the buildings and the floor of the building that was hit by the beam exploded in a spectacular fashion. Several of the monsters soon jumped into the buildings, the frantic screaming and firing from all quarters only intensified the chaotic nature of the battle.

Blossom and Brick dodged in time as something flew into the window and violently tumbled towards Bubbles. Bubbles screamed as she saw what had tumbled before her. Buttercup rushed towards her screaming sister and as she closes in on her sister, Buttercup looked at the object before expressing her disgust. Buttercup turned back to see a trail of dark liquid from the object towards the window where it came from.

"What was that?" Blossom looked down on herself and realized that she is partially covered with a dark, warm liquid.

"What do you think it is?" Buttercup said sarcastically as she brought her sister closer towards where the rest of the group were. Blossom saw a visibly disturbed blue-eyed sister in the arms of Buttercup before her eyes noticed a badly mangled corpse.

"Sorry." Blossom apologized despite knowing that it is not her fault to begin with.

"We've got company!" Young Boomer called out as the sound of footsteps were soon echoing up the staircase even as the fighting continued unabated.

"We've got no time for that!" Boomer fired a pair of electric blue beams from his eyes towards the staircase causing part of the staircase to collapse on itself. Several frantic shouting were heard and Brick moved from the window towards the bloodied object on the ground before picking it up with one arm. Brick ran towards the staircase with the mangled body and was greeted with a hail of bullets. Brick hurled the body with all his might down the staircase and his bloodied projectile made hard contact with the attackers. Brick looked towards the ceiling of the staircase and fired two crimson beams and the whole staircase collapsed violently.

"Well, that came back at an appropriate time." Brick commented as his eyes glowed.

"That's hardcore." Buttercup is impressed with Brick's action under fire. Brick fired his beams once more towards the wall and the wall exploded violently.

"We need to move! Mini-mes, forward position! Black Panther! Now!" Brick's command is immediately obeyed by the other Rowdyruff Boys and the two younger Rowdyruff Boys immediately flew into the breach that Brick made. Boomer and Brick ran towards the breach and Brick signaled for the Powerpuff Girls to enter.

The Powerpuff Girls ran into the breach and saw young Brick and young Boomer punching and kicking everything that is in their way. Boomer dashed into the fray and was involved in the chaotic melee happening before their eyes. One of the men even managed to grab on Boomer before Boomer threw the man towards the ceiling. Amidst the chaos, the men that they attacked are also firing at each other as well as the Rowdyruff Boys. Blossom immediately understood the situation that they had inadvertently entered into.

"Bubbles! Buttercup! Formation Sugar Alpha With Snipps and Puppy Dog-tails!" Blossom shouted and Bubbles and Buttercup realized the gravity of Blossom's command. To the Powerpuff Girls, that order means one thing and one thing only; everything else other than the Rowdyruff Boys are hostiles.

"Alright, let's do this!" Buttercup smirked as she let Bubbles go and rushed forward, knowing that Blossom had given her the green light to do whatever she liked as long as they are in her way.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Bubbles protested but was soon face to face with a bearded man in a rifle pointed at her. Bubbles yelped as she instinctively slapped his arms, causing the bearded man's arm to fold around his body as the gun was fired. Blossom rolled to avoid the gunfire, and the bearded man is screaming in agony as the pain from having his arms broken in more places than it is humanly acceptable.

"Aaaaaaaiiiiieeeeeeeee!"

"I'm so sorry!" Bubbles shrieked as she apologized. The bearded man is soon punched in the face by Buttercup and the punch knocked him out.

"Keep on moving Bubbles!" Buttercup barked.

Blossom on the other hand had just stopped her rolling and is soon lying down face to face with two men. She did not even bother to look at their facial features nor clothing to identify them and with all her might she kicked them up their groin. Both men fell on their knees before Blossom grabbed both their heads and slammed their temples together. Using the two men as support, Blossom got up and pulled both men's face to her knees breaking their noses. She let go of both men as they collapsed beside her and she sniffed around only to lift her palms up to her face and realized the sour smell.

"Urgh...you guys stink."

"Watch out!" Brick tackled Blossom down just seconds before a hail of bullets flew pass their heads. Brick fired off his crimson beams towards the ceiling, causing the whole structure to collapse on a few of the soldiers.

"Thanks." Blossom thanked Brick as she got up.

"No prob-" Brick was interrupted by a rifle butt shattering as it hit him in the head. Brick rolled his eyes before turning around and delivering an uppercut to the man that had just attacked him. A loud cracking sound is heard and the man collapsed on the ground. Brick immediately shielded Blossom with his body before a whistling sound marked the arrival of a projectile. A thundering sound erupted in the building and the building rocked as the whole floor is engulfed in a carpet of dust and rubble. There was a moment of silence before several coughing sounds are heard.

"Everyone alright!" Brick called out.

"Here." Young Brick is the first one to answer.

"Yeap." Boomer answered.

"Bleh! Rubble in my mouth!" Young Boomer spat out to clear his mouth of debris.

"I'm alright." Buttercup rose up from some of the rubble and she dusted the dust off her.

"Not again!" Bubbles shrieked as she realized that she is once again near shirtless.

Brick realized immediately that Blossom have not answered and he looked down to see Blossom is stiff as a rock.

"Pinkie? PINKIE!" Brick rocked her body, fearing the worst. The slender body moved and as her body rose up. Brick saw Blossom's dust-covered face.

"That's intens-ACHOO!" Blossom answered as she sneezed. Blossom turned red as she saw that she sneezed right at Brick's face.

Brick disappeared in a flash and it took a few seconds for Blossom to register that Brick was tackled by something. The same realization also dawned on the other Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls as they saw Brick slamming against the wall with such force that the building rocked itself. Brick tried to make sense of what happened but suddenly finding himself staring at jaws filled with sharp, pointed teeth.

That is all Brick need to know that he is in trouble.

A large clawed hand clamped on Brick's face before hurling him away from the wall towards Blossom. Blossom is unable to react in time and she received the full brunt of Brick slamming into her. Both teenagers are lifted off the ground and are speeding towards the gaping hole of the building. Brick and Blossom experienced a sudden change in trajectory as something slammed into them from their left and they soon tumbled down on the ground a few rounds before stopping.

"You alright Bloss?" Blossom recognized the voice of her husky sister.

Blossom felt a sharp pain on her shoulder and her eyes trailed towards the source of her pain. Her shoulder injury had became worse as the stain grew larger. Blossom's rose-colored eyes moved away from her worsening wounds to the thing that attacked Brick. A hulking fur-covered humanoid is on all fours, with a large rectangular pipe-like barrel aligned parallel with its body. The dark brown coloration of the monstrous being is contrasted by the ivory-like teeth and fangs of the beast, each fingers and toes are tipped with large black claws. The ursine features of some of its musculature and appearance is contorted in a grotesque display with its human features.

"Great. A werebear." Buttercup is clearly not pleased by the development of this situation. The barrel glowed and Blossom and Buttercup were suddenly pulled down towards Brick's chest as an orange light escaped from the barrel, both their heads landing on Brick's chest.

"Correction; A werebear with a beam cannon strapped on it." Brick said as he helped both Powerpuff Girls up, before they in turn helped him up.

"Screw you Brick." Buttercup groaned as she realized that the Rowdyruff Boys have a certain way to point out the obvious in the most inopportune of time.

The trio focused their attention towards the beastman. The beastman rose up to its full height, its head almost touching the ceiling. The monstrous being walked up towards the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls with a snarl etched in its bear-like jaws. The attention of the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls on the approaching enemy were disrupted by a wall bursting apart and a body of a man in a balaclava skidded between them. The Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls turned towards the hole in the wall, and to their misfortune another monstrous bear-like humanoid entered into the breach. Both werebears looked at each other and snarled at each other before facing the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls.

"Shit." Boomer cursed.

"Double shit." Young Boomer emphasized as he pointed towards a few of the other men that they were fighting against are also getting up and trying to get their bearings.

"Any bright ideas Blossom?" Buttercup asked her copper-haired sister.

"Just one. Buttercup, smash!" Blossom answered loudly before wrapping her arms around Brick's neck.

Buttercup immediately slammed both her fist on the ground causing the floor below them to fracture and part under the impact of her blows. The floor gave way and the men screamed as they fell along with the collapsing ground. The werebears also fell down with the floor and Brick barely grabbed on Buttercup by the back of her. The other Rowdyruff Boys and Bubbles levitated as the floor caved in on itself.

"You crazy bitch." Brick gave Blossom a dark smile as he saw the floors below continued on collapsing.

"Brick!" Blossom protested, but is soon silenced by the red-eyed Rowdyruff Boy.

"My compliments to the chef." Brick answered Blossom as he turned to face Bubbles. Bubbles noticed Brick looking at her and her face contorted into an expression of both embarrassment and anger as she covered her chest and crossed her legs.

"Stop looking at me." Bubbles is not pleased that her is nearly naked once more.

"This structure's not gonna hold. We need to get out of here." Brick informed as he hovered out towards the hole in the building. Blossom's caught on something lunging out from the dust cloud below towards them.

"Brick watch out!" Blossom warned as the werebear swung a clawing arm towards Brick's chest.

Brick is visibly annoyed by the approaching werebear and his eyes started to glow pure crimson. The beams from both his eyes combined into a dark red beam and blasted the beastman straight in the chest, causing an extreme explosion as it made contact. What remained of the beast descended towards an armored vehicle and crashed into the vehicle, causing the vehicle to violently crumple in the middle with the smoking remains of the werebear firmly jammed into the unfortunate vehicle. Brick is extremely satisfied by his concentrated beam attack, but soon regretted his decision as all the guns and cannons are trained on Brick and Blossom.

Will it be enough to stop us, Brick wondered as he glanced back at the rest of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. Brick blinked his eyes in a controlled manner to the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls, hoping that they are able to see his blinking as he scanned his surroundings.

 _Float down and when you reached the bottom, wait for my signal. Tell the rest if they don't know_ , Young Brick immediately picked up on the bandaged teenager's message.

 _What about you and Pinkie_ , Young Brick blinked back causing Brick to give a small smile.

 _Pinkie and I will distract them for the time being_ , Brick answered back.

 _But Pinkie's vulnerable_ , Young Brick voiced his concern.

 _I've got an ace up my sleeve. Trust me on this_ , Brick replied and Young Brick is forced to trust his elder self in this situation.

 _What's the signal_ , the young red-haired boy asked.

 _You'll know what it is_ , Brick blinked back and gave a small, sly smile.

Young Brick nodded before he tapped Bubbles and Buttercup on the shoulders before whispering to them. Young Brick turned towards the two Boomers and noticed that both of them are already descending down towards the ground. Young Brick, Bubbles and Buttercup descended soon after. Seeing that they got the plan, Brick turned towards the armored column and decided to make a spectacle out of it. Brick spoke in his best Arabic, making sure his voice is loud enough for all to listen to.

"This is a little too much to face two teenagers isn't it?"

"Teenagers? More like demons!" One of the soldiers answered back in fear. Brick smirked as he knew the soldiers will not fire recklessly at him as they saw him neutralizing one of the bear-like monster.

"A demon am I? Then, a demon I shall be!" Brick roared.

Blossom felt a chill down her spine and her heart started to beat harder and faster. A certain sense of dread gnawed in Blossom's subconscious and cold sweat broke out throughout her whole body as an overwhelming pressure pressed on her. One by one, the soldiers collapsed on the ground like marionettes having their strings cut as the dreadful feeling grew to a feverish pitch inside Blossom. Suddenly the whole hellish atmosphere disappeared, causing Blossom to finally take in a breath of air that she had forgotten in take in this dreadful situation. Blossom's chest rose up and down rapidly as she tethered on the verge of a panic attack.

"They've got no heart." Brick said out loud and he slowly descended with Blossom in tow. Blossom looked behind her and saw both her sisters and the two Boomers emerging from the building that they hid inside.

"Could have warned us all before you pulled that stunt." Boomer voiced his displeasure as he pulled back his hood. The group gathered around and before anyone could say anything, Blossom blurted out the thought in her mind.

"What the hell is that?"

"Trade secret." The voice of Brick's shadow answered sarcastically. Blossom stared at the dark shadow as it formed and a head-like orb floating on Brick's shoulders. As Bubbles came closer to her sister, she gave Blossom her best shrug.

"Oh, that's Brick's dready aura." Bubbles answered while looking around for something to cover her body.

"His what?" Blossom is clearly not getting what her blonde sister is saying for it make no sense to Blossom. Buttercup raised an eyebrow as she realized that her sister had not see Brick in combat before since the boys returned to Townsville.

"Should see it when he made people screaming insane with horror and clawing their eyes out from just seeing Brick." Buttercup patted Blossom on the shoulder, and Blossom paled a little trying to imagine the scene in her mind. Buttercup soon saw that her copper-haired sister is now trying to put even more pieces into her mind. Blossom's thoughts ran wild and Buttercup reckoned that it is because her sister is trying to logically simulate how much fear it needs for people to dig their eyes out. Buttercup's feet suddenly kicked on something and she looked down to see something that would help her other sister out.

"Oh look Bubbles, I found some clothes that's your size!" Buttercup bend down and pulled up an unconscious male soldier. Bubbles looked at the man first before she turned her attention back at Buttercup, her eyes in disbelief and disgust.

"Buttercup, you don't expect me to wear that." Bubbles pointed towards the unconscious soldier, whose appearance looked much less palatable than Bubbles is comfortable with. Buttercup shrugged as she saw her sister's discomfort.

"Better that than being one clothing item away from being truly naked." Buttercup said with a smile, but there is a sense of darkness in her tone. Bubbles wanted to be angry at her sister, but at the same time her sister had a point. A point that she hates as being the truth. Bubbles grabbed the man away from her sister, and stared sharply at her sister for a moment before walking away grumbling.

Buttercup turned her attention back towards Blossom and noticed Blossom is in her 'deep thought' look. It is easy to recognize solely because Blossom had her right hand on her chin, her rather unique frown that she sport on only when she is thinking about something really deep. Buttercup reckoned that it is time for her to snap her sister out of her thoughts before she burned herself out. Blossom had burned out before just being in her thoughts, and this is not the time for it. Buttercup swung her hand and slapped Blossom in her good shoulder, causing the rose-eyed girl to yelp.

"What was that for?!" Blossom scolded her sister.

"Don't think too much about it. We don't need a burnt-out Powerpuff Girl we need to change that bandages anyway." Buttercup smirked.

"Buttercup, good thinking." Brick complimented Buttercup, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Think about what?" Buttercup asked, quizzed on when she even suggested anything to Brick.

"Alright everyone, pick the uniforms from those soldiers and get dressed. It will be easier for us to move around the city. At the meantime, I'll check on the BMP and start it up." Brick heads off towards one of the armored vehicles while Buttercup realized what she had done.

"This sucks. C'mon Blossom,time to dress your wounds and dress you up." She held on Blossom's shirt and pulled her towards one of the unconscious medics she had spotted with her eyes.

* * *

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup sat quietly as their transport drove on the roads of the embattled city. Blossom is still coming to grip with their actions that they had taken half an hour ago; the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls had clad themselves in the uniforms and wargears of the Syrian army and are now commandeering a captured transport. The boys seemed to know how to crew the vehicle with the younger Brick on the wheel while the elder Brick and Boomer are sitting in the turret. That leaves young Boomer sitting with the other Powerpuff Girls, but he is now taking a nap.

Blossom looked on her slung arm and bandaged hands and was initially surprised that Buttercup had skillfully applied first aid on her. Blossom soon recalled that Buttercup was the vice president of the mixed martial arts club and Buttercup must have seen enough injuries in the club to know what to do when one of her club members were injured.

 _Buttercup always had something up her sleeves_ , Blossom thought to herself.

"Everything okay back there Pinkie?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl through Blossom's headset.

"So far, so good." Blossom answered.

To be honest, the cramped compartment and the less than stellar suspension is making her a little nauseous. Combined with her injuries, Blossom is less comfortable than she would like as the nausea and the dull pain is overwhelming her tried to think of mathematical solutions to solve in order for her to take her mind off the uneasy motions of the vehicle crossing over various bumps, potholes and anything in between. The same sentiments were shared with her sisters, as each tried to cope in their own way. Buttercup closed her eyes and went into a sort of peaceful meditation as her fingers touched rhythmically with her thumb. Bubbles covered her mouth as she tried her best to not be taken over by her sudden motion sickness.

"Pinkie, can I ask you something?" Brick inquired, and Blossom is a little surprised by the amiability of the Rowdyruff Boy. Blossom looked around and Blossom and Buttercup appeared to be far too detached or occupied with their own activities to notice the conversation between both of them. The other Rowdyruff Boys appeared to stay out from their conversation for the time being.

"Fire away." Blossom gave the green light for Brick to ask his question, not sure if whatever he is about to ask is appropriate for their siblings to listen to.

"It's okay, this channel is between us only. You and I got the APC and troop leader headsets." Brick reassured the Powerpuff Girl.

"This situation that we're in...is there any chance of us going home, Pinkie?" Brick paused for a moment, and appear to be waiting for Blossom to give her two cents on the odds of them getting out of their present living nightmare. Blossom thought hard for a moment, for she had no idea of what exactly Brick wanted to hear. Does he want something more positive? Does he want something more pragmatic? Or does he want her most pessimistic view? Blossom decided that Brick deserved to know her honest opinion.

"Honestly, I don't know." Blossom is not sure if that is a good enough answer for the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy, but his snicker signaled that it is the right choice.

"Fair enough. Though I have to ask; how did you girls get into our dreams anyway?" Brick had always wondered how the Powerpuff Girls are able to enter into their inner sanctums, and how their own minds knew that they are not constructs of their own imagination.

"We've got our contact." Blossom chuckled. Brick clearly did not expect such an attractive chuckle to come out from the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.

"Might have to get that contact number one day huh?" Brick sounded more candid than usual.

"He's a little hard to get to." Blossom playfully informed Brick.

"Your buddy would be a great help if he could get us out from here." Brick's voice turned a little more melancholic, and it is not lost on Blossom. Blossom hesitated for a moment, but she decided that now will be the right time to ask Brick about the burning question in her mind.

"Brick...why...why can't you all get out from your dreams?" Blossom's question is greeted by a long pause with a slight static buzz, and Blossom wondered if she had touched a sensitive nerve.

"Pinkie, maybe...just maybe, we don't want to. We want to wallow in our own self-pity. Our own self-apology. Our own self-ignorance. Our own self-hatred. Especially the last one." Brick took a deep breath, as if to calm his own nerves about his own insecurities. A sound from the background announced Boomer's presence, but the other Rowdyruff Boy said nothing and Brick continued on.

"We don't get to see eye to eye with our inner demons, Blossom. But yet, here we are. Trapped in a cage where we kept our darkest, deepest and most repressed secrets and forced to face them again and again. Each one of us holds a demon within, but how it manifest itself is something we are reluctant to admit nor face. Don't you agree Blossom?" Brick inquired, to which Blossom can only listen in silence for she empathize with her counterpart. Blossom often finds herself struggling to reconcile her true feelings and her outward appearance, and these discrepancies often waged a covert war within herself.

"I'll take that as a yes." Brick chuckled darkly.

"But you have to face them someday don't you?" Blossom asked, not wanting to prod too deeply on what haunted the Rowdyruff Boy so much.

"We do have to face them. Yes, we do have to face them. But our inner demons are devious that way. They will not capitulate. No, never. They may be confronted, but if they were, they will drag a world with us- a world in flames. Such a bitter pill to swallow. Such a painful pill to swallow." Brick immediately laughed, his hearty laughter is particularly dark.

"What's so funny?" Blossom is clearly confused over Brick's sudden shifting moods, or to be exact his dark humor.

"Keeping a moral compass in the light of a dark and unforgiving world is a nice idea to have if you have what it takes to be above it all. But not everyone can avert their eyes from the abyss nor control themselves to not become monsters, Pinkie." Brick retorted.

"Then what lights up the abyss and keep the monsters at bay, Brick?"

"My brothers. Bunch of dumbasses, but what I would do to keep them by my side."

"HEY!" Boomer chided, not pleased that he was called a dumbass.

"Relax you idiot, I'm complimenting you." Brick sighed, but his voice is a little more relaxed than before.

The Rowdyruff Boy's interaction reminded Blossom of her own interaction with her sisters. Seeing the oddly similar interaction, Blossom chuckled and Brick is a little surprised by Blossom's reaction. Honestly, Blossom had a laugh that he finds rather relaxing to hear. Still,Brick is rather surprised by how open he is with Blossom given their almost lifelong rivalry. Brick had expected something more antagonistic but Blossom had been a great listener. Blossom spoke once more through the headset.

"Brick, those scars will take a while to heal,but it will heal to a certain extent. Of course it will never be the same again for each wound doesn't heal one hundred per cent-"

"But...we have regenerative powers." Brick interrupted before Blossom shushed him.

"Emotional scars,Brick. Seriously, I expected you to be smarter than that. Anyway, what I meant was...I mean...They hurt from time to time, or they may even keep you up at night. But. Your scars are marks of the paths you make on your way to be your present you. They may fade, but they will still be there. Each scar tells a story,and hopefully you can tell people about those stories and hopefully it will bring back some good memories as well. To make the bitter memories sweeter and the painful ones more pleasurable." Brick found Blossom's opinion elegant in its delivery,meaning and interpretation for he had never thought of his memories as being both bitter and sweet at the same time. However, as Brick entered deeply into his thoughts he inadvertently stopped conversing with Blossom.

"Brick?" Blossom's voice is filled with concern as Brick did not answer her back. A different voice answered her instead.

"Relax Blossom," Boomer informed the Powerpuff Girl, "He's not mad. He's just thinking about something you said."

"Thanks Boomer."

"Personally I believe in what you said Blossom. Took that advice close to heart myself." Boomer expressed his support.

"Good to know."

"Anyway,try to get some rest. When we're nearby the area we'll give the morning call." Boomer suggested, and the headset soon stopped transmitting. Blossom decided to take Boomer up on the offer and as she closed her eyes,she hoped that whatever she said to Brick will help the Rowdyruff Boy in his quest to seek inner peace.


	67. Chapter 67: Race Against Time

Author's note: Hello everyone and a Happy Lunar New Year to those that celebrate it (I know I do!). I was having a holiday with my family in Egypt and therefore was unable to write up a chapter during those time ( though to be fair I often write several chapters in advance and just posting them at my leisure)

Anyway, here's the latest installment and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 67: Race Against Time

"Good morning,this is your captain speaking. I would like to inform our dear passengers that we have arrived in our designated location of Al-Jdayde."

The Powerpuff Girls opened their eyes as they heard Boomer's announcement. Buttercup is the most composed among her sisters as she opened her eyes, while Bubbles is the worst off for her pale face has a greenish tint. Blossom had a fitful rest, and is not at her best state. Blossom noticed that the vehicle had stopped and young Boomer is heading towards the hatch doors with his assault rifle in hand. As young Boomer was about to open the hatch door, Brick stopped him.

"Don't get out from the vehicle."

"What's wrong?" Blossom asked the teenage Brick.

"I don't know but be on alert." Brick have to admit his uncertainty.

"Boomer get the cannons ready." Brick whispered, despite not needing to do so. Blossom peeked out from one of the firing holes and saw some movement from the rooftops of the buildings. Blossom squinted and she saw the silhouettes of several individuals preparing something on the rooftops.

"Guys,they're on the roof at our 3 o' clock." Blossom heard the sound of mechanical movement of the turret slowly moving towards the direction that Blossom had highlighted.

"Got it. Just saw those guys in my sights." Boomer confirmed the presence of their potential ambushers.

"Fire at will!" Brick commanded and the vehicle started firing its cannons. The loud booming sound of the cannon firing rang through the passenger's compartment causing the Powerpuff Girls to cover their ears. A salvo of fire soon replied and the armored transport started to rev its engines before causing the Powerpuff Girls and young Boomer to lose their balance for a moment. A loud explosion soon informed the Powerpuff Girls why the vehicle had moved.

* * *

 _Whoever they are, they're crazy prepared_ , Butch made a mental note as he looked around the building that they were imprisoned in.

The interior architecture of the place of worship marked it out to be a cathedral, for the stained glass of the windows highlighted the glory of saints and angels, and the intricately carved walls and pillars are decorated with stone and wooden statues of religious significance. The candles in the church were lit, giving the cathedral a more warmer and grander appearance as the light flickered with every subtle blow of the did not appreciate the architectural beauty of such buildings as he never understood why buildings needed to be fancily decorated for no other reason than to be its religious origins,the cathedral had been turned into a temporary command center with various equipments and personnel coordinating battles and logistical matters. The base is frantic and soldiers and other relevant support personnel are moving about their business.

"Beautiful isn't it?" The Frenchwoman asked Butch.

"I guess." Butch answered dryly, unable to relate to her appreciation of the cathedral.

"I remembered coming here with my parents when I was a little girl. Every Sunday we will come here to have our service and then my father will bring us to have some baklava and a walk around the little bazaars. Those were the times." Renée gave a smile as she reminisce about her past.

Butch was reminded that the woman had told him a few hours ago that she was a native of this city once upon a time ago. Butch stayed silent afterwards, knowing that he had nothing positive to add to the conversation.

"Didn't know you went to church. Thought you didn't believe."

"I don't. Not since my family 'disappeared'." Renée answered sadly.

"Sorry." Butch apologized knowing that he had just touched a sensitive topic.

"So, any luck?" Renée adeptly changes the topic.

"Not really, though I can feel a little bit of it coming back." Butch answered.

They were led towards the altar and they were forced to kneel down when the soldiers escorting them hit the back of their leg. Another pair of soldiers approached them and forced them to put their hands behind their backs. Butch and Renée sat silently as their captors handcuffed their hands together and bound their legs with chains. Butch wondered if the soldiers are not aware of his particular biological constitution and he relished the moment where they will have a rude awakening when he breaks out and wreak havoc. However his hopes were dashed when he saw several men were carrying several weapons with a large vial of orange-colored liquid with a glowing orange gauge. Butch recognized those weapons as Antidote-X weapons, and the possession of Antidote X weaponry disturbed Butch. Not everyone had access to Antidote X weaponry and the only few people that had it are those that wanted to fight against the Powerpuff Girls or needed something to stop their own experiments from killing them. Butch is still feeling the effects of the weapon within his system and he wondered if he could die from just tripping on some rocks and hit his head.

The sounds of distant explosions echoed in the cathedral complex, causing alarm to everyone in the structure. The sound of the explosions are coming closer and closer to their location. The tension within the cathedral is tense enough that some of the soldiers are breaking out in cold sweat. Butch and Renée watched as several soldiers mobilized to face the incoming threat. The command center is now bristling with activity as the communications became livelier. Butch attempted to hear what is going on and he managed to pick up some little conversations between the two forces. Unfortunately, he is not an adept linguist like his brothers and he is unable to interpret the information.

"A BMP-2 is under attack by Islamists and is heading this way. But it is not controlled by the Syrians." The brunette informed Brick. Butch realized the implications of the situation, for the Islamist will use the vehicle as a bomb and will not fire on a vehicle they control. The moderate rebels will not enter into the neighborhood in such a haphazard manner.

 _So who's controlling the vehicle?_ , Butch wondered.

* * *

"We need to suppress them!" Brick called out as the cannon continued on firing. Blossom saw a crimson beam hitting the rooftops, causing a violent explosion. However, the beams did not cause any loss of firepower from the opposing side as they returned the streaks of missiles were heading towards them as Bubbles and Buttercup moved towards the firing ports on the right side of the vehicle. Bubbles fired a pair of beams from her eyes towards the incoming missiles, causing several of the missiles to detonate in midair. The sound of the turret moving forward is heard before the vehicle entered into a alley barely wide enough to fit the armored vehicle. Gunfire is soon heard bouncing off the hull of the vehicle and several more explosions were heard as the vehicle traverse through the tight lanes of the urban environment that they ended up in.

"We're sitting ducks here!" Buttercup yelled as the sound of bullets ricocheting off the armored vehicle intensified.

"Firing smoke grenades!" Boomer called out as the sound of cannon fire intensified.

"Incoming!" Young Brick called out before a loud explosion is heard.

"Intercepted!" Brick yelled.

"Where are we heading!" Young Brick called out.

"Saint Elijah Cathedral!" Brick yelled back as another wave of explosions were heard.

"Gotcha!" Young Brick acknowledged the directions and the vehicle accelerated. Soon enough, the vehicle rammed violently into something and the sound of large object hitting the armored hull is heard. A cloud of dust and rubble soon entered into several of the firing ports,causing those in the passenger compartment to cough and wheeze.

"Shit! Warn me before you ram through a damn building!" Brick chided his younger deduced that Brick had just barely went back into the turret before the vehicle rammed into a building.

"Ain't nobody got time for that!" Young Brick yelled as the vehicle continued in its path.

Blossom peeked out again to see that the vehicle had just burst out from the building and as the vehicle turned a hard left,a trail of smoke flew past the vehicle before turning towards one of the vehicles and exploded, just barely missed the vehicle.

"Missile!"Blossom cried out and the sound of Brick clicking his tongue is audible over the headset communications. The sound of Brick moving up to the hatch is heard before a sudden yell from Brick is heard over the communication link.

"Drive faster! Technicals on our backs!" The vehicle turned a hard right as it sped up, causing the Powerpuff Girls and Young Boomer to tumble in the passenger compartment. That turn proved to be a blessing in disguise as a violent explosion blasted off the rear hatch off,covering the passenger compartment with smoke. The smoke cleared up and Blossom soon realized that the rear of the vehicle is now exposed.

"Guys, we just lost the rear hatch!" Blossom yelled.

"That's the least of our problems!" Buttercup pointed out and Blossom soon find out pickup trucks are chasing after them, with two of the pickups were armed with a heavy machine gun and one other is armed with a missile array.

"Got it!" Young Boomer fired a pair of beams from his eyes,causing their pursuers to disperse for a moment as they avoided the beams.

"Shit,shit,shit!" The armored vehicle veered violently to the left as it tried to avoid getting hit by incoming fire. One of the missiles flew over the armored transoort and hit one of the their pursuers trucks and the truck exploded in a violent manner. The other two trucks fired towards the armored transport and Bubbles and young Boomer attempted to discourage them by firing their beams at their pursuers.

"Seriously this is getting a little ridiculous!" Young Boomer called out as the situation turned more dire with every moment. Brick clearly did not expect such a heavy concentration of enemies around this part of the city, and it appeared that they had stumbled on a hornet's nest. To make matters worse, it appeared that they are facing a more violent group of the Syrian resistance as their firepower increased with intensity. Brick suddenly saw several windows were alight with smoke and light and Brick realized that their vehicle is a lost cause and warned the rest.

"GET OUT NOW!"

Brick and Boomer used their beams to cut a hole in what appeared to be inside a vehicle of sorts before escaping through the hole, and the Powerpuff Girls and young Boomer jumped out of the non-existent rear hatch of the armored vehicle. As the missiles impacted, the vehicle combusted in a conflagaration of flames. The sound of something burning is audible and Brick turned towards a burning wreck. From the inferno, a being emerged out from the vehicle in flames and having some of his skin melting off his body. Brick watched in horror as he realized who it is that failed to get out in time from the vehicle.

* * *

A large well-build figure flanked by two soldiers entered into the cathedral and soon make his way towards the two bound prisoners. The man stared down upon Butch and Renée and they returned the favor by staring back to him with defiant eyes. A soldier pulled a chair and placed it between the Russian man and the two bound individuals before the man turned the chair around and sat with his forearms resting on the backrest. The frantic activity happening behind the individuals were ignored by the Russian colonel as he lifted one of his arms and scratched his head, clearly not pleased by the development happening behind him.

"You and I need to talk." The Russian colonel informed bluntly.

"What's there to talk about when there is nothing to talk about, _Nikolai_." Renee is clearly not willing to cooperate,and said his name in a mocking manner.

"Let's talk about a group of boys and girls firing lasers from eyes and throwing big rocks at enemies. That'll be good starting point." Butch and Renee went silent as the Russian tapped his finger on the backrest. The silence assured the man that the two individuals knew something about the situation that is unfolding under his purview.

"No talk? Fine. Boy over here is one of them yes?"Colonel Sergetov pointed towards Butch and one of the men moved towards Butch. The soldier taped Butch's mouth and pulled the little boy up by the back of his collar before throwing Butch down on the ground. The colonel stood up and puts his foot on the nape of Butch's neck, causing Butch's eye to widen with fear. Renee's eyes are wide open as the man slowly pressed his boot on the boy's neck and the muffled voice of the Rowdyruff Boy is heard as he struggled to escape. Renee attempted to move towards the Rowdyruff Boy, but was hit on her spine with the butt of an assault rifle. She groaned in pain as Butch struggled on the ground frantically before a soldier knelt down and held the Rowdyruff Boy's legs to prevent the boy from struggling further. Butch breathed deeply as his jade eyes tried to look up towards the silver-haired man.

"Little boy neck is small and fragile." Colonel Sergetov watched without any trace of emotion as he pressed his boot further on the back of Butch's neck. Renee watched as the man man lifted his leg up, and did a mock stomping action to guide his aim. Butch sensed the bottom of the boot touching his neck a few times as the main adjusted his foot in a way that would cover the majority of the boy's neck.

" _Salaud_...Don't you dare..."

"One stomp."

"Let him go!"

"One stomp will break boy's neck now before powers come back." The man lifted his leg up and is ready to enact his threat. Butch is now breathing frantically as he sensed the impending boot about to land on his neck.

" _Fils de pute_!"

"Polkóvnik." The voice of one of his man stopped the colonel's boot just inches away from the boy's neck.

The man shifted his stomping foot aside and landed his leg gently by the boy's head. The silver-haired Russian looked down at the boy with a stony expression, and soon turned his attention on his subordinate. The soldier whispered in the ears of the colonel, and the colonel nodded a few times as he listened. Butch looked up to see the man continuously staring at him as his subordinate whispered to him. The colonel knelt down and pulled Butch by his hair, causing Butch to voice his discomfort. The braided woman shouted, and a rifle butt hit her squarely in the cheek. The soldier that hit her bend down and picked her up. As she is brought up to stand on her own two feet, the colonel looked at her with his icy-blue eyes that spread a chill down her spine.

"Time to put you in cage."

* * *

"Blossom! Ice Breath now!"

"I don't have my ice breath! I have no powers!" Blossom yelled back.

"Shit!" Brick's was forced to push the burning child down on the ground. He clearly did not expect to see a younger self burning and he realized that his current methods is also going to catch him on fire. Brick decided that he will have to do something drastic or risk losing the little boy. Brick's vision turned red before a blast engulfed him and the burning figure with a cloud of sand, dust and smoke. The flames died out immediately and Brick picked up the charred figure before bolting into a building. Brick's vision adjusted itself and his vision saw the Powerpuff Girls and what appeared to be a teenage Boomer and a young Boomer staring at Brick with abject horror in their eyes. Blossom was the first one to move and she rushed towards Brick and carried the charred figure in her arms.

"Oh god...Brick...Brick...can you hear me?" Blossom tried to elicit a response from the charred figure, her voice sounding more like a plea to the young boy to stay alive. A croak exited the charred figure's mouth and Blossom immediately carried the boy in a bridal carry towards her sisters while the other Brick turned towards one of the Boomers. The smaller Boomer's cobalt blue eyes are now watering and he immediately went past Brick to be with his brother.

Young Brick is groaning in pain as his sand-blonde brother watched helplessly at his worsening condition. Brick and Boomer glanced for a moment before looking out from the building that they presently consider their shelter. Blossom,Bubbles and Buttercup were trying to ease the young Brick's suffering the best they can with the first aid kit that Bubbles managed to take out from the vehicle before it was destroyed,but without any advance medical facility it is a losing battle. Brick watched from a distance as the young Rowdyruff Boy groaned louder, unnerved to see himself suffering such horrific injuries. Not everyone was quick enough to get out from the vehicle moments before the missiles hit the transport.

"I don't heal as fast as you guys, but this is far too slow for anti-tank missiles." Brick voiced out his thoughts. Prior to his discovery of Break and the activation of the Tyrant gene,Brick had the slowest regeneration rate among his brothers and that itself led to a fastidious nature of trying not to get hurt and efficient fighting techniques that neutralizes his opponents quickly. Even then, Brick is able to heal from most life-threatening injuries befitting his Rowdyruff Boy genetic makeup. This attack is an exception to the usual.

"Yeah." Boomer is sitting opposite Brick and he understood the implication of the weapons being used against suggestion that the missiles are meant to take down superhumans is rather far-fetched, but it is not as far-fetched as it seems. The Antidote-X technology can be incorporated into any normal military technology if they so wanted and can range from a pure Antidote-X weapon to something mixed with explosives to give it a limited ability to hurt Chemical X-based beings.

The fact that they are trapped in a building just a short distance away from their destroyed vehicle showed the dire situation that they found themselves in. The intensity of the firepower leveled towards them is enough for all of them to seek shelter in the building and it only stopped due to Brick's quick thinking of blasting the ground big enough that it covered their tracks long enough for them to hide.

"If this Brick dies, I don't think we will ever get out from here alive. I may need your help Boomer." Brick confided in his brother, and moments like this is when Boomer is particularly attentive. His brothers rarely asked each other for help, and this is a first sign of a bigger problem.

"On what?" Boomer asked as he sensed Brick's unease.

"On how to merge, like what you did with the other Boomer."

"It'll not be easy Brick," Boomer chuckled darkly, "Firstly, you'll need to agree to join up. Secondly, you'll need to let everything go. Thirdly, you don't know what will happen."

"You came out just fine." Brick snidely remarked.

"Not sure about that to be honest." Boomer shrugged, knowing that anything and everything can go wrong and knowing well that he may burst at any moment.

"Guys, hate to break your conversation but lil' Brick's not doing so hot." Both Rowdyruff Boys turn around to face a dark-haired Powerpuff Girl with an unbuttoned khaki army shirt over a black sleeveless shirt. Brick breathed deeply as Boomer looked over Buttercup's shoulders. His cobalt blue eyes noticed the young red-haired Rowdyruff Boy is lying on Blossom's lap as the rose-eyed Powerpuff girl tried to soothe his suffering by stroking his head.

"How long?" Brick asked Buttercup, noticing that her lime green eyes are not looking at him directly.

"Blossom said that he won't see sunrise." Buttercup answered, her husky voice breaking a little.

Brick immediately stood up and started walking towards the injured Rowdyruff Boy. Both Boomer and Buttercup looked at each other before following the red-haired teenager. Brick stopped short of Blossom and the injured Brick, and he sat on the ground before them and watched the injuries on the little boy. Blossom sat silent, knowing well that it is best not to say anything else in this situation. Brick swallowed as he saw the extent of the injuries that the boy suffered. Young Brick is covered head to toe with bandages and the boy's bandages are now stained with dark brownish-crimson patches.

"Can you fix my bro?" A young voice interrupted Brick's observation and he saw a disheveled young sand-blonde boy standing beside him.

The cobalt blue eyes of the younger Rowdyruff Boy is much darker than before, and the sunken shoulders expressed his deepening despair. Brick wanted to say something, but he went silent as he saw his younger self looking worse with every moment. Brick knew that 'saving' young Brick involves both Bricks to merge as one individual, thereby losing their particular versions of their brothers for good. That, Brick reasoned, is not the best answer to give to the little one. Brick looked at his little self and he slowly reached out his hand towards the injured Rowdyruff Boy but stopped short of touching the young red-haired boy. Brick breathed in deeply, doubting if he can even do anything to save his last remaining piece. A hand grabbed Brick's wrist causing an instinctive jerk.

"Please...help me." The voice of Young Brick is weak and soft and the underlying pain and suffering experienced by the young Rowdyruff Boy expressed itself in his voice. Brick understood that he is in a race against time to salvage this piece of himself less he lose it forever.

 _But what can I say,_ Brick wondered as he bit his lip.

"Do you believe in miracles, Mini-me?" A pair of hands rested upon young Boomer's shoulders. Young Boomer looked up to see his elder self looking at the two red Rowdyruff Boys.

"I don't know." Young Boomer sniffled.

"Well then. Let's believe together shall we?"

"Guys...We have company." Buttercup voiced out her concern as she watched out from the edges of the window.

* * *

Colonel Sergetov tapped his fingers as he sat silently in an armored transport surrounded by soldiers armed to the teeth. The anxiousness of his soldiers is not lost on the Russian colonel, and he watched quietly in anticipation of any sign of problems that can prop up in this forsaken place. Colonel Sergetov knew the reason for their anxiety; the possibility of facing off against superhumans gnawed in the back of their minds is not the comforting of thoughts. The anxiety only serve to intensify the concerns of his men about the people they had held captive in their forward base.

To his men, they just knew the boy as one of the reported superhumans on the side of the rebels and the woman as some random rebel commander. But the truth is far more complicated, and to Colonel Sergetov, far more exciting.

The bear-like Russian knew the identity of the depowered superhuman boy's as well as his brothers. The Rowdyruff Boys, as they were called, were known to be the product of the mad simian scientist Mojo Jojo, with a singular intent to fight against the most powerful superhuman team in the world; the Powerpuff Girls. Still, to see one of the boys in real life is something of a surprise for Colonel Sergetov and he was glad that somehow, the Rowdyruff Boy was shot by an Antidote-X the boy known as Butch is not incapacitated in some way, his forces would suffer significant casualties.

Renée Delacroix on the other hand is known to Colonel Sergetov by another name. Renee the Vulpine is a known mercenary operative that have served in many battlefields noted for her unconventional take on military operations and execution that borders on the preternatural. To see the Frenchwoman in the flesh is both an honor and also an opportunity for Colonel Sergetov, and he seek to make the best of it.

Still, that did not ease his unease in his heart for Colonel Sergetov is concerned about the presence of other superhumans in the Aleppo theater. It was only through a combination of luck,resilience and superhuman healing that he was able to escape an earlier encounter with his life. Even now, he is still trying to heal his broken ribs and his ruptured eardrums from the sonic attack of a blonde teenage girl. The report of a division going silent and one of the vehicles of the division driving into the Al-Jdayhe neighborhood is not something he wanted to hear. To make matters worse, the fighting in Al-Jdayhe stopping as suddenly as it began is an issue he need to investigate.

The conversations caught on by his men informed him of the relationship between the boy and the woman with the people that had stolen the vehicle and drove it towards Al-Jdayhe. By imprisoning the two individuals, he hoped that they would think twice before acting against his forces. However, utilizing the young boy as a hostage is a race against time, for the Antidote-X within his system will wear out within a hour at most, and dousing the young boy with more Antidote-X when he is still affected will not lengthen the time it takes for the chemical to be cleansed from his body.

The sound of barking cannons and heavy machine gun fire signaled that they have arrived at their location and the soldiers within the transport readied their weapons. The soldiers started to fan out and secure their perimeter as soon as the rear hatch of the transport met the ground. Several of Colonel Sergetov's men went down as they exited the vehicle and his men laid down suppression fire before several vehicles started firing back at the source of the incoming fire.

The large burly colonel is the last man to exit the vehicle and he looked around to see his men securing the parameter while the other armored personnel carriers and tanks firing their cannons towards all possible ambush points. A main battle tank fired its cannon and brought down a building while several gunfire shots were heard as the buildings are cleared out. The battle intensified and now Colonel Sergetove wondered if he will be forced to retreat without knowing what happened.

Then a sudden dreadful sensation struck the white-haired colonel. At once, the sound of men screaming in horror reverberated in the air. The Russian spoke out in his communication links for updates from his soldiers, and the reports he received were nothing short of unusual. Unconscious soldiers with foams in their mouths and contorted with horror. Others were just driven insane and either were catatonic or attacked the closest thing. Others had shot themselves to an apparent attempt to escape the source of their horror. Something had caused such indescribable fear in the hearts of these hardened men of both sides.

The sensation disappeared as soon as it began and the fighting immediately stopped. Colonel Sergetov's heart is now beating profusely like a continuously struck drum and his cold sweat is now drenching him wet all over his body. He looked down upon his hand and saw his own hand trembling violently. Colonel Sergetov had heard such reports from the frontlines and this was almost exactly the same condition as those of his men that were ambushed in the adjacent neighborhood and their ambushers.

Seeing that the situation had turned utterly surreal for a moment struck a great uneasiness within Colonel Sergetov. His men are half-neutered now, and as they struggled to regain their senses, he noticed the burning wreck of an armored transport nearby. Colonel Sergetov's keen eyes picked out that most of the fire are aimed at the vehicle based from the bullet marks and blast craters on the ground. The ice-like eyes of the Russian noticed several footsteps leading from the areas surrounding the vehicle, and in one case, exiting the vehicle while it was burning. The colonel slowly walked towards the building where the footsteps were heading towards, and stopped just a few meters from the building in question. The Russian colonel commanded his men to aim their weapons towards the structure before speaking out loud.

"You are surrounded! Exit building with hands raised up or we fire!" As if to press on the point, one of the armored personnel carriers fired a shot into the neighboring building causing part of its walls to crumble down.

"That is warning shot!" The harsh accent of the Russian man is audible for all to listen to. Seeing that there is no response, he gave the hand signal to storm the building. Even though his normal men would not stand a chance against the superhumans, but it is hoped that they will become fodder for his more elite troopers to do their job.

"That crazy motherfucker!" Buttercup hissed as she ducked under the window for cover.

"Buttercup, I think we need to think of something fast!" Bubbles saw several dozen soldiers advancing towards the building, and she is not sure how they can hold them off when Blossom is essentially powerless and one of the Bricks is severely injured.

Buttercup decided that she will rather let the battle be done on their terms rather than their enemies. She rolled away from the window and got up on her two feet, looking around for something that can be used in this particular situation. Her eyes caught on something that would be of great distraction for the enemies outside and a smirk appeared on her face. She grabbed the object without any hesitation and immediately started to spin around for a few rounds before letting the object go from her hands. The object spun violently towards the window, and Bubbles' eyes were wide open as the object sped towards her direction. Bubbles squealed as she lay down on the ground, barely avoiding the spinning projectile breaking through the wall. Several more shouts and screams were soon heard before a loud resounding crash with a ringing metallic clang was heard. The sound soon turned into a loud rumbling sound that ended with a booming crash.

Buttercup decided that the sudden silence is the best time to act and she charged into the cloud of dust. She saw several silhouettes in the dust clouds and decided to sweep one of the soldiers down with a low scything kick. Several flashes of gunfire were seen and heard inside the dust cloud and Buttercup kept herself low as she brought down each men one by one. Buttercup also made sure to further disturb the sand and dust on the ground to keep the fog of battle to stay as long as possible. A few punches, kicks and throws are doing a lot of good for Buttercup as she moved closer towards the center of the armored formation.

The chaos from the attacks only served to distract them from attacking the others. A loud screech marked Bubbles' entry into the battle and Buttercup can now finally focus on what she do best; just beating the crap out of her enemies with her body. She ducked down under one of the silhouettes and grabbed him by his ankles before using him as a makeshift club. Several yelps and screams were heard as her makeshift club hit their mark. After two or three blows, Buttercup threw the unfortunate soul towards one of the other silhouettes,causing both men to tumble to the ground. The soldiers slowly found their bearings and their shooting is getting closer and closer to where Buttercup is. Buttercup should have known better that it does not take a genius to aim a gun at where the screaming is the loudest and open fire. Buttercup is slowly being pressed back, and a grazing shot scored first blood as her cheek bled a thin like of red liquid.

 _Damn it_ , Buttercup was reminded that her powers are not fully back yet and based on the level of power that each of her sisters have as of this moment, it must have something to do with how close the Rowdyruff Boys are piecing themselves together. The sound of screeching tracks and roaring engines signaled the activity of the armored vehicles and Buttercup understood that she needs backup.

She needs backup _fast_.

Two streaks of electric blue lightning went past the onyx-haired Powerpuff Girl and the groaning sound of metal being bent soon reverberated around Buttercup. The sound of barking cannons were soon accompanied by the metallic ring of shells hitting their mark. The chaotic cacophony is soon joined by the sound of soldiers frantically communicating with each other and the clanging sounds of firearms being let loose. Buttercup grinned as the pandemonium grew with intensity and she wondered if everything will be fine after all.

"Not bad."

A harsh baritone voice commented behind Buttercup. Buttercup turned around only for her cheek to meet an incoming fist and she was knocked down on the ground. The blow caused Buttercup to lose her sense of balance as she struggled to get herself up once more. A silver-haired man with sharp icy-blue eyes is now looking down upon Buttercup as he cracked his knuckles.

"That's one nasty blow." Buttercup complimented the man as she spat a spit of blood on the ground.

"Your face also very tough." The man showed Buttercup his knuckles ,the skin from his knuckles are peeled off and bleeding profusely.

Once they had exchanged their pleasantries, Buttercup managed to get herself up and stared at the mountain of muscle with her lime green eyes. Both combatants did not move from their despite the growing intensity of the battle around them. Several stray bullets flew close to them, but none of them budge in the face of such an intense battle. Buttercup knew that the Russian man has superior combat skills to her even in this dream world,and the only thing that slightly even the odds are her powers.

 _This is annoying_ ,Buttercup thought to herself. She honestly wished that she could use her Jetstream to push the odds further in her favour but so far all she got are enhanced physical abilities.

" _Hope yours will be as tough._ " A voice commented from behind the large colonel. The man turned around only to see a foot landing on the bridge of his nose causing the man to tumble and made impact with one of the tanks, causing the tank to topple over.

"Brick?" Buttercup soon realized that the figure only had the silhouette of the carnelian-haired man. In fact, it is a being made out of dark shadow with two glowing crimson eyes staring back at Blossom. As the figure floated towards her, Buttercup sensed that the figure's eyes is filled with an almost sadistic glee.

" _I'll take it from here. Go._ " Break beckoned the Powerpuff Girl to fall back. Buttercup was about to protest until a large figure slammed itself into Break and both figures slammed into another tank, causing the vehicle to dent in such an unnatural manner that it belies belief. Buttercup is forced to concede the battle to the shadowy figure and she moved back towards the building where her other sisters and the two Bricks had holed themselves inside. She looked around her and saw that the three Rowdyruff Boys are wreaking enough havoc throughout the enemy ranks that only the devil itself can stop the battle in its tracks.

* * *

 _This is annoying_ , Butch thought to and Renée were imprisoned in what appeared to be an empty room and both of them are now lying down on the ground on their chest. Butch honestly wondered how long will the Chemical X in his system run its course for him to visit retribution upon these men.

The thought of petty comeuppance is soon taken over by a creeping feeling of uneasiness as he struggled to look around his prison. The room appeared to have no noteworthy feature but Butch felt a sense of dark familiarity with the room. A sense of dread spread throughout Butch's body like a vine, running a chill in his blood. Something is suppose to happen in this room,and it is suppose to be something clearly hated the feeling of impending finality and it honestly scared the usually fearless Rowdyruff Boy.

"Guess this is it huh, _Petit Verde_?"

"Not if I can help it."

Butch's ears picked up the sound of several dull explosions, and it seems that his senses are slowly returning. However, they are not returning fast enough for him to escape from his bindings. Butch will have to bide his time and once his powers returned, he will be kicking their captor's asses so bad that they wished they do not have asses to be kicked in the first place.

"Something's going on outside." Renée pointed out and Butch listened. Their guards appeared to be agitated as the buzzing words from their communication devices comes to live. Immediately their guards left their position and left them all alone. The sound of heavy gunfire immediately answered why the guards left their posts, and more explosions and guns were soon heard before the sound of screaming men accompanied the cacophonous orchestra of war. Seeing that the situation had turned for the worse and both their guards are now no longer watching them, Renee seized the opportunity.

"Butch, roll over me!"

"What?" Butch clearly did not believe what Renée had just suggested to him.

"Just do it Butch!"

"Fine!" Butch rolled towards her and as his arm touched her body, he struggled to roll up on the woman's body. With a little help from the tip of his toes, he managed to roll up on Renée. The awkwardness of their positions are apparent as their backs are now facing against each other, with Butch on top of the brunette.

"Move down a little!" Renée instructed.

"Like this?" Butch wormed his way down her body, trying his best to maneuver himself over the woman's body.

"Yeah and move a little to the left!"

"Like this?" Butch asked as he wiggled to the left.

"No, not your left, my left!" Renée's voice is tinged with a slight annoyance, but she soon calmed herself down after realizing that Butch is lying on her body in the opposite position.

"Sorry." Butch apologized, and wiggled towards his right.

"Yeap, got it!" Renée said with great confidence.

To Butch's surprise, he felt her fingers around his wrist and with several deft movement of her fingers and a snapping sound, his handcuffs were opened up. Butch rolled off Renée and once he had moved on to the floor, he immediately started to loosen up the chains on his feet. Butch struggled for a moment, but the chains soon come loose and Butch is now free. Butch immediately moved towards Renee and started to unbind the chains on Renée's legs.

"That's rather neat, how'd you do that?" Butch asked as he struggled to loosen the chains.

"The keyholes to the handcuffs are at a very awkward angle for my hands, but I managed to memorize where the keyhole in your handcuffs were." Renée answered with a smirk.

"That's badass...but what did you use to pick the lock?" Butch asked, perplexed that Renée managed to find a device to pick the lock.

But he soon realized that something is very wrong when he noticed blood on his hands. Butch is visibly confused and afraid, for he did not recall a moment where he had hurt his hands while escaping. It soon dawned on Butch that the blood is not his blood. He immediately stopped his efforts on the chains on Renée's feet and looked back at Renée's hands. True to his worst expectations, Renée's hands are filled with blood and one of her nails is broken and a jagged nail dangled from one of her fingers. Noticing Butch's displeasure, Renée headbutted the boy in the chest causing a breath of air to escape Butch's lungs and he fell down on his posterior.

"Focus. No time for this. We are in a race against time here." Renée's stoic expression shook Butch and despite his disagreement, he knew that she is right. The sound of the fighting outside had intensified and it appeared that the defense of the cathedral is failing. Despite all the commotion being picked up by his returning heightened senses, Butch felt numb as he worked on the chains binding Renée's feet. The chains slowly unraveled itself and Butch helped the sky-blue eyed woman up.

"Here ya go." Butch said gently as he helped Renée up.

"Thanks _Petit Verde_." Butch finds a certain comfort when Renée calls him in French, as it sounds a little more intimate than his usual name.

"So where do we go now?" Butch looked at Renée expectantly.

"For one, out of this stupid room." Renée chuckled despite their dire situation, and Butch chuckled as well.

The otherworldly situation they found themselves in is indeed a joke in itself, and Butch is unable to help himself from realizing how absurd everything is. Indeed, something about all this sounds familiar. Barring a few odd discrepancies, the environment is unnaturally familiar to Butch. Something barked in his mind that this place is the final destination to a certain eventuality. Butch's mind wondered about the great dread creeping up within his soul. Something dreadful is coming at this very moment and Butch sensed that time is running out for some inexplicable reason.

The sound of several screaming jets were heard and Butch's face paled immediately. Throughout his time in Syria, he had learned to associate the sound of flying military aircraft with a disproportionate amount of death and suffering. It will soon be followed by the sound of bombs whistling through the air as it descended upon its targets,and followed by large explosions. Such was the sequence being played in his mind that his senses were dulled by his imagination, robbing Butch of the seconds he needed to react.

Time ran out for Butch at that very instance.


	68. Chapter 68: Whereabouts

Chapter 68: Whereabouts

Brick stared at his very injured younger self and wondered what he could do in this situation. With a battle happening right in front of their doorstep, Brick knew that they have little time before they started losing the young Rowdyruff Boy. The little boy's healing factor is severely hampered by a factor that is beyond Brick's understanding, and it is slowly killing his younger self from the shock of his injuries. The little boy looked at the carnelian-haired teenager with grayish-pink eyes, and Brick knew that young Brick's is essentially blind.

"I don't want to die." Young Brick expressed his fear in a murmur, but a murmur that is very clear to Brick. Blossom and Bubbles are unable to interject or even comment in this situation for they were caught up by the experience of someone potentially dying in their arms. Bubbles is holding back her tears as she watched the little boy struggling to live.

"You won't." Brick answered, knowing well that he had essentially lied to himself in more ways than one. The wounded Rowdyruff Boy breathed in deeply before calling the teenager out on his lie.

"Liar." Young Brick called the elder Brick out on his lie.

"Can't lie to myself." Brick admitted, shaking his head as he wondered who is he kidding to.

"Heard...heard you two talking about merging or something." Brick knew what young Brick is trying to ask, and Brick admitted his lack of understanding of the matter.

"Boomer said it could be done, but I don't know how."

"If...if...if I'm gone...promise me that you'll take care of my brothers for me." Young Brick asked, knowing well that his current state is dire enough that he needs to say out his only lingering worry.

"Your brothers are my brothers too. I know what to do." Brick assured the little boy.

"Th-thanks." The young red-haired boy struggled to thank the red-eyed teenager.

"We got each other's back, and will break everyone else's back." Brick voiced out a creed, which the younger Brick chuckled despite his mortal injuries. Both of them understood the creed, for it is the Rowdyruff Boys' personal creed that they never reveal to anyone else. An oath of brotherhood, and an oath of taking on a cruel, judgmental and unforgiving world the Rowdyruff Boy way. Their shared desire to protect and take care of their brother is an irrefutable truth that they can agree on despite the absurdity of their present situation.

"Eeek!" Blossom cried out as a red spark flashed between the two boys before disappearing causing Brick and the Powerpuff Girls to jerk back.

"What was that?" Bubbles cried out, the sudden shock made her tears ran down her cheeks

Brick wondered what just happened before another spark ignited between the two boys once more. Brick sensed that something is about to happen between the two boys and he grabbed the injured boy away from Blossom's lap and distanced himself away from the Powerpuff two Rowdyruff Boys are enveloped in a crimson red cocoon of electrical current before suddenly disappearing in a flash of red light. The minds of Blossom and Bubbles are still in a blurry daze as they processed what just happened before their eyes.

* * *

[Utonium Household, Suburban Townsville, 11.03pm]

Professor Utonium stared at the gray-haired woman with a deep thoughtful frown. It is impossible for Utonium to keep a straight face as his mind frantically seek to reason Lilith's admission as a joke. Lilith understood the thought process of the dark-haired man, and she figured that it will need some explaining to do. Even if the explaining will only further disturb and horrify Professor Utonium.

"It's a joke." Lilith tried her best at her impression of joking around with Professor Utonium. Lilith paused to allow Professor Utonium some time to construct the answer that he can give to Lilith.

"It's not a really good joke." Professor Utonium chuckled, but it came out forced. Professor Utonium may not be the most sensitive of men, but even he knew that Lilith had just lied to him. Human psychology is not his field of expertise, but he had studied it enough before during his time to understand his little girls better. His understanding of women boils down to a single mantra; women are beings with more depth than those of men.

"That obvious huh?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah." Professor Utonium replied. Both adults sat in silence as they pondered on what will be the next step in their conversation. Lilith mustered the courage to speak first.

"So...what would you like to know?"

"What can I know?" Professor Utoniun passed the ball back to the gray-eyed woman, allowing her some time to compose her answer in a way that she is comfortable with.

The woman wondered how best to describe her situation in the simplest manner, but no matter how much she though of the situation the more it became something absurd. There is no denying her true nature, and there is no other word to describe her situation. Lilith had lived with this secret all her life, and it is not just her secret alone. This had deep and wide repercussions towards the world and she is now facing what is perhaps the antithesis of her truest nature. She inhaled deeply before she followed it up with a much louder exhalation. Lilith closed her eyes, and Professor Utonium sensed the stress building up within the woman.

"I am what you call a witch." Lilith revealed, causing Professor Utonium to raise an eyebrow.

"Isn't a witch human?" Professor Utoniun asked,not understanding how Lilith is any different from a normal human being. Lilith's surprised expression is plain for Professor Utonium to see.

"That's...a first." Lilith admitted that the professor's reply is something that she had never experienced before in her life. At the same time, it is a very refreshing point of view that Lilith can appreciate.

"There's a first time for everything. Carry on...sorry for interrupting." Professor Utonium scratched his head nervously, realizing that he had said something out of the ordinary in an awkward moment.

"There are those who call themselves witches, but those are people engaging in some stupid roleplay nonsense. Real witches, on the other hand, gain their power from birth as a pact formed itself between a descendant of a witch with an Infernal. This Infernal in turn will sponsor them and allow them to improve their power throughout their life, and when a witch dies, her soul goes directly to the Inferno as part of their contract. When an Infernal dies, for wanting of a better word, the witch dies along with the Infernal. Two sides of the same coin so to speak, though we witches get the worse out of the bargain."

"Infernal...Lilith?" Professor Utonium is trying to grip his head around this particularly pagan concept, and Lilith knew that she can not blame him for such an apparently nonsensical manner.

"You would call them demons, Antonio." Lilith used Professor Utonium's given name, knowing that she can trust him enough to judge her for who she is, not what she is.

"Like Him?" Professor Utonium pointed out, and Lilith nodded her head.

"Like Him." Lilith answered.

"So Lilith...you're a demon's servant?" Professor Utonium's expression is a little darker than his previous expression, but Professor Utonium's expression is darkening not because of her relationship with a demon. It is something much more base and more emphatic; Professor Utonium is sad that people can and still are enslaved by forces beyond his understanding.

"Not anymore. Him released me from my servitude. I owe Him my thanks." Lilith sighed and her silvery eyes are showing Professor Utonium an expression that is best described in a sentence that Professor Utonium soo utter out loud.

"That's some unusual bull situation." The professor's voice is a mix of disbelief, confusion and curiosity merged together into a particularly odd mess that worked well together.

"Indeed Antonio, I kid you not."

"Helping someone-Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Professor Utonium accidentally leaned too hard to the edge of the table, poking him in the ribs. Professor Utonium hissed in pain before bringing his smoking pipe to his mouth.

"Yes." Lilith chuckled as she unable to help herself being amused by Professor Utonium's dorky reactions.

"That's not right." Professor Utonium puffed, caring not to let the smoke blow towards Lilith's direction.

"Him is nice in its own twisted way." Lilith sighed, and Professor Utonium knew that whatever that Him did must be beyond human comprehension.

"My soul once belonged to an Infernal called Avercus. But Him and Avercus fought and Him came out victorious. Him took my Infernal's essence, which means that Him owns all the souls of those serving that Infernal. That includes my clan, the Phosphori, the Morning Stars."

"But wouldn't that mean-" Professor Utonium wondered if he is now facing a form of undead before his eyes, but Lilith interrupted the professor's mind from going to a much weirder place.

"Taking an essence is not the same as killing a person. The essence will merge with another essence if it was pulled out for no essence can survive long without latching on to a living body. Anyway, Him only ask us to do one favor in return when the time comes. Him allowed us to refuse if we are not up to it." Lilith leaned back in her chair, as she allowed Professor Utonium to breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's...rather nice." Professor Utonium spoke bluntly at the arrangement.

"Way better than being forced against our wills to do things or become sacrificial pawns," Lilith chuckled before continuing on, "way better."

"That is too good to be true isn't it?" Professor Utonium asked, knowing that things can never be too perfect in the world.

"On the contrary, Him never asked us for big favors. Baking a cake, cleaning his clothes, getting Him the latest BlackPink album...mostly petty." Lilith shrugged, knowing well that Professor Utonium is now even more confused than before.

"It is rather petty...What about yourself?" Professor Utonium decided to ask what Him if it had asked Lilith to do anything.

"All Him asked from me is to take the boys in as my own. Nothing else."

"A very benign request."Professor Utonium raised his eyebrow to such an extent that if it was raised any more it will start leaving his face.

"Yes Antonio, a very benign request. It is no excuse however that Him is an ass. The city Him had decided to mess around with is my city,and Him is messing around with the boys,which is also my responsibility. As the witches's saying goes, the closer you are to peril, the closer you are to the devil." Both individuals are quiet once more, knowing well that this topic is more complicated than it seems. Professor Utonium wanted to ask so many questions, while Lilith Morningstar wanted to end the inquisition.

"Sir, I believe something is going very wrong with Brick." J.E.E.V.E.S interrupted their awkward conversation and both individuals soon turned their attention towards the screen showing Brick's point of view, or to be exact one of the Brick's point of view. Professor Utonium have not paid enough attention to notice that something significant had happened in their dreams, and as he monitored the other screens he come to realize that the screens of Brick, Boomer and the Powerpuff Girls are all showing different points of views of the same event.

"Oh my..." Lilith covered her mouth in abject horror as she realized what the burning figure is. Professor Utonium watched as the split screen showing Brick's points of view echoed with the same voice. The screen further showed Bubbles and Buttercup entered into a building followed by a split view of Boomer's visions entering into what appeared to be the same building. Meanwhile, Brick had taken off his shirt and started to pat the burning figure to take out the flames, but to no avail.

Professor Utonium turned around to see Brick's body twitching uncontrollably and the biometric readings are spiking. The man stopped smoking his pipe as he realized that Brick is slowly going into shock. But of course, Professor Utonium thought, the images and sensations he felt in his dream is causing a stimulated shock from his injuries and if this goes on, Brick may go into cardiac arrest. The medical machinery within the laboratory immediately went to work to try and prevent Brick's body from going into further shock. The sound of tearing muscle is soon heard as Brick's body pulled itself apart.

Professor Utonium clearly was not expecting a Rowdyruff Boy to be hurt in such a grievous way from a dream injury, and something about the dream is gnawing at the professor's mind. Despite seeing the readings that the Rowdyruff Boy's muscle is mending itself , the rate in which the injuries are healing is not as fast as it should be and that in itself is a great cause of concern. If it were not for the regeneration powers, the boy would had been mortally wounded.

 _But what is to say that the young boy was not mortally wounded?_ ,Professor Utonium watched as the clock for the boys and girls to return to the world is cut short drastically and they are running out of time to get out in one piece. Professor Utonium watched as the young Brick in his vision is struggling to survive with every moment while his girls are now trying to do what they can to let the boy live. In a bizarre way, the scenes in the dream are moving in a sped-up pace and the scientist knew that time is not on their side.

"This is not good at all." Professor Utonium watched as the situation turned from bad to worse. The scene of Butch trying to escape slowly unfolded about the same time the rest of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys are forced to fight. It was that moment that Butch readings spiked, and Professor Utonium saw Butch being buried alive by collapsing masonry. He noticed that there is a white silverly glow emanating from behind him and as he turned around to the source of the glow, his eyes registered an improbable sight.

His eyes picked out the lines of silver runes etched on Lilith's skin and as Professor Utonium reached out his hand towards Lilith but something felt odd as his arm phases through her shoulders before she faded away in thin air. Professor Utonium looked around, unable to process the surreal experience that he is seeing happening before him and he soon noticed that the screens showing Brick and Boomer were now a glow of silver.

"What the hell is happening?" Professor Utonium said out loud.

* * *

"Blossom! Where did the Bricks went!?" Blossom and Bubbles snapped out of their daze as Buttercup finally entered into the building once more. Buttercup noticed that both her sisters are in a stunned state and her expression darkened immediately. Buttercup was expecting the worse when her flaming red-haired sister answered her.

"They just...they just disappeared." Blossom is just staring in disbelief.

"What do you mean they just disappeared?" Buttercup is clearly not convinced that two person, one of whom is severely injured can just disappear in a flash.

"They just...they just did." Bubbles' eyes is now streaming with tears.

"Shit...are they doing that merging thing now? A battle is waging outside and those two just decided to vanish? How can this get any worse?" Buttercup exclaimed out loud but immediately regretted thinking that thought.

A part of reality suddenly cracked and shattered violently before her. The battle suddenly went to a standstill as the shattered pieces of reality landed on the ground. A black leather boot with sharp stiletto-like heels stepped out from the hole followed by a unnaturally long and slender bright red leg. More of the intruder's body is revealed through the darkly familiar silhouette held the gap with its large-claw like arms and its emerald green eyes looked around with a dark glee on its black lips. Finally as the figure exited the breach, the figure corrected its fluffy pink skirt and red dress.

"Him?" Buttercup's surprise slipped out from her mouth. The widow-peaked being turned its attention towards her and pouted its lips. Him snapped its claw and Buttercup noticed that the battlefield had faded away, and only the Powerpuff Girls remained in the darkness that surrounds them. The other Powerpuff Girls were visibly disturbed and startled by the change of scenery.

" _Hello girls. It is nice to see you again after all this while._ _Not bad girls not bad at all. You're really very close in getting out of this place._ "

"Not close enough." Blossom managed to get out from being startled and Him gave Blossom a raised eyebrow.

" _Don't judge yourself too harshly. Though in your defense, this is such a big mess._ " Him rested himself on a simple couch that appeared out of nowhere.

"Where's Break?" Blossom asked as she noticed Break is not present with them.

" _He's a dream entity so Break along with the other dream stuff will not appear with us._ "

"But Boomer and Brick...they are not here." Blossom pointed out the discrepancy in Him's reasoning, for the two Rowdyruff Boys should be here with them if they are not dream entities. The demon decided to ignore her comment.

" _How do you find the boy's dreams? Interesting isn't it?_ " Him inquired.

"Messed up is more like it." Buttercup pointed out with malice towards Him, and who can blame the Powerpuff Girl's blunt conclusion. Among all the girls, she had been trapped in the bizarre progression of time in the dream world. Her experiences so far had shown her that the Rowdyruff Boys are still coping with their mental traumas in their own way, with Butch having the most traumatic episode.

" _I can't shape their perceptions._ "

"But you definitely caused it." Blossom answered with a biting remark.

" _How so?_ " Him elicited an inquiry, one that everyone wanted to ask but dared not asked. Something about all this is not logical in any way whatsoever to begin with and thus no one wanted to think about it. Blossom had a suspicion of why the events of the dream happened in their particular way, and how her presence had altered some of the events of how the individuals in the dream to act slightly differently. But the fact that the dream went on without so much a drastic change in the timeline showed something else is at work. Or to be exact, the point of view character had changed. Blossom decided to voice out her suspicions.

"Because the characters present in this dream are part of Butch's real memories of his time in this hellish place." Blossom answered, and Him gave Blossom a look like those of a teacher that is proud that a student answered a question in the best possible way.

" _And?_ " Him watched as it beckoned Blossom to continue on with a wave of its claw. Blossom's mind kept on moving even as she wondered why Him is encouraging her to continue on with her explanation.

"He was there when the man being thrown off the building to his death. He was there when the army stormed the base. He was supposed to carry someone else when that sniper shot me. But I was there, and things changed." Blossom pointed out, as she slowly pieced how it all worked out for the better or for the worse.

" _Go on._ "

"We are not supposed to be ambushed by those rebels. Those people are not supposed to get out from the cathedral to intercept us. Little Brick is not supposed to be hurt at all. We messed up the equation."

"What do you mean Blossom?" Bubbles asked her sister.

"They, the rebels that ambushed us, are supposed to attack the Russians with everything they have. But not here." Blossom pointed out.

"But Butch was captured by those army guys!" Buttercup pointed out the folly of the situation as she saw that there is no way to justify Butch's capture by normal soldiers.

"That's just it Buttercup; he wasn't supposed to be. But Medved...no, not just that Russian guy. The Russians were besieged by the people that pinned us down. I think...I think the Rowdyruff Boys were supposed to be besieged by the Russians, but the Russians were soon ambushed by those rebels that ambushed us and the Russians bombed their positions, killing everyone but the boys." Blossom pointed out, and she realized that there were more connections than it seem on the surface and it disturbed her how their presence had changed the equation of how the events were experienced in Butch's memories.

"You're not making any sense Bloss!" Buttercup pointed out.

"They were supposed to be attacked, but not in the original flow of things. Some things still went on, but were diverted to us instead. That is why this world is cracking, as it can't possibly have two divergent timelines without destroying the other. Butch knew somehow...that destabilized the world as it is." Blossom explained, not liking how everything fell into place as if it was planned by a grand design from a cosmic being. Him is such a cosmic being, and it scares Blossom to say it out loud. To make it worse, Him did not even lead her to speak out but Blossom is doing exactly what Him wanted her to do.

"As for the original sequence...Medved...he called an airstrike on his location as they overran his position. And...and...you had planned for this to happen to them from the beginning." Blossom's amaranth eyes are wide open as she pieced the puzzle together. Somehow it now all made sense. How anything and everything all moved in unison towards a final objective that benefited the demon in the most expedient and beneficial way. The manipulative, heartless and ruthless manner in which it was executed is something beyond the understanding of even the most mentally gifted of the Powerpuff Girls.

" _A very astute deduction Miss Exposition._ "

"And how did that even-? You meant to say that you planned an entire war just to get a person?" Buttercup realized the scope of what Him had just admitted to doing and her lime-green eyes are now staring at Him incredulously and with utter disgust.

" _You are wrong on that Buttercup; I planned a chapter in history precisely to fish out someone like Medved._ " Him admitted, and the Powerpuff Girls glared at the demon's monstrous admission.

"Him...no...you didn't...You caused the Arab Spring?" Blossom immediately felt a nauseating sensation at the back of her throat and immediately threw up.

The scale of the inhumane atrocities that Him had admitted to masterminding is something beyond the scale of even the most convoluted and diabolical masterminds. To enact such an act of bloody revolutions, protests, uprisings and wars to find a few people is utterly mind-shattering for Blossom, and her revulsion of what Him did is shared by her sisters. Bubbles is pale and is covering her mouth as her mind jogged through the overflowing emotions flooding her mind and she sat down on the ground as her legs gave way. Buttercup is the only one standing, but she is only upright because her muscles had clamped up from the utter shock from what Him had just proclaimed to them.

"You fiend..." Buttercup muttered out weakly.

 _"What am I if I am not a fiend? It is in my blood, my soul, my very being. Though to be fair, I do have my dog-petting moments. That is what happened to our dear Fennec. I gave her a deal unlike what I gave my other apostles."_

"How is selling one's soul to you a deal?!" Blossom shouted out.

" _Simple really; every else have to sacrifice things that are dear to them. The sacrifice required is always a thing that defines their humanity– something which, when relinquished, is as if abandoning a part of one's soul. So my question now to you Blossom is what did Fennec sacrifice to make a deal with me?_ " Him posed a question to Blossom, and both her sisters are now looking at her as well.

"Blossom, what is Him talking about?" Bubbles finally found the strength within herself to finally ask Blossom about her sister's understanding of the matter.

"Bloss?" Buttercup is disturbed by what is going on and Him's attention on Blossom borders on a great uneasiness.

Blossom is silent as Him watched over the red-haired Powerpuff Girl, knowing well that she will be able to answer Him in the most cleanest and well-thought reply. Blossom's eyes are glass-like as she tried to recall what she had seen during the flashback that she had witnessed before. The scene played in her mind and she tried to understand what was Him trying to show her. Her eidetic memory tried to recall what happened during the flashback and as her mind sifted through the scene of Butch's most traumatizing moment she failed to see what could possibly hint towards Fennec's sacrifice. Her memory moved on towards the scene where Him met the woman's soul and how he had threatened her to-

 _Everything is as I intended it to be, thought there were some developments that truly went in an interesting fashion._

 _That is not right_ , Blossom remembered what Him had said during the surreal scene. Blossom had imagined that Him at the time was implying that it had planned for trapping the woman to serve him. But what if the implied development was something else entirely?

 _Denial is the most predictable of all human responses, Blossom. On the other hand...hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of humanity's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness._

Blossom felt a chill down her spine as she realized the conversation between Him and herself is not only a matter of a verbal joust between the two individuals. It is also a clue on another matter entirely. An indirect answer that is so hidden that the realization of what Him was pointing out to her is in itself a malevolent message to mock her intelligence. Blossom sensed that a hole was being dug to bury her in her incompetence as she slowly pieced even more pieces of the puzzle from Him's conversation with her.

 _As you adequately put it Blossom, the crux of the matter is choice. I want you to know that no matter what you choose to do after this, it will all be accounted for._

Blossom is unable to admit that she was played for a fiddle as the truths slowly leaked into her mind. As the leak of the truth broke through and flowed in her mind, Blossom's disgust became more pronounced and her opinion of Him being an evil entity became something else entirely. Something far more primal. Something far more basic. Something far more truthful. Something far more malevolent.

 _What were your piercing eyes looking at? What is echoing in your trembling heart?_

Blossom remembered Him's comment at the time, and it resonated in her head far more greatly than was first uttered. The flow of truths slowly increased itself into a flood of complex emotions as she realized how much of a monster Him really is.

 _It's the same thing I'll ask Butch, for even his smallest scars hurts more than the gods of this earth, and this is why he will continue to destroy himself._

Blossom bit her lips as she remembered word for word what Him said to her, knowing well that Him had concocted a sinister and malevolent way to play with her mind. Such cosmic horrors are something beyond even her own comprehension and the dread of having such a horrifying being toying with her only served to highlight the futility of her actions, and forcing a sense of dark humility on her sense of self. Blossom clearly believed that she can choose a decision that can alter Him's plans.

 _Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. As you well know, appearances can be deceiving, which brings me back to the reason why we're here. We are not here because we're free; we're here because we are not free._

Blossom started to hold her head in both her hands, trying to deny the dark truths that is now being revealed to her. Blossom wondered how could she be so foolish to allow Him to mutter such things to her. No, Blossom knew that no one had such foresight on events happening right before their eyes and moments such as those were as inescapable as the flow of time and space.

 _There's no escaping reason, no denying purpose, because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist._

Blossom is now trembling with horror, and her breathing became more shallow with every breath. The reason that Him had just allowed her to resolve in her mind is maddening in its simplicity, but utterly malevolent in its execution.

 _It is purpose that created us, purpose that connects us, purpose that pulls us, that guides us, that drives us, it is purpose that defines, purpose that binds us. Purpose!_

Blossom will not admit it, but Him is right. Purpose is the source of all creation, connections, attraction, guidance, motivation, definition, and unity. The flood of truths in her mind is now a tidal wave and it overwhelmed Blossom's rational mind and she cracked under the pressure. Blossom is now sobbing, and both her sisters watched as Blossom broke down in tears. Blossom succumbing to her mental torture demoralized her sisters, and they can only watch as Blossom continued on sobbing.

"She...she sacrificed nothing. She wanted the boys to live...but...you never were planning to take the boy's lives at all. You played with her, knowing well that she will believe that you will act on your threats. In turn, if the boys ever turned on you, you have a bargaining chip with them." Blossom marveled at the callous cold-blooded nature of Him's cosmic play despite Him's utter repulsive schemes were bare for all to see. In reality Him has no grand plan, no ultimate goal to fulfill. For Him the mere act of plotting and entwining the brief fates of mortals is purpose enough. There is no end to his scheming for he desires no end to the creation of change.

" _This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it. We fight to deny it, but it is of course pretense. It is a lie. Beneath our poised appearance, the fact is that everything that has a beginning has an end. I see the end coming. I see the darkness spreading._ " Him said with a dark satisfaction, and the Powerpuff Girls looked at Him with a sense of undeniable dread.

"You're getting your ass kicked!" Buttercup roared and lunged towards Him. Him snapped his claw once more and the Powerpuff Girls were engulfed in a reddish-pink fog.

* * *

 _This is bullshit_ , Butch muttered as he regained his consciousness. It had only been seconds, but it felt as if he had just woken up from an eternal slumber. The building appeared to have been blasted by a series of airstrikes and the entire structure had collapsed upon itself. As Butch got out from the rubble, he saw a ghastly sight of mutilated bodies scattered and buried among the rubble. Butch looked around and noticed that Renée is nowhere in sight, causing a bolt of panic within his little heart.

He looked around and saw a block of brick which he started to pick up immediately and threw it behind him over his head. Butch's labored breath is the only sound echoing throughout the site, but Butch can hear two sounds instead. The first sound is his panting breath,the second sound his pounding heart. As he moved the debris, he finally saw a lock of braided brown hair, and he stopped for a moment. The worst possible scenario played in his mind and he immediately intensified his effort to remove the bricks away from the site.

"Hey! Hey! Renée! Wake up!" Butch called out to Renée, and her eyelids slowly opened up to Butch's voice.

Butch was about to breathe a sigh of relief until he was forced to hold his breath. He sensed that something was wrong as her eyes are vacant and glass-like while her complexion is unnaturally pale. A warm and wet sensation from both his hands caught his attention and he lifted his hands towards his area of vision and saw that each one of the bricks is stained with a dark maroon color, coloring his arm in a dark red liquid. Butch immediately threw the bricks away and he frantically moved the bricks away. Slowly but surely, the horrifying extent of the damage is laid bare for Butch to see. Renée's limbs were not present on her torso, and blood is now oozing out from the large wounds. Butch immediately picked her up and started to move away from the site. Butch looked around for a sign of shelter as the sensation of warm blood soaked into his clothes, knowing well that the enemy will shoot them down if they spotted them. A building soon caught his eye,and he immediately rushed towards the building and kicking the door without any hesitation. The door opened up violently and Butch entered the building with a mortally injured Renée. The door slammed behind him, and Butch looked around for a place to rest the injured woman down.

Butch knelt down and rested Renée on a wall, knowing well that he will need to search this building for something that can stop the bleeding. Butch got up once more and his jade eyes are now scanning around before he spotted a first aid kit box nearby. Butch ran over towards the wall and pulled the first aid kit box from the wall. Butch felt a sting in his arm and noticed that he had cut his arm while pulling the box from the wall.

"This is nothing compared to what she's experiencing." Butch muttered and he rushed back towards Renée. Butch's jade eyes widened as he saw the puddle of blood pooling itself under Renée's body and he immediately went to work. Butch tried his best to bandage the woman's wounds and apply pressure the best he could, but the attempts were futile as more and more blood escaped from the woman's building. Butch's frustrations build up and his mind started to fray apart at its seams as he realized the futility of his action.

"Medic! Medic! I swear...I swear, I will not let you die!" Butch screamed out desperately as he tried to administer first aid on his badly injured patient in order to regain a semblance of reality within this surreal situation. Renée's blurring sight looked at the boy with teary green eyes, and she know that her time is slowly coming to an end.

"Please...please stop..." Renée's soft accented voice of the woman reaches his ear, and he stopped for a moment as she leans her head on her shoulders.

"No! I...There's a way to fix this!" Butch voice trembled as he protested, his arm still scurrying in the first aid box to find something to fix the situation. The lady gently leans on Butch's head sideways causing him to turn towards the woman.

"That's enough, I beg you. Please." Renée's voice is filled with anguish and Butch dropped backwards on his rear. By the dark virtue of her lack of limbs, Renée's body remained upright and the woman looked at Butch with her blood-tainted eyes. Streams of blood-filled tears flowed down her cheeks and Butch's pained expression expressed his suffering. The little boy is now sobbing as he combed the brunette's hair while touching the woman's damaged cheeks.

"No, I don't want to..." Butch cried as his lips quiver with sadness. The pale woman smiled as she shushed the sobbing boy.

"I don't have long to live. Unexpected things will happen, Butch. Can you play the song in my music box one more time?"

"I-I-I!" Butch choked up from the emotions welling up inside his body, but he obliged by picking up her necklace and saw the pendant with an emerald stone in the center of a cross. Butch pressed on the emerald for a few seconds and the pendant played a melody.

"Mon Petit Verde, life's a journey, and mine had come to an end..." Renée coughed out blood and blood started to run down on the side of her mouth.

"Please, don't speak anymore! Help's on the way! Medic!"

"But...you know what Butch?"

"Please, please don't leave me..." Butch whimpered.

"There's always a silver lining as every ending has a new beginning. Time will heal all sorrows..."

"Please, don't..."

"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things apply."

"Please!"

"Live Petit Verde, live long ...and ...prosper..."

Butch watched as the blood-red tears ran down her cheeks and the final spark of life escaped her body. The woman's face froze in a kind and gentle smile The lady's last moments are as noble, pure and as bright as the whitest snow. Butch watched as her blood-red tears runs down her cheeks, and her eyes finally becomes glass-eyed and her face froze in a benign and gentle expression. Butch wanted to scream out, but his voice is stuck inside his throat. Instead, a disturbing thought flashed in his mind.

 _Now what?_

That thought scared Butch, for it implied that there is something else that was supposed to happen right about now. Butch wondered how could he think of such a cold and heartless thing after the death of someone he loved with all his heart. But at the same time, something about this situation sowed the seeds for a growing uneasiness. Butch sensed that as traumatic as this can be, something inside his mind felt that something else should happen right about now. Butch looked at the door and wondered if someone was supposed to come barging from the door.

"Why am I expecting someone to come barging from the door in the first place?" Butch wondered and something in his mind felt out of place.

From the puddle of blood, another reddish pink fog formed and Butch jerked back from the is now more confused than before, and Butch found himself questioning his own condition. Yet, the more he questioned himself, the more confused he became. Butch honestly hoped that Brick is around to help him, but he knew that Brick will not be able to help him at all. But if there is one thing he knew, it is the way in which he resolved any uncertainty first.

Butch's fist launched itself towards the fog, only to sense a fist landing itself on his cheek, and his fist making contact with something. Butch was launched away from the fog and slammed on the wall with such force that the wall cracked. Butch looked back at the fog, only to see a teenage girl with a jet-black bobbed hair at the opposite direction. She has a rather boyish charm on her, and Butch is surprised by the presence of such a pleasing person to look at. However, Butch sensed a uneasy familiarity with the woman before him and he squinted his eyes to ascertain her identity. Butch failed to recognize her and his confusion grew exponentially. As for the teenage woman, her lime-green eyes darted around to ascertain her surroundings and her eyes widened up as she saw Butch.

"Fucking hell...Butch?!" The young woman's surprise is also shared by Butch, for he had no idea how this young woman knew him. Several more tower of reddish-pink fogs appeared and as they dissipated, Butch recognized one of the figures revealed from the dissipating fog.

"Blair?!" Butch called out, and the copper-haired young woman's eyes are now facing Butch. She is dressed in the uniform of the government forces, and Butch's eyes immediately glowed in a fiery forest green light. Blair being in the uniform betrayed her true allegiances and he was about to vaporize her with his beam vision before a voice interrupted him.

"Blossom, where are we?" A cutesy voice asked the copper-haired girl, and Butch turned his attention to the origin of the voice. Butch saw a rather busty young woman with a shoulder length blonde hair with baby-blue eyes looking around the room where they are at before her eyes spotted the limbless corpse of Renee. The young blonde woman immediately shrieked, and the dark-haired girl turned towards the source of the blonde girl's distress.

"Shit...what the hell?" The dark-haired girl is disturbed by the sight of the lifeless torso as she voiced her unease.

"Girls, we're back in Butch's dream." The copper-haired girl pointed out with great unease.

"Come again, Blossom?" The dark-haired girl asked.

"Buttercup...this is Butch's greatest trauma. He lost someone important to him in his arms." The copper-haired girl explained with a pained expression.

"Damn...that's messed up." The dark-haired girl turned her attention once more to Butch, her eyes filled with pity and condolences.

"I...we...we...never knew." The blonde teenage girl sobbed, not daring to look at either Butch or the corpse.

"Bubbles, we don't." The green-eyed teenage girl tried to console the blonde young woman.

Butch looked in disbelief as his mind tried to understand what is going on. The presence of three teenage girls with suspiciously similar names to the Powerpuff Girls and the girls calling Blair by her codename is bizarre to say the least. But something sparked in his head, causing a throbbing pain in his head. Butch's mind is making the connections to events that he had experienced before and the imagery of Professor Utonium with the mysterious woman and Blair in the ward struck his mind like a thunderbolt.

"Welcome girls." The three teenagers and the little boy looked around before Butch saw a being dressed in a red dress, fluffy pink collar and skirt and black boots, shocking the Rowdyruff Boy to his core. Butch could not believe his eyes, and his mind immediately realized that something went wrong on so many levels. For one, the being is bright red in color with claws for hands. Butch instinctively jerked away at the sudden appearance of the demonic being.

"HIM!" The three teenage girls exclaimed.

"Him?" Butch uttered out, and the red figure turned around to face the dark-haired boy.

" _Butch, Butch, Butch...finally you have arrived to this point._ " Him grinned, striking fear into the little boy's heart.

"Point? What point?"

" _Huh...I am surprised. You must have known something is wrong for you to move to this point. On all your attempts, you never got past this point before._ "

"Where's Brick?" Bubbles demanded for an answer, suspecting that Him is behind Brick's disappearance.

" _That's odd...the boys aren't here._ " Him is visibly surprised, which in turn caught the girls' attention.

"You...had no idea?" Blossom voiced out her alarm first.

"Nope." Him shrugged.

"But it's your magic trick!" Buttercup pointed out while pointing her finger at the widow-peaked demon.

"What kind of demon are you?" Bubbles cried out,clearly not accepting that Him's magic just went haywire. Him is clearly displeased that the Powerpuff Girls are questioning its mastery of magic, though in the girl's defense it appears that Him's sorcery is just doing its own thing.

"Just admit that you blew it!" Buttercup chastise Him.

"Yeah, just admit it!" Bubbles chimed in.

"It is always wise to admit to one's mistake." Blossom advised without any malice.

" _Shut up._ " At the very utterance of the phrase, the Powerpuff Girls found that they no longer have mouths and they panicked immediately. With a snap of its claw, Him reversed his magic and the Powerpuff Girls regained their mouths back. The Powerpuff Girls were reminded that they are dealing with a being that can warp reality on a whim and they stared at the demon in silence. Seeing that all eyes are now on Him, the effeminate infernal being decided to speak.

" _Where are those two boys anyway?_ " Him asked itself.


	69. Chapter 69: Through A Looking Glass

Chapter 69: Through the Looking Glass

 _Where the hell am I?_

Butch opened his eyes to find himself with each of his outstretched limbs shackled and chained. The last thing he rememberer is how he was ambushed by Him disguised as an old lady and force-fed a forest green 'red candy'. He looked around to see that he is in a chamber of sorts that glowed with an iridescent neon green which hurt his eyes. Butch felt a great ache throughout his body and he wondered what had he gone through to warrant such an ache. Butch's eyes were soon focused on his wrists and soon realized that there were cuts on his wrist around where his wrist met the the shackles that bind him in this bizarre place. He tried to look down but noticed that he is chained above a dark abyss of which he is unable to see the bottom.

 _Is this some kind of prison_ , Butch wondered as he looked around.

 _This is not a prison,_ He tried to look down but noticed that he is chained above a dark abyss of which he is unable to see the bottom.

 _If this is not a prison, then what is this place?,_ Butch soon noticed something that piqued his interest; a mirror. Butch wondered why a mirror is doing in front of him before he noticed a very peculiar scene unfolding before the mirror. It showed Butch screaming hysterically in the hypermarket before he checked himself. Butch wondered what on earth is going on before he realized that this event felt a little more real than he expected.

 _Okay...what is going on? Who's this guy that looks like me?_ , Butch wondered as he watched the body double started to sprint out from the hypermarket. Butch saw himself gasping for air as he ran across the city, and the panic and anxiety in his face painfully apparent. After a while, Butch saw himself stopping and trying to catch his breath with sweat running down his face and brow. Butch saw himself looking up and he noticed a familiar copper-haired teenage girl inside the coffee shop that he saw himself looking to. The female had several books in front of her, and she is writing notes while enjoying a cup of something of which Butch assumed to be coffee.

"Pinkie?" Butch uttered before his body double entering into the coffee shop and proceed to walk towards the counter. Butch watched as he saw the doppelganger tapping his foot impatiently as he made an order with the cashier. The dark-haired teenager soon made his way to the table opposite Blossom and took a seat, and Butch wondered if the body double chose the location with the intention to engage with Blossom. Butch noticed Blossom's brief glance, and her body gesture informed Butch that she is not comfortable with his doppelganger's presence in front of her.

Butch noticed his own pale and lethargic looks as his doppelganger leaned back on his chair and looked up towards the ceiling. Butch found it odd to view his own actions even as his doppleganger slumped down on the chair while straightening his legs. Butch watched as his body double spotted Blossom sitting in the opposite direction. Oblivious to her body gestures, his doppelganger approached the Powerpuff Girl and the jadeite-eyed boy gently pulled a chair and sat in front of the Powerpuff Girl. Seeing that there is no escaping Butch's body double, Blossom decided to make the first move by speaking to Butch's doppelganger first.

 _Pinkie kick his ass...he ain't me!_

"I didn't expect you to be here." Blossom voiced out her honest thoughts,her tone a little sarcastic.

 _Awww come on Pinkie, I though you're smarter than that!_

"Neither do I, neither do I. But I figured that I really need a cup of hot cocoa to calm my nerves." Butch watched with an incredulous look at how the impostor is striking a conversation with Blossom.

"Calm your nerves...from what exactly?"

"A bad nightmare I would reckon. Or perhaps a memory. For me those two tend to mix together and be one and the same."

 _What the_ hell?, Butch felt uneasy over the topic his copy chose to speak to Blossom. The way in which his doppelganger is conducting himself is at odds with how he usually interacted with Blossom, and there is something about the way his doppelganger looked that freaked him out. As he watched the conversation, he sensed that whatever it is that he is saying to her is bizarre. Butch saw the moment where he called her something other than Blossom, despite the girl before him being no one else.

 _If that's not the most obvious thing, I don't know what is!,_ Butch noticed the train of conversation and realized that his doppelganger believed that Blossom is Renee. Blossom on the other hand is acting cool and Butch admired her cool under such an uneasy situation.

 _This fake one is seriously high on something_ , Butch said to himself as he observed how his doppelganger is blurting out things that he is uncomfortable with. Commenting on Blossom's looks and smarts, his dislike of Bubbles on principle, and Bubbles taking his brother away from him. Most disturbing of all, it felt like the doppelganger did not realize that he was talking to Blossom. He had commented on how he liked her, but not as Blossom. It is just too bizarre. Butch slowly came to the conclusion that the doppelganger is indeed high and is imagining things.

"At least with Boomer and Butters, it is Boomer who found out about Butters' weird hobby of playing and spending time with the orphans. But that idiot...he didn't even want to blackmail Butters and instead joined in the fun. Hell, that idiot is the one that first volunteered to help out the Powerpuff Girls when Him's cronies attacked Townsville and told Brick that he will go to the orphanage first. Those two...also another problem waiting to happen. Seriously, Buttercup and my bro being friends is kinda weird, and I think he's slowly falling for that Amazon."

 _Seriously this really made me feel like a snitch_ , Butch noticed as he revealed his brother's little foray with Buttercup. Though to be fair, he did use it once to blackmail Boomer to do his bidding during their time on Mojo's tropical volcanic island.

"Then there's Him. Seriously, what's his game. Bringing us brothers here, and then disappearing like that. Then forced us to fight his minions, and now he wants us to do our part. Poseidon? What the fuck is he calling me Poseidon and telling me to do my-URGH!"

 _Damn, that headache came at the right time,_ Butch commented in his mind. If he had spoken more, Blossom would have known their relationship with Him. He saw his doppelganger being led out from the cafe with Blossom's assistance, only to see his doppelganger flying away into the night sky alone. Butch saw himself returning home to take a rest.

The mirror blacked out, and Butch wondered if this means that it is time for him to rest as well. Butch decided that it is wise to rest, less he be looking into the darkness with nothing to do. Butch closed his eyes and hope that he will be able to rest easily while being chained in such an awkward manner.

* * *

 _Now what?_

Butch woke up to see the mirror showing his doppelganger next to a locker before a girl approached him. Butch is surprised that a girl approached him, and it appeared that she wanted to confess to him. The girl is a simple-looking girl, but is pleasing enough to the eye that Butch admitted that he will try something on her. Such is his usual reaction when it comes to girls that he admitted that the only thing preventing him from chasing her skirt is his particular preferences.

 _Okay...what'cha gonna do fake me?_ , Butch asked himself as he expected the doppelganger to try and do what he would do in that situation.

Instead, he saw his doppelganger outright rejected her like an ass, and he felt bad for the girl. The scene escalated as Butch saw Bubbles approaching him and chewed him out for it. His doppelganger's response made it worse, and Butch honestly did not expect himself saying such things to a girl. The scene escalated as Butch saw himself shouting incoherently and it turned into something worse as the girl that confessed to him tried to calm him down. Butch had attacked a defenseless girl and was about to finish her off when Bubbles punched him in the face. It turned into a slugfest and before long, Buttercup joined in the brawl and Butch saw himself being chased by the Powerpuff Girls.

 _This copy is picking a fight with the Powerpuff Girls?_ ,Butch sensed the stupidity of his doppelganger, but soon sensed that something is very odd. Butch wondered why is he being shown these scenes. As the battle among the Powerpuff Girls and himself waged on, he came to realize that he is not viewing a doppelganger. Butch looked around once more and now understood the prison he is trapped in.

 _Son of a bitch,_ _I'm trapped in my own mind. And this is all really happening. Wait...if that is the case...who the hell is in my body?_

Butch watched in horror as he saw himself battling the Powerpuff Girls in the forests and trying very hard to kill the Powerpuff Girls. To make matters worse, the girls are trying very hard to not do any lasting damage to him thereby limiting their options. The scene became messier as they managed to subdue him thanks to Bubbles shocking him. However, that did not last long and he watched himself rambling on before Boomer came into the picture and knocked him out for good.

"Shit...that's real bad." Butch lamented his actions. The vision in the mirror immediately turned into a nightmarish scene that he is all too familiar with.

The dusty streets are filled with rubble and debris while the blazes of fire are flickering through the holes and exposed parts of the blown-up buildings. The smell of charred flesh and the metallic tint of blood pierced Butch's nose, while the sound of dim explosions and soft crackle of gunfire echoed through the barren city. The still-burning wrecks of main battle tanks and the mangled corpses of the victims of this war zone only served to enforce Butch's recognition of this place. Butch knew the name of this city, and the significance of this city in his living memory.

Butch wondered why is the mirror showing him the god-forsaken city, but his confusion is soon answered by the presence of three little boys sitting upon one of the rooftops in the large, sprawling city. They are all dressed in similar outfits, and Butch remembered the outfits very well; a long-sleeved shirt with colors matching their eye color and with black stripes, along with black pants and black sneakers with white tips and white shoelaces. Those are the first incarnation of the Rowdyruff Boys' clothing before they decided to use the skull with crossbones merged into it to form a stylized 'X' instead. Butch turned pale as scenes from his past in Aleppo slowly played out, and he remembered how he had interacted with the people and surroundings of Aleppo.

The times where they fought in countless battles.

The times where they pulled a prank on the other rebels.

The time when the Rowdyruff Boys joined up with Renee.

The times when they made her life difficult.

The times when she won their hearts.

Butch watched in horror as his memories of the god-forsaken place was shown to him one by one. Both the good, the bad and the ugly.

Then Butch was forced to see the scene that scarred him so.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Butch muttered as he watched the woman that he loved died in his arms.

Butch remembered every excruciating detail of Renee's death, and that drove him further down the road towards an inescapable insanity. Butch gritted his teeth and clenched his fist to such an extent that his mouth and hands started to bleed. To Butch's horror, the scene resets itself and Butch watched in horror as he realized that his time in Aleppo was replayed once more. Every time it will end with Butch reliving the dead of the French woman, and everytime the scene will reset itself in order to repeat the process anew. Butch struggled in his chains as he tried to escape from this cruel and unusual prison, and he screamed with all his might as he was forced to relive the worst moments in his life once more.

* * *

 _How many times has it been?_

Butch said to himself, his eyes now devoid of any life. The scenes happening before his eyes are but blurry motions in his eyes. Butch is unable to see how he will escape his prison. Butch looked down, not wanting to see the mirror any more. Despite that, he is able to hear what transpired in the world of the mirrors. The torture had taken so much out of Butch that he honestly wished that someone will take him out from his misery. Alas, being a superhuman, it is but a stupid wish and he will be trapped forever in this place. His body is now slowly losing all strength, and his mind is now broken. Butch's body had agreed with his own mind, deciding that it is not worth living any more.

Butch had lost all hope, and he honestly wondered if Blossom will want to see him in such a pathetic state.

 _Why am I thinking of Pinkie now?_

Butch find it ironic that Blossom popped up in his last thoughts, seeing that he is never close to her to begin with. To think of someone like that in their final moments made Butch even more miserable. So far, he had lost his sense of touch, smell, and taste, with his sense of sight and sound becoming duller. His mind is now regressing itself of any stimuli, and plunging itself into an abyss. Honestly, he can imagine how Blossom will look down on him as he fade away.

"Butch?"

The voice surprised Butch in its clarity and purity, and as he looked up he saw an unbelievable sight. He is now looking at a slender female figure with a waist-length copper-like hair that has a pinkish tint when sunlight hits it at a certain angle. Butch's jade green eyes widened as the young woma looked at him with bright amaranthine rose colored irises that pierced into his soul. Her fair skin contrasted with the desert yellow shirt and a dull mustard yellow cargo pants that she wore.

"Pinkie?" Butch's voice is but a whisper, but a whisper with a hint of hope.

""How'd you know my name?" Butch noticed that the mirror is now showing him from a first person's perspective instead of the views he is accustomed to seeing while trapped in this prison. Blossom covered her mouth, and Butch noticed that a gun barrel is pointed towards Blossom.

"I...ur...heard about you. And your brothers...um...are good fighters?" Butch watched as Blossom tried to lie, and Butch can't help but to feel a warm feeling inside himself as he watched Blossom being a very bad liar.

 _Seriously, you will get shot for being such a bad liar_ , Butch thought to himself. That saying, he had never seen Blossom lied before and that in itself is a precious sight for him. Butch noticed his brothers entering into the picture and soon enough they started conversing. Butch watched helplessly as he saw the interactions, and he honestly hated the fact that he could not do anything.

"So who's the broad?" Boomer asked, offending Blossom in the process. Blossom glared at the Rowdyruff Boy with such intensity that the blonde balked back. Butch smiled, remembering the first time he saw her giving her death glare at the crooks in the alley.

"I'm no broad, I'm Bl- Blair!" Blossom quickly thought of a name on the spot to prevent herself from blurting out her real name.

"Blair huh?" Brick said dismissively, his condescending manner of addressing her also puts Blossom off.

"At least acknowledge my name damn it!" Blossom yelled at Brick, causing Brick to jump back a little. Butch chuckled, as he had never seen Brick balking from anyone before. Something about Blossom's yelling made him a little more appreciative of her as a person. Blossom is a proud person, and not acknowledging her is a pet peeve. Of which Brick and Butch had taken advantage of before. But this time, she really shined in a way that Butch can't describe in words and he watched the screen more attentively.

As the scenes continued on, Butch noticed that how some of the scenes played out are altered dramatically when Blossom is in the picture. Butch watched as Blossom moved around, and he noticed that his view is always turning towards her direction. Taking a glance at Blossom from time to time , saying something mean to Blossom to draw attention to him, and sometimes just outright looking at her. Butch sensed an odd familiarity as he looked at her, watching from the shadows. From time to time, he caught a glimpse of Blossom helping some of the people in the camp out or trying to communicate with the children.

 _Blossom is just being Blossom_ , Butch thought to himself. However, a scene unfolded where Butch watched Blossom leaning against a wall with no one in sight. Blossom appeared to be rather depressed despite her earlier expressions of smiles and calmness. Butch heard her muttering her sisters' names and Butch sensed her loneliness. Butch felt bad for her, as Blossom do not deserve to be trapped in his hell with him.

 _But why is she here anyway?_ , Butch wondered.

Suddenly Butch heard something cracking and he looked up, only to see the corners of the mirror cracking. Butch wondered why the mirror cracked before he saw himself rampaging in the mirror. Butch watched as they tried to pacify him, and succeeded as Brick kicked Butch in the groin. The mirror turned dark, and Butch heart skipped a beat. Butch felt anxious and before long his breathing had started to become very shallow. Butch felt a sense of great fear gripping his heart, and immediately he started to struggle once more. Butch started screaming, but he knew that no one else will hear him.

Butch screamed and screamed, until his voice cracked. But still he kept on screaming. Not like this, Butch thought. Seeing Blossom had rekindled a flame of hope in his heart, and now it served to plunge him deeper into despair. Butch kept on screaming with his cracked voice until his voice is no more. But yet, still he tried to scream. His inability to voice out his despair only served to dive him deeper into his despair, creating a self-inflicting vicious cycle.

Suddenly, an iridescent green light glowed from the mirror and it blinded Butch for a moment and stopping his voiceless screaming. As his eyes adjusted to the light, Butch watched as the mirror broke apart and he saw Blossom looking at him with widened eyes.

"BUTCH!" Blossom cried, and Butch immediately tried to call out for help. But he had lost his voice, and he regretted screaming. However, his skin felt the warmth and dryness of the air blowing in from the mirror world, and he realized that his senses are coming back once more. As Blossom ran towards him, he saw that the world in the mirror is now connected to his prison. However, as she reached for him, the pieces reassembled itself and he is once more isolated. The mirror recomposed itself and Butch went into a berserk rage as he struggled and he tried to blast the mirror apart with his beam vision, only to realize that he is unable to do so. The chamber's temperature descended into a cold chill and his skin and the mirror went dark once more, engulfing the chamber in pitch black darkness. Butch had never felt so helpless and pathetic, and he finally broke.

For once in his life, Butch had never felt so alone and a cold stream of liquid started to stream down his cheeks from his eyes.

* * *

Butch opened his eyes, and he had no idea of how long has he been unconscious. Butch soon remembered what happened, and his mood darkened once more. He had cried himself to unconsciousness, and it appeared that the mirror is also regaining its he took the time to digest the sight of the room, he noticed that the room is a simple room, with three beds and nothing else of note. The window to the outside is but an opening, the window frame taken out.

 _Now what?_ ,Butch asked himself a simple question and realized that he is weaker than he thought.

Butch noticed that the mirror is now tinted with shades of neon green and he wondered if the trauma combined with Blossom's actions had broken the mirror. Butch watched as the door to the room was opened and he saw two red-haired individuals standing before him. One of them is a young long-haired boy with crimson garnet eyes whom he recognized as his brother, albeit a much younger one. Butch remembered how his brother looked like five years ago, and Butch is unable to resist comparing the younger Brick's looks as compared to present Brick's appearance. The other individual is a female with waist-length hair with the most mesmerizing pink eyes.

 _Brick! Blossom!,_ Butch had never felt so relieved in his life to see people, and he is never a people's person. Even when he spoke to girls and flirted with them, he finds them superficial and hated the world even more.

"Butch!" The boy called out to caught Blossom looking at him with eyes that are both relieved and concerned and something about her rose-colored eyes relieved his soul. A brief exchanged happened and now Blossom is following Butch, only for Butch to let Brick and Blossom pass him and he followed them instead. Butch noticed that Blossom is whispering to his brother before his brother replied in return.

 _They're plotting something_ , Butch thought.

"Ah, I need to get Boomer. " Brick said out loud, and turned to his brother for a did not pay attention to what his point of view character said, and Brick soon split from Blossom and leaving Butch and Blossom alone. Both individuals continued on walking, none saying a word.

Both of them soon entered into the area that they dubbed the 'mess hall' though it is more like an abandoned parking space, with several people serving soups from large cooking pots and unleavened breads for the militia members and the refugees. Nothing fancy, nothing of note, and nothing that stood out. Butch and Blossom made their way towards the food queue through the sea of people dining on the ground. It was uneventful, and both Butch and Blossom were able to get their rations of lentil soup and unleavened bread.

"There's a spot over there." Blossom pointed out, and Butch trailed behind her.

Before long, they reached the spot where they can sit down and take their meal. Butch watched as Blossom gracefully sat down on the ground. Butch noticed that he was standing as his point of view character tore part of the unleavened bread to dip it in the lentil soup. Blossom followed suit and both of them ate their meal in silence.

 _Blossom's graceful but I never see her eat before_ , Butch thought as he observed Blossom having her meal. Among her sisters, Butch always thought that Blossom is more prim and proper than her sisters. Yet, at the same time he always wondered if she is putting up an act. Halfway through their meal, the atmosphere of the mess hall became a little tense as there were more murmurs and whispers among those within the halls. Butch and Blossom noticed the commotion and they looked around only to see Brick and Boomer with two other individuals behind him. One appeared to be a woman in a burqa, while the other appeared to be an injured man with his head wrapped from the eyes up, with blotches of blood visible around the wrappings around the man's eyes. Brick's face is visibly uncomfortable as he asked for the people in the hall to make way. After getting the provisions of food for the two individuals, Brick led them towards where Butch and Blossom were seated.

"Take a seat here." Brick gestured to the lady to sit down and as the lady takes a seat with the injured man, Buch noticed the sky-blue eyes of the lady. The lady winked at Blossom, and immediately Butch knew the identity of the lady. The man struggled to take a seat, but with his hand on the woman's shoulder he managed to take a seat.

 _Bubbles?_ , Butch recognized the eyes of the woman attempting to take his brother's heart. Butch wondered why is the blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl trying this stunt until he noticed that Blossom is now looking at the bandaged man. The mirror's view turned its attention towards his brother, and Butch noticed that Brick is watching the bandaged man with a little bit of a glow in his eye. Butch recognized his brother's intense stares, and the mirror's view turned back towards Bubbles and the bandaged man.

"What happened to them?" Blossom asked Brick.

"Saved them earlier today. Man appeared to be injured by shrapnel, and both the man and his wife are trying to seek shelter. I asked them to take shelter somewhere while I get Boomer just in case we found ourselves in a sticky situation." Brick explained.

"I see." Blossom turned her attention back towards the couple.

"Those animals..." Boomer hissed, and Butch realized that his younger brother is an idiot for not noticing the ploy his brother is playing with the Powerpuff Girls. Alas, Butch is trapped in this pocket dimension and is unable to voice out his disbelief. As Blossom and Bubbles kept the appearances up, the mirror view is now looking at the bandaged man.

 _Well played Brick,_ Butch applauded his brother's deception, and he only knew this after years of being with his brother.

As the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls went on with their meal, Butch continued to observe the bandaged man. Something about his mannerism is particularly familiar to Butch. The way his arms moved, the way the man chewed his food. It did not take long for Butch to recognize the man for who he is. Butch jade eyes widened as the realization of the bandaged man's identity came to mind.

 _Brick?_ ,The mirror cracked as Butch voiced out his realization, and Butch picked up on the moment when it cracked. Butch's instinct smelled something fishy about the mirror and Butch wondered if there is a stimulus for cracks to happen to the mirror. It happened before, and Butch sensed that it is the key for getting out from this pocket dimension. What that is, Butch is not sure but if there is one thing that Butch can trust about himself, it will be his instincts.

* * *

Butch monitored his brothers and the Powerpuff Girls interacted with each other, and he had come to a few ideas of how the mirror cracked. Butch hypothesize that whenever Butch and the person whom he shared his vision with via the mirror came to a certain realization, the mirror will crack. What his point of view character realized is something Butch is unable to guess, but it appeared that both of them are following the same trail of clues.

Butch continued on watching the copper-haired woman as she stopped to look at a few products laid on a carpet by a peddler. Butch had never really observed her in such a manner before, for Blossom had always been a pain at his sides whenever they confronted each other. Butch is always annoyed by the way in which Blossom conducted herself around him, for it always appear that she always had a condescending view of him. But in her own odd way, Blossom earned Butch's respect.

Butch was reminded of Renee as he saw her looking at a pendant from one of the street peddlers, and indeed he had managed to see Renee a few times before. Despite their different facial appearance, the two women shared the same physique and Butch is awed and uneasy by the resemblances. Butch felt something crawling under his skin and a very sad and bitter emotion started to well up within him. Butch is reluctant to admit it, but Blossom and Renee are two different people and should not be compared apple to apple. Both are living beings that deserved to be respected as their own individuals.

 _Shit_ ,Butch realized that he is feeling a sense of guilt as he had never seen Blossom as her own person, and instead as someone who is trying to be a poor imitation of Renee.

"What are ya doing?" A voice called from behind causing Butch to notice a backwards fist swinging backwards. A yelp revealed the identity of the voice to Butch.

"Douche." Boomer called out.

"Anyway,why are you trailing her?" Boomer asked, and Butch is also curious about his point-of-view character's objectives in observing Blossom as well.

"Well she does know our names and she didn't fear us when she first noticed who we are." Boomer pointed out.

 _That made sense_ , Butch admitted. Knowing that his point-of-view character is his younger self, it would only be natural to be suspicious of people that knew his true identity.

"Nah, she asked me to read out a letter that she wanted to send to her family-" Boomer was hit on the head by his brother before he could even complete his sentence. Butch is amazed how easily angered his younger self is by any little comment that he disliked.

"Boomer,you idiot! That could be a coded message that she can send to our enemies!" Butch loudly hissed at his brother,almost forgetting that he was supposed to be spying on Blair. Boomer realized the folly of his actions as he shifted his body uncomfortably. There were several more conversations before Butch noticed that his younger self decided to use physical force towards his brother. Before long, Butch is watching the first person's view of a wrestling match between Boomer and himself.

"What on earth are you two idiots doing?" A stern voice asked the two wrestling boys. Butch started rolling his eyes as he realized how stupid is younger self is as he heard Boomer and perhaps even himself revealing their suspicions.

"Information?" The voice queried,curious about the accusation. Butch shook his head, knowing that this is getting worse by the moment. Butch's disappointment is confirmed when Blossom's sour tone voiced her displeasure.

"So you are tailing me because you think I'm a spy."

As both Boomer and Butch stopped pulling at each other's clothes and looked up, Butch saw a slender copper-haired teenage girl looked at them with a dark stare, two rose-colored eyes stared directly into their soul,sending a chill down his spine. Her stare is ice-cold, like the coldest of tundras in the harshest Arctic winter. Her underlying lividness is a force to be reckoned with and Butch had no idea if Brick's intimidation stare or Blossom's livid stare is scarier.

Butch observed the background and saw a subtle reflection from one of the buildings from a building three blocks away. Butch's countless battlefield experience informed his mind of the nature of the object and his instincts blared the severity of the threat. Fortunately for Butch, his younger self had also noticed the threat and proceeded to neutralize the threat. However, the sound of a bullet travelling through the air is heard and the sound of it entering flesh and impacting bone is heard shortly after.

The scream of the victim turned Butch cold, as he realized who was shot by the bullet. Through the chaos of running civilians, Butch's view is now focused on Blossom lying in the pool of her own blood, her copper-colored strands of hair is sticking into the puddle of blood like strands of spider's web.

"What the hell?!" Butch is clearly shocked by the event, for he did not expect Blossom to be hurt by a normal bullet. Butch watched as his younger self helped the copper-haired girl up. Butch's ears picked up on the labored breathing of the injured girl, before the sound of Blossom groaning in pain replaced the sound of the labored breathing.

The view turned into an X-ray view, scanning Blossom from top to the bottom, immediately spotted the bullet had penetrated the shoulder and coming out from her chest. It appeared that bullet did not hit any vital organs but the wound require further medical attention. Butch saw as the Powerpuff Girl was moved, causing her to groan in protest and pain. Butch saw as the view turned towards a lane, and Butch saw that Blossom's arms are wrapped around his neck. Butch watched as the view of his surroundings became a blur.

"Come on you little piece of shit, move your legs..." Butch muttered. The scene in the mirror started to flash with some odd images and to his surprise, the vision is not colored in hues of green.

"STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH ME PINKIE! TELL ME!"

Butch heard his own voice shouting, before realizing the scene being shown on the mirror had changed. Butch recognized it as one of the classrooms of Townsville High and a familiar slender knee-length copper-haired lady with a red ribbon is now standing before him, with eyes closed.

"STOP!" Blossom shouted.

"Shit..." Butch uttered.

 _What the hell am I doing_ , Butch heard a younger voice echoed in the chamber as the vision in the mirror became a blur. Butch recognized his younger voice, and it it a surreal feeling that Butch is unable to shake off. Butch recalled this scene, for it is the day where he saw Blossom wearing the pendant of the Frenchwoman, causing him to react in an unsavory manner.

"Butch? What's going on?" Blossom asked.

"Blossom, what's going on? Sounds like there is a fight and suddenly Butch is crying and stuff." One of the student asked Blair as her slender fingers pats the head of the Rowdyruff Boy.

"I'm taking him over to the nurse's office. Just inform Miss Krakow for me will you, Tim?" The rose-eyed girl informed the student. The student nods and Blossom led the student out from the class.

"Alright, come on Butch. I need you to walk with me alright?" Blossom asked Butch to cooperate with her, and surprisingly he is complying with her.

 _Damn...she really was trying to help me_ , Butch thought as he saw how Blossom tried to help him in his weakest moment.

Butch watched as he realized how Blossom took the pains to navigate through the school corridor in such a way that the path they took towards the nurse's office is the path with the least amount of people, if not the one with no people. From time to time, Butch noticed how Blossom paused for a moment, to allow people to pass by them before she continued on their journey. Butch watched as she looked down from time to time to check up on him, and Butch did not see eyes bothered by the inconvenience of having a crying Rowdyruff Boy in her arms. Instead, he saw a pair of kind and gentle rose-colored eyes looking out for him.

They soon entered into the nurse's office, and Butch was lead towards one of the chairs, and Butch saw the red-haired Powerpuff Girl biting her lip as she watched him. Two slender arms reached out towards Butch and Butch was pulled into the Powerpuff Girl's embrace and Butch remembered the moment.

Her body.

Her smell.

Her kindness.

Butch remembered everything from that moment, and he wondered how on earth can such a saint exist. But here she is, accepting his weakness and consoling his soul.

"You alright?" The rose-eyed girl asked, her uncertainty clear in her voice.

"Not really, Pinkie." Butch heard his voice is filled with sadness, and his view backed away to see Blossom looking at him with a worried expression, yet filled with kindness and tenderness. Blossom's arm reached out to his own and touched him for a brief moment.

"I see..." The teenage girl trailed off.

"Thanks."

"Thanks for?"

"Thanks for bringing me here, and..." Butch watched as Blossom gave him a small smile, and her simple and sweet smile is bliss. The mirror's view trailed towards the pendant and he noticed that the slender redhead lifted her hair as she took the necklace off her neck and passed the necklace to the male teenager.

"Go ahead Butch." Blossom beckoned, and the jadeite-eyed teenager held the pendant into his palm. A finger pressed on the emerald on the pendant before it opens up to play a somber song once more. His eyes turned to the cover of the pendant and he showed the pink Powerpuff Girl the words that are carved into the cover of the pendant.

"No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things still apply." The girl read it out loud and Butch saw two pink rose-colored eyes looking back at him.

The view changed once more Butch noticed that the mirror is now showing the view of Blossom being taken off his shoulders. A cracking sound is heard and Butch is no longer paying attention to the images shown on the mirror as he noticed another large crack coursing towards the center of the mirror.

* * *

Butch opened his eyes once more, only to notice that the mirror is now showing a view of Blossom's back. Blossom turned around rapidly,only for her to growl in pain before she gently moved around stiffly to face Butch once more. Blossom clearly did not expect her visitor, and Butch watched as Blossom converse awkwardly with him. Somehow, one way or another, Butch is now starting to feel what his younger self is feeling.

 _This is so creepy,_ Butch thought to himself, as he sensed that his younger self is feeling uncomfortable around Blossom. That in turned caused Butch to sense that his younger self had said something stupid, as Blossom fought back.

"No, but I sure did not get myself into a seizure and got knocked out for days at a time."

Butch sensed that something is happening again as the mirror started to crack once more. He watched as Blossom continued on with her banter, and he soon noticed that Blossom's dialogue is oddly familiar.

"You better keep that mouth shut and...did you say lovely?"

 _Hold on, why does this sound so familiar_ , Butch wondered.

"Spare me your morality and talk, Butch. Or perhaps I should slice that tongue of yours off to silence that insolent tongue."

 _Wait..._

"Sorry but I don't take rotten goods, especially spoiled brats such as yourself Butch."

 _I know this..._

"You? Fine wine? Please Butch! Put yourself into a recycling plant, at least they would melt you up to become something useful. Or would you preferred to be shattered to a thousand pieces? I would personally prefer you to be skinned alive."

"Oh snap." Butch's mind soon recalled their banter during the swimming lessons in P.E, and he watched Blossom recanted the lines word for word. Butch sensed that Blossom is up to something, and she is trailing the right trail of breadcrumbs for the cracks on the mirror increased with every word she said. Butch watched as some of the shards of the mirror started falling apart, lifting Butch's hopes up.

It was then that one of the shackles holding his arm broke off.

Butch's jade eyes saw the chain falling down from an unknown point and descended into the abyss. It took a while before Butch felt a pull from the weight of the chains and Butch knew that the chain is truly his for him to use in any way he deemed fit. Seeing his chance, Butch swung the broken chain towards the mirror, and the length, weight and velocity of the whipping chain is such that the chain slammed into the mirror and shattered the entire reflective surface of the mirror immediately. Several large shards broke away from the mirror and Butch is now smiling devilishly at the opportunity that was given to him.

"She found the key to get my ass out of here." Butch smirked as he realized what she had done; Blossom is trying to make the other Butch to recall things that happened in the real world, thereby shattering this illusion that they are trapped in. And Blossom is scoring with distinction. Even though it is a long shot, but it is a shot that Butch will take to get out from here. Butch wanted to let Blossom do the job for him, but he heard the line that made him think otherwise.

"Want to try it out now, Butch? Come and get it." Blossom's blatant challenge and charmingly playful expression and gesture that borders almost on sexual flirting triggered Butch.

 _That's more like it_ , Butch smirk became a grin as he admitted that this is much better than being a distressed knight being saved by the damsel. That alone  
motivated Butch to do his best to get out of this prison before she lets him out. Butch decided in his heart that he will be the one that will be released from this prison, and it will not be Blossom. Butch owes Blossom nothing, and he want it that way. Butch wants to have a clean slate with Blossom, and even all the other Powerpuff Girls.

"You're on, Pinkie."

Butch uttered before the hole was patched up once more and the chamber is once again enveloped by darkness. However this time, Butch knew that with an arm free, he can try and do something from his side.


	70. Chapter 70: Look What the Abyss Caught

Chapter 70: Look What The Abyss Caught

"Him seems distracted." Bubbles pointed out, as Bubbles and Buttercup had never seen Him being so distracted before in their encounters with Him and that is a cause of alarm.

"Looks like a good time to kick his ass." Buttercup whispered but the demon paying no heed to them and staring up towards the ceiling deep in thought.

Bubbles and Buttercup glanced at each other before deciding that they will be taking the first initiative. Both Bubble and Buttercup sprinted towards Him, with Buttercup releasing a left hook while Bubbles went with a sweeping right kick. To their surprise, Him moved backwards, causing both Bubbles and Buttercup to lose their mark. Unfazed, Bubbles and Buttercup pressed on with their offense and threw a dizzying array of kicks, punches and anything that they can think of to bring the demon done. Him tilted its head slightly to avoid a wide hook from Bubbles' right arm, and bent its knees to cause Buttercup to miss her stomping motion towards the side of Him's knee causing Buttercup to miss utterly. Both Powerpuff Girls continued on their attack, their misses frustrating them enough to act even more recklessly than before.

Blossom watched from afar and watched in amazement as Him is dodging their every blow without even putting any effort. Still, Him could have struck the girls down if it wanted to, but Blossom noticed that Him is looking out for something else as if being bothered by something in its mind. Blossom is worried that Him is planning something else that defies all logic and rationality. Him had been known to come up with the most damning of schemes in the simplest manner or the most convolutedly pointless scheme in the grandest manner, but which one is in Him's thought is unknown to the fiery copper-haired girl. Blossom need to know what Him is thinking about as it could be the key to getting them all out from this dream world.

"What...the...hell?" A young husky boy's voice interrupted Blossom's observation. Blossom turned her attention towards Butch and noticed that a dire situation is happening with Butch. Butch's jade-green irises are cracking with every second, and Butch's skin is now a pale greenish glow. Butch looked at his hands and saw the skin on his hands peeling away like dried paint, and Blossom covered her mouth at the horrifying sight.

"Butch?" Blossom touched the Rowdyruff Boy on the shoulder only to feel his body is cold to the touch, to the point where it is like touching a block of ice. Blossom jerked her arm back, and Butch stared at Blossom with cracked jadeite eyes. Blossom heard a cracking sound, and she immediately looked around to see that the world is now cracking and falling apart, causing the world to be bathed in an ominous green glow.

"Blair...don't...leave...me..." Butch pleaded as a string of dark green liquid started flowing out from his eyes, mixed with his tears. Blossom's body wanted to jerk back at the horrifying sight, but if it is horrifying for her then how would Butch feel?

Blossom immediately hugged the Rowdyruff Boy, but she is clueless why she did it in the first place. Perhaps it is because of how painful and agonizing Butch looked. Perhaps it is because Blossom wanted to protect Butch from the collapsing world. Perhaps it is because Blossom wanted to comfort Butch and assure him that everything will be alright. Perhaps it is something else entirely that Blossom is not aware of. But the sobbing boy in her embrace allowed Blossom to stop wondering why and knowing instead that it is the right thing to do. Butch is now howling as he gripped on her clothes and her chest becoming wet with his tears, and Blossom slowly caressed his head, trying her best to comfort the mentally broken Butch.

As their world is turning into a mess, Blossom wondered is this is how it will all end. She had never expected herself to be trapped in a dream of a Rowdyruff Boy, let alone facing what appear to be her final moments. Or perhaps this dream is exactly what is flashing in her mind as she descend into the abyss of an eternal sleep. Blossom closed her eyes, deciding that it will not matter. All that mattered right now is for her to give Butch a humane way of leaving the world, a way in which he knew that there is someone that cared about him.

Blossom's eyes opened wide with surprise as the sound of cracking glass echoed in her ears before she saw the little boy in her arms shattered into countless pieces. Blossom lost her balance and she was swallowed by the dark abyss that filled the space where the little boy was a few moments ago. Blossom braced herself as the storm of shards sliced her skin as she descended into what appear to be a bottomless pit and she felt the acceleration building up exponentially as she freefall into the abyss. Blossom's mind is filled with only one thought in mind, which escaped her mouth.

That thought is incoherent, and it came out in an audible mess.

* * *

Butch had been hard at work with his attempts to break the mirror with the broken chain shackled on his free arm. However, the mirror is harder than he thought. He had broken the mirror to the extent that he no longer can see any images from the mirror, but even then the mirror will not shatter like the first time it shattered.

"Come on, come on!" Butch grew more impatient and desperation grew with every whip of the chains on the mirror. Butch knew that there is an immediate effect from his efforts as he slowly felt that the emotions from the younger Butch is now slowly merging with his own. Butch's instincts is telling him that the little Butch from the other side of the divide is one step short of an utter meltdown. Butch really hope that the Powerpuff Girls and his brothers are doing what they need to do to stop that meltdown.

Or better yet, get him out from here before that happened.

Butch screamed in frustration as his patience had finally ran out, but his frustrated venting is soon eclipsed by something much louder. Butch had not heard anything else during his time in this dimension prison and the screech definitely caught his attention. Butch immediately stopped and he looked up towards the source of the high-pitched screeching that is getting louder as it approached.

 _Something is coming my way,_ Butch started to turn his wrist around to wrap the chains around his arm. Confident that he got a firm wrap around his arm, Butch slowly cranked the chain by swirling his arm in a winding motion. Butch is ready to attack if the source of the ridiculously loud screeching proved to be a threat to him.

* * *

Butch's ears soon picked up on the ruffling of clothing masked by the screeching sound as it passed him.

 _Sounds like a crashing bat crying out for help_ , Butch thought as the shrieking rapidly became more muted as the voice distanced itself once more from Butch. However, Butch picked up on a very subtle sound. The sound is a familiar sound, and a sound he is rather familiar with.

Something unexpected.

Something that is at the tip of his tongue, but will not leave it.

Something tells him that it will need to do something about it.

Something says he _needs_ to catch it.

Without a moment's hesitation, Butch whipped the chain out towards the source of the voice like a fisherman casting his fishing line. The chain slowly uncoils from his arm as it sped into the darkness below. The sound of the chains straightening up and speeding into the abyss echoed in the darkness as it traveled towards the rapidly muting sound of the cry. Butch wondered why he did what he did, but his instincts told him that that sound is his salvation. Butch no longer hear the loud, harsh cry and his heart stopped. Butch wondered if he had failed, before a sudden pull on his wrist assured him that he had caught his quarry. That or the quarry had caught his chains.

 _Son of a gun, so that's how it feels like to be a bungee jumping rig_ , Butch struggled as he tightened his muscle to prevent his arms from being dislocated from the recoiling force of the chains and the weight of the object he had just caught. The strain on his muscles is compounded by the fatigue from the countless times he had lashed the chain towards the mirror. Butch gritted his teeth and took it all with every fiber of muscle within his body. Fortunately for Butch, the sensation only lasted for a few moments before the recoil stopped.

* * *

Blossom's mind is blank and she had never screamed as much as she did before in her life, and never in such a high pitched before. Tears came out from her eyes as she felt the forces of gravity and the cold winds pressing itself upon her. Blossom clearly do not see any last moments flashing before her eyes, and her fear is clearly overwhelming her mind instead. This is not the way to die, and Blossom's subconsciously hated the fact that she is always thrown into situations that forced her to be engulfed in such overwhelming fears and terrors.

Blossom's shriek was cut short as she felt a weird wrapping sensation. Before her mind even registered what exactly wrapped around her waist, a rude pull stopped her in mid-air causing a very uncomfortable gut tightening sensation followed by a violent bouncing recoil launching her up again once more. By this time, she had lost her voice and can only watch in abject horror as she felt the sensation of bouncing up and down in the void. Somewhere in amidst this assault on her senses and her mind, Blossom's mind decided to take the most logical course of action.

She knocked herself out.

* * *

 _I don't sense any movement,_ Butch wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but he paused for a moment. What felt like a few minutes passed before Butch realized what is is now concerned about what happened to the thing he had just caught.

Did the chain caught whatever he caught by its neck and killed the thing he caught instead? What if he had just inadvertently broke its back as the chains wrapped around its body? Butch cursed, as he never consider any of these kinds of things ever. Butch always acts before realizing the consequences, and he wondered if he had screwed up his chances. To his relief, he felt some weight started to shift from the chain, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Butch's arm swayed from the movements as the object that he had caught had started moving, and he had to use every fiber of his muscle make sure that he did not dislocate his shoulder from the shifting weight below. Butch sensed that the weight is slowly pulling his hand down, and every time Butch tightened and braced his arm, he sensed that the weight is moving upwards towards where he is. Slow and clumsy, but the object that he caught felt like it is moving in a methodological manner.

 _Coming up huh,_ Butch reasoned as he felt the chain and the distribution of the weight moving closer. He had no idea how long it will take for the object to come towards him, but if his hunch of the object is wrong he can always use it as a morning star to break the mirror.

 _Killing two birds with one stone_ , Butch thought. However, his instinct told him that using whatever he caught as the head of his improvised morning star will not be the best use of the object he caught. His response will depend on what will the thing he caught will do.

Butch is patient enough to wait for what appeared to be hours at hand, but he felt that whatever it is that is climbing up is taking far too long to reach where he is. The sudden stop in its movements confirmed his suspicions and Butch can only think of two reasons why that would happen; it is a very long way down or the object is not very athletic. Butch decided that it is time for him to do his part and he started to wrap the chains around his arms in a circular manner and slowly winding up the chain. Butch winced at the sharp pain he felt around his wrists as he stressed the movement of wrapping the chains around his forearm.

The apparent cuts and wounds around his wrists is also getting to him. The countless swinging of the chains to break the mirror had cut his wrist enough to break through his skin. This situation had also hastened the weakening of his muscles, for right at this moment is losing enough of his strength from the countless whipping of the mirror and holding the weight of the mysterious object had in turn reopened some of his wounds. He rather get it done with so that he can decide for himself if his action is a stupid one. Butch frowned as he assured himself that there is always Option Two if it is not what he expected it to be. He personally hoped that he can use Option Two as it is easier to deal with.

But what is Option One to begin with?

* * *

Blossom gasped for air as she regained her consciousness. Blossom's forehead is soon sprouting cold sweat and her mind froze for a moment as she slowly breathed, a great sense of relief flooding in her body. Her rational mind is now trying to recall what had just happened to her and as her memory returned, her subconscious is glad that she had just survived a freefall into the abyss somehow. Her rose eyes soon picked up on the odd situation she had found herself; she is now apparently suspended in mid-air amidst the abyss.

"How?" Blossom asked herself. Blossom tried to look around only to feel the pull of something wrapping around her chest, waist and hips and she slowly felt the object wrapping around her body with her hands and felt the cold, hard and segmented parts of a chain wrapping around her. That made sense, Blossom thought as she remembered that she was bouncing up and down like a human yo-yo. She slowly felt that the chain was tied firmly around her waist, becoming a harness that is now the literal lifeline for her.

"Well, now let's see here," Blossom immediately looked up to see the chain leading up in the darkness, "Do I even have a choice?"

Blossom knew the answer to her rhetorical question and she sighed. Blossom had never been the most athletically able among her sisters and seeing the path laid before her send a shiver down her spine. If she had her super-strength, Blossom will be able to climb up the chains in a split moment. But right now, she sensed that her strength is still that of a normal human. That means that she will have a hard time scaling up the chains. She lifted her hands above her head before grabbing the chains and attempted to pull herself up.

"Urgh...come on Blossom, you can do this..." Blossom tried to give herself the confidence and encouragement she needs to pull herself up, and she felt a great pull from her back muscles and her arms. Fortunately for her, her training boot camp at the hands of Major Bradshaw had prepared her for such a situation. She remembered the training where she was forced to scale up a rope towards the ceiling of the hangar with only her forearms and legs, and she allowed her body to move based on her kinesthetic memory of the activity. It helps that she had done that rope-climbing when she was having a dose of Antidote X in her body, and her body is able to remember the movements due to her current depowered state.

"One small movement at a time..." Blossom reminded herself as she pulled herself up with every fiber of her body. Blossom felt a portion of the chains touching her legs as she pulled herself further up the chains and she wrapped a portion of the chains around her ankles. Blossom reasoned that she rather be safe than to be sorry and she stopped for a moment to make sure that the chains around her ankles are firmly in place before moving up the chain.

Blossom continued on climbing the chain, and before long the bronze-haired girl wondered how long is the chain to begin with as she felt her body protesting with every pull. She looked down to see the parts of the chains that was extending into the abyss below her appears to be very long, and she wondered if she will need to get back some of the chains to prevent any unforeseen situations. At the same time, the chains do add to her climbing weight and she is now feeling the weight of the chain.

"I need to take a rest." Blossom said to herself as she took some of the chains and wrapping it around her around her waist, thus suspending her for a moment while freeing her hands. Blossom started panting as she completed her task, and she is now sweating in the midst of this cool and dry abyss. Her body temperature started rising and she wished that there is some water for her to drink to quench her parched throat. Blossom decided to unbutton her shirt to cool down her body, revealing a short-sleeved white t-shirt as she flipped the shirt over her shoulders and let it drape down like a skirt around her waist.

Blossom hoped that the chain will not be a cosmic joke that will force her to climb up in perpetuity, but her mind often considered the worst situations first before the brighter ones. That is how she had always worked, and that is how she always be crazy prepared.

But nothing will prepare her for what comes next.

"Am...I...moving upwards?" Blossom looked up as she saw the chains started moving upwards and she started loosen up the chain around her waist. Although it appeared that it is a very convenient event to happen to her, but her life had taught her that things like this is when the worst will always happen. She decided that she will need to be prepared for whatever that will come her way.

* * *

Butch whirled the chains with every ounce of his strength and his eyes slowly but surely caught something as the object slowly emerged from the abyss and the light from the broken mirror shined itself on the incoming object. There is a shimmering reflection from the object as it registered in Butch's eyes and Butch squinted his eyes to get a better view of what exactly he had caught.

To his surprise, the shimmering object appeared to be the reflection of light on a person's hair and the person is now looking at his direction with two wide open eyes. Butch digested the sight he is looking at as he saw a young woman wearing what appeared to be a t-shirt of some kind tinted by the greenish hue from the mirror. To his surprise, it appeared that the young woman is wearing an army uniform. Butch recognized the waist length hair and those unique slender arms, and he smirked as he even recognize the woman's lack of breasts.

There is now no doubt in his mind as to who he had just caught with his chain.

"Well guess what I caught." Butch jested with the Powerpuff girl, and he is surprised by his uplifted mood at her presence.

"Butch?" The young woman called out to Butch as Butch brought her closer to him.

"Please move your fat ass up, will you?" Butch asked rhetorically.

"Who are you cal-"Blossom was about to snap back at Butch until she felt a drop of something falling down on her face.

Blossom wiped the liquid from her face and her face paled at what it is. At that moment, she looked at the chain that she had been climbing on originated from the chain binding Butch's wrist. Her eyes caught on the small presence of a dark liquid dripping from his wrists and the presence of caked blood around the shackles. The chains wrapped around his forearm appeared to be of a considerable mass, and his body and arm are now showing signs of fatigue. Blossom also saw the signs of sleep deprivation from Butch's haggard appearance and near-lifeless eyes appearance appeared to have gone through countless hells. His gaunt appearance made him look almost ghoul-like, and that shocked her.

"Looked as if you just saw a ghost." Butch's voice is filled with boyish cheekiness, before he realized that Blossom is staring at him as if he is a man possessed. Butch sensed that something that he had taken for granted is not apparent for the slender girl to comprehend. Butch stopped winding the chains, and Blossom sensed a slight drop as she sensed Butch's lost of strength.

"Hold on Butch..." Blossom called out to Butch, and she started to loosen the chain that allowed her to rest statically while being hung in mid-air. Once the chains are undone, Blossom started to climb up once more. Butch felt the weight, but this time it felt much lighter for some reason.

 _No, this is not her physical weight,_ Butch realized that the weight he was experiencing is the one in his heart. It had become much lighter that when he was alone. But perhaps more importantly, he recognized those almond-shaped eyes with those long eyelashes and her smooth and radiant heart-shaped face. He had never really paid too much attention on Blossom's facial features before, but the lack of any human contact for an insurmountable amount of time had allowed him to appreciate her facial features. Blossom's ingredients as Buch recalled is 'everything nice' and it is now being truly reflected on Blossom as she slowly approached him. He had never seen such a pristine presence before in his life, and Butch is watching her in silence as she drew closer.

On Blossom side, her observation of Butch is not as aesthetically focused as Blossom scanned her surroundings. Each of Butch's other limbs are shackled and chained by chains that stretched into the darkness, binding him like a real-life Prometheus before an object. Upon a closer look, Blossom realized that the object that emanated the immediate space around Butch in a soft but sinister green glow is a cracked mirror. Blossom finally understood why she was abke to see Butch during the reality-shattering moments. She had read on how the mind can be shattered by a psyche broken by epiphanies and revelations, but never in such a literal manner. Blossom reached Butch after a time, and she is now finally looking eye to eye (to be exact she is fully two and a half heads shorter than Butch, but that is inconsequential here) with the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Hi." Butch greeted her, and Blossom can see the strain on his face as he supported her body weight. Blossom answered and Butch is greeted by Blossom hopping towards his body and hugging him by the neck. Blossom's slender body pressed on Butch's own and he is surprised by this bold action from the Powerpuff Girl and as a man, Butch is not complaining. Her legs moved around and for some inexplicable reason it felt a little more sensual than it should be. Butch looked down to see that Blossom is freeing the chains from her ankles.

"That should ease up...the strain on your body...so that you can uncoil the chains...from your forearm." Blossom informed as she struggled to release the chains from her ankles.

 _I'm feeling a strain of a different kind_ , Butch replied in his mind, for the way in which Blossom moved while being close to him is creating several instinctive bodily reactions. Butch wished that Blossom had a little more common sense in her to realize what she is doing, but common sense tends to not go well with book smarts. Instead, Butch decided that he will need to be the one that need to stop her.

"You're rarely considerate about me in any way before." Butch pointed out as he unwind the chains from his forearm, and Blossom saw the marks of the chain are painfully imprinted on his forearm as the chains finally descended into the abyss below.

"Sorry." Blossom answered.

 _That stopped her,_ Butch is relieved when Blossom stopped moving and pressing on his body, and he assumed that her apology is done with sarcasm. Butch's instinct had been to say something to respond to Blossom's sarcastic response. However, that instinct did not come as he sensed no aggression from Blossom. Butch then realized that Blossom's apology had been an honest and genuine response.

"Oh...you're serious." Butch felt bad when he realized that he had thought about something much more malicious from Blossom's response. It appeared that the same response is also shared by Blossom.

"Yes." Blossom answered the wiry teenager curtly, and Blossom looked away from Butch. Blossom is not going to show him her facial expressions.

"Sorry. Gotten too used to you chewing me or dissing me." Butch apologized, which Blossom finds surprising as well.

"You're apologizing? That's new..."

"There's always a first time for everything Blossom...What's wrong?" Butch noticed that Blossom's eyes are now looking at him with surprise, and he wondered if he should not have said anything at all. Fortunately for Butch, his simple mind protected him from the consequence of his words.

"Nothing...as you are right that we often go out of our way to bicker." Blossom answered sheepishly.

Blossom admitted to herself that barring that one moment where he had cried over her shoulders, there had been no other moment where she had spoken to him in a manner befitting a relationship, either as an acquaintance or even a friend. More often than not,her suspicion of Butch's nature is over at the forefront of his dealings with him and that had colored her interaction with him in a particular hue. She had never taken the chance to know him, and by that extension the Rowdyruff Boys like her sisters. Seeing Butch in such a haggard state had humbled Blossom for she had experienced his issues and insecurities in his dream world, causing her to respect him much more. His response are also less egotistical and it is much more humble, and Blossom can sense his vulnerabilities being shown to her like an open book. Butch's apology is also out of place precisely because it is not filled with any form of ego embedded in it, and it is expressed from the bottom of his heart.

"True. We never had a proper conversation. Thought to be fair, I tried to have one on the first day we met after all these years." Butch revealed.

"You did?" Blossom did not expect Butch's admission.

"Too bad I'm stupid enough to forget that there is so much animosity among us that you'll be suspicious of us. I'm an idiot. Brick sensed it and came to help me, thinking that I screwed up. Well...I did, but not in the way he expected. Did not help that Buttercup came in to defend your from my brother. I was pissed that our conversation went down the wrong route, and Brick and Buttercup only served to escalate it."

Blossom did not respond to Butch. She never realized that that their first day meeting after fifteen years was a mess caused by her distrust, and that made her inevitably the villain in their first encounter after all these years. Butch noticed that Blossom had went under the weather, and her expression is that of guilt.

"No worries Blossom. We are created to kick your asses anyway, and it is only right for you to be suspicious of us. Especially me." Butch chuckled.

Blossom nodded as she understood what Butch meant. Among his brothers, Butch is perhaps the most outwardly bloodthirsty and brutal of the bunch, willing to pick a fight and enjoying every moment of it. It does not help that he is the tallest and strongest among his brothers, providing Butch with a rather intimidating appearance. For a man to have a height of six feet and four inches tall with lean, wiry muscles and a fighter's build is a very intimidating and impressive sight. How Buttercup is able to face him after all this years proved how tough and brave Buttercup is when it comes to fighting.

"Anyway Blossom, how the hell did you came in here screaming anyway?"

"You knew it was me?"

"Not exactly as you're far too shrill for me to know who you were. But if there is one thing that made me instinctively catch you, it will be the way your hair flutter in the winds. It plays like a stringed instrument-a harp- playing a heartfelt melody that pulled on a person's heartstrings. Well, only supers can hear it, but yes, it is a very unique sound that only grew more beautiful with age. You should thank your flaming locks of copper-auburn hair, for it made me save your ass." Butch shrugged, never realizing that he had just complimented Blossom.

"No...I don't think..." Blossom did not finish her sentence and turned her head away, blushing at Butch's compliment. She clearly did not expect her hair to be described in such a manner, and in a way complimenting her as well.

"It's the gospel truth." Butch responded, not realizing how smooth his words are.

"Anyway...I...I think I need to-"Blossom was interrupted by Butch before she could even explain the situation from the very beginning.

"I'm trapped in my illusions and hallucinations. That I know. The mirror's been showing me stuff. " Butch pointed with his head towards the heavily-cracked mirror and he hoped that he can save Blossom the explanation.

"You...you are aware of everything that happened?" Blossom expressed her surprise at Butch's awareness of the situation. Butch shrugged, and Blossom can feel the slight tensing of Butch shoulder's before the jade-eyed teenager's muscle loosened once more.

"Not everything but mostly everything...from the time an impostor met you in the cafe doing your homework to that point where you were shot. That mirror's been showing me what happened, and had been tormenting me so. Tell me the stuff after you tried to flirt with that young clone of me. That is when one of the chains of my arm broke and allowed me to break the mirror to try and get my ass out of here. Have not been seeing stuff since then." Butch implied to Blossom that he desire to know the events from that moment leading up to their current situation.

"Butch...those are not impostors."

"Huh?"

"They are not impostors."

"But, I won't do those-"

"Stuff happened and you caused a lot of trouble. Him caused a scene, and before we know it... you are now trapped in your dreams. My sisters and I entered into your dreams to get you out. No...not just you, and your brothers." Blossom broke the news to Butch, and Butch closed his eyes and breathed in deeply before exhaling his breath.

"Ah shit. Those were real...that is messed up." Butch tried to look away from Blossom, but it is very hard to do so when Blossom is holding on him.

"Yes, and I appreciate that you called me a sexy bookworm." Blossom informed Butch, deciding that she needs to have a little fun.

"Shit..." Butch realized that he is now ensnared in Blossom's net, and had nothing to prove otherwise. Blossom smirked, knowing that she had something to use against him the next time they banter. Seeing that she had her little fun, she continued on.

"Anyway, after that we could not find you and lots of things happened. Time is running out, and we need to get you out or else we will all be in trouble. Him's in here and my sister's are fighting against Him, while your brothers had disappeared. Something happened to little Butch, and now I am here." Blossom decided that there is far too much things to explain and she needs to get Butch up to speed without the glut.

"What happened to little me?" Butch asked.

"When I found you, you had started cracking and you are in distress. I took you in my arms...and I entered you." Blossom clearly did not have the right language to use for how she ended up with Butch in this present situation and decided to use the forthright explanation.

"That's sounds lewd." Butch commented with a cheeky smile.

"Grow up, Butch. You shattered and swallowed me up."

"Just messing with you Blossom. Though that does sound like a real mess." Butch commented, knowing well that their situation is particularly critical. He appreciated Blossom's summary as he is never good with overly complicated explanations.

"Yes, it does. Everyone's in trouble now and everything rests on you now..." Blossom pointed out as she looked at the mirror before them.

The mirror appeared to have cracked to the point where a reflection is almost impossible to see and the cracks glowed with a sinister light that made Blossom uneasy. There is a sense of dread, pain and suffering emanating from the mirror and it heightened her sense of fear and terror. Blossom had never truly gotten over her psychological trauma from the attacks on the Townsville Police Department, and it had been a constant nagging sensation in her mind. From time to time, it amplified itself to the point where she is paralyzed and helpless. That sensation is now creeping up on her, and her breathing became shallower with every moment.

Butch sensed Blossom's shallow breathing and his eyes are now seeing her uneasiness as she stared at the mirror. Butch nudged her with his free elbow and the Powerpuff Girl snapped out from her gaze. Blossom stared at Butch with watering eyes, sparking Butch to wonder what the mirror had caused some psychological harm towards Blossom. Butch wanted to ask her what happened, but Blossom hesitation to answer Butch gave Butch the answer he need.

"That mirror, it shows things that is happening to me to torment me. Make me suffer. Make me fearful. Make me filled with horror. I think it does that to those that looked at it. An evil artifact. At the same time, it is the key to getting out from here. That's how I'm able to see you and you gave me hope." Butch explained.

"Have you tried getting out?" Blossom asked as her body trembled against her will. Butch shook his head before continuing to explain.

"Well, don't you think I've tried?" Butch pointed towards the cracked mirror with a tint of major annoyance in his voice.

His annoyance is not directed at Blossom, but instead towards the mirror. So far Butch had tried to break the mirror with all his might, but the mirror appeared to be made of something much more tougher as it did not break even with the countless whipping of the chains towards its reflective surface. The only time when it shattered is when something happened that made it implode. And Blossom had always been the one that did it.

"I see...any trends you've seen so far?"

"It always involve you somehow." Butch pointed out.

"Okay...um..."

"How'd you do it on your end Blossom?"

"Um...let's see here. I...ur...always said something that trigger a headache from you...and something happens. Things always cracked at that moment. If it is intense enough, you crack and...um...I see you." Blossom gave Butch a very nervous smile as even she is not sure on the mechanics of how she gets to crack through the divide between the realities.

"But now that you're here...there's nothing else that can break it from the other side." Butch added on.

"No...seeing from what you've done so far, it had weakened the fabric of reality on the other side. You just needed the push." Blossom tried to theorize a solution to the issue, which definitely caught Butch's attention.

"The push?"

"It seems that you can't seem to generate enough force or weight to break the glass. If only you have some weight at the end of the chain to break the mirror, you just might have a chance to..." Blossom immediately regretted her suggestion as she trailed off once she noticed that Butch is now looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Blossom looked down upon her body and noticed the chains wrapping around her body. Blossom's eyes widened and she looked up to see a rather sadistically wicked smile forming on Butch's face which stretched from ear to ear, and Blossom realized that she had just provided Butch with the necessary tool to do what is necessary. Or to be exact, she is _exactly_ the tool that she was suggesting to Butch to use to break the eldritch mirror.

"Butch, don't you dare..." Blossom's started to turn pale as Butch grabbed the chain around her waist, and Blossom started to tighten her hold around Butch's neck. However, Blossom's attempts is for naught as Butch grabbed the chains wrapping around her waist and pulled her forcefully from his body, causing her to break her embrace around Butch's neck. Blossom is soon suspended an arm's length from Butch, and as Blossom watched with a tinge of fear in her bodily fiber the expression on Butch's face turned much more sinister.

"Oh, but it is your suggestion after all Blossom." Butch smiled wickedly as his eyes started to glimmer brightly. Butch opened his fingers, and letting Blossom fall into the abyss. In Butch's mind, Option Two has indeed turned into Option One after all. That will make things _so_ much easier.

Blossom wanted to curse at him, but her scream came out instead as she felt the uncomfortable sensation of falling down into the abyss once more.


	71. Chapter 71: Rowdyruff Reunion

Chapter 71: Rowdyruff Reunion

 _What do I see with my emerald eyes_ , Him asked itself as it surveilled the room. Him observed the presence of the two main threats in the room; a dark onyx-haired girl with lime green highlights in her hair with matching peridot eyes and a pale golden blonde girl with sky-blue eyes. Not the most intellectually dangerous of the Powerpuff Girls, but each Powerpuff Girl is equipped with their own set of skills that allowed them to be a greater sum of its parts. That, Him had learned countless times, is something he needs to be aware about less it loses the upper hand it had to Bubbles and Buttercup. Fortunately for Him, both Bubbles and Buttercup are not as coordinated as they can be as a result of their two contrasting styles of combat.

Buttercup is an instinctual and physical animal that relied on improvisational tactics and her martial attributes to carry on the day, while Bubbles is a more akin to a squishy mage, with proficiencies in long-ranged attacks, area-effect fights and group battles. However despite their apparent synergies, both Powerpuff Girls' attributes in combat are not complementary to each other's strengths. That in turn allow Him to politely ignore Bubbles' much weaker close-combat abilities and instead focus its attention towards Buttercup's attacks. Tiring Buttercup is a much harder prospect, and thus Him had made sure that he made Buttercup waste more of her energy while dodging in such a manner that Bubbles will have to also dodge her own sister's attack which in turn drains Bubbles' stamina.

The results is easy to see as both Bubbles and Buttercup are now sweating and panting heavily from exerting themselves, and their eyes flashed with a sense of damaged pride. It appeared that they recognized what Him had done, and had played them like a fiddle to its tune. At the same time, they are powerless to do anything about it, for they can never go against their instincts and tendencies. Him need not mock them with its words, for his actions is enough to do so. As the saying goes, action speak louder than words. Him will only allow itself to be hit only when it wanted to be hit, and indeed that is what allowed Brick to hurt Him in the first place by breaking its ribs.

 _Such a realization will surely be flashing in their minds right about now_ , Him thought. The fact that they had not regain their proper strength is apparent for Him, as Him would experience a much more intense fight with the two Powerpuff Girls.

Still, fifteen years ago, Him would had not bothered using allies to fight against the Powerpuff Girls. The use of the Lunatics in its schemes had both strengthened and at the same time weakened Him. Him's schemes had become more grandiose and intricate, but weaker because there are more cogs that Him can not or will not control. But everything is as Him planned it to be, and Him had always had a handle in mobilizing the masses for its own purpose. The countless cults, organizations and individuals that Him had controlled and manipulated throughout the ages had made Him an unsurpassed master of manipulating humanity's basest desires and actions. Such a state of sublime control over its own destiny had made Him descended down into ennui, for nothing can stop Him if they wanted to. Him had made countless heroes and heroic organizations to provide it with the entertainment it needed over the millenia to keep itself sharp. But each attempt had only ended in failure, further making the demon descended into deeper pits of ennui.

That is, until the Powerpuff Girls appeared in the world.

The existence of the girls had changed the fortunes of the demon in more ways than one, for their existence had never been in Him's aeons-long purview of its schemes and plans. The girls are created from a singularity that is not part of any fabric of fate that Him is aware about, and it came as a surprise to the effeminate demon that such an entity of great goodness can exist in the first place without anyone's machinations. That in turn had made the Powerpuff Girls, and to a lesser extent the Rowdyruff Boys, the only entities in the world that had gave Him a run for its money. Him's obsessions with the Powerpuff Girls had in a way weakened Him but at the same time invigorate Him's purpose in life.

It is purpose that creates things.

It is purpose that connects.

It is purpose that pulls events.

It is purpose that provides guidance.

It is purpose that creates a motivating drive.

It is purpose that make definitions of things.

It is purpose that binds everything together.

Him believes that purpose is the nature of the universe, and there is no use fighting to deny it for everything that has a beginning has an end. Everyone is walking down an optimum path through the countless threads of cause and effect that were encountered at every juncture, making them vulnerable to being endangered by a single threat, which would lead to the eventual destruction of humanity.

Him knew from the very beginning that the Powerpuff Girls are as unpredictable as they are unstoppable. Thus Him had devised its most ambitious plan yet; the plan known as Operation Pantheon. Operation Pantheon is Him's belief made form, Him's belief to let the world go down its golden path of inevitability. The three main gods of the pantheon signifying the aspect of Him's plans; Poseidon to shake the foundations of the world, Hermes to guide the inevitability of the world, and Hades to provide the final solution of the world. That in turn will each be triggered by a Rowdyruff Boy with each boy holding the aspect of the god that signify the aspect of Him's plan.

Poseidon is the first to be activated, and it had done well to shake the foundations of the world. The first phase had seen the Powerpuff Girls bright down to their knees and shook the beliefs of the world. Butch had also been a effective tool to activate Poseidon, albeit with an additional consequence of trapping his brothers and the Powerpuff Girls within the dream world. Him had not expected such a scheme within a scheme, and thus had decided to engage in the scheme for as long as it will take. So far, the boys and girls had not disappointed Him.

But as with any plan not within its calculations, anything that happened here will have larger unintended consequences.

A grunt is all it took for Him to snap out from its own thoughts and Him dodged a flying fist, only for its wielder to went past Him. Buttercup had taken the opportunity to close in on Him and tried to launch surprise attach but if Him willed that the attack will not hit it, the Powerpuff Girl's blows will not hit Him. Sometimes Him wondered if it only allowed its opponents to hit Him because of a sick euphoric masochistic pleasure to experience extreme sensations, but Him always knew that it is a much more basic desire that Him wanted when it experienced such attacks.

The desire to feel alive.

 _Time to get a hit_ , Him decided to itself.

"If only we can catch the damn fool." Buttercup cursed.

"Him's...sneakier...than we thought. But...what can...we distract...Him with?" Bubbles whispered under her breath as she tried to recompose herself.

 _Such defiance_ , Him told itself. The Powerpuff Girls had defied Him's expectation for the Powerpuff Girls still seek for a way to catch and bring down the demon. The Powerpuff Girls never give up, and Him admired their tenacity and determination despite the odds being stacked significantly against them.

" _So, what do you suggest for distracting me?_ " Him asked both Powerpuff Girls, knowing that they had nothing.

Bubbles immediately shrieked as loud as she can towards Him, and Him was caught by the shockwave from the sonic attack and was thrown along with a section of the wall along with several furniture and appliances. Him crashed into several buildings as it was blasted through several buildings causing structural damage towards the buildings around them. Both Powerpuff Girls in turn jumped back as they realized that Him has been eavesdropping on their conversation. Him rose up from the rubble and debris, and started dusting its shoulders.

 _I meant to do that_ , Him assured itself.

Unfortunately for Him,Bubble's attack was followed up by Buttercup making a quick handstand to jump up with feet first in the air in a split, followed by a quick centrifugal twirl of her upside-down body and her kicks struck Him's face. With Buttercup's feet spinning like propellers of a helicopter blade, Him's face was repeatedly struck by Buttercup's feet and with one final swing, Him was send to the air spinning before crashing down face first on the ground.

"How'd you like that!" Buttercup appeared to be elated that her attack finally made contact with the demon,and in such an impressive manner at that.

Befitting a veteran of countless superhuman battles, Buttercup decided to press on her advantage less she lose it in a split second. Buttercup swung her legs forward to land her feet and lifting her hands from the ground,thereby putting most of her bodyweight and strength into the scything axe drop kick. However, Him immediately grabbed Buttercup's ankles with its pincer and tossed Buttercup with a Herculean strength that betrayed its frail, feminine body.

 _Do I want to still continue on with this charade_ , Him wondered to itself. It had more pressing matters in the real world to resolve, and the distraction that the boys and girls had entertained a portion of its mind well enough during the takeover of Zeus's Thunderbolt. But now it will need to get back to its focus for the next phase of Operation Pantheon.

Him's head instinctively tilted to the left, just barely missing a piece of pipe that was thrown by Bubbles towards its head. Him commended inwardly towards Bubbles' very close call, for Him was almost impaled in the eye. Him reminded itself that the longer it fought in the dream world, the closer the girls will be in closing in the gap and gave Him a run for its money. That had happened before a long time ago when the Powerpuff Girls was trapped in a nightmare created by Him. The girls' bond with each other had caused a miscalculation on its part. Even though it was done on a whim, but Him got the first taste of the dream-altering abilities of the girls. They are of course much weaker than Him in this matter, but if the conditions are right the girls can and will be a match for Him.

"I missed!" Bubbles cried out loud, and Him knew that she was closer than she thought.

"Try har-where's Blossom?" Buttercup yelled, and that observation caught Him's attention.

 _I don't see Blossom,_ Him saw with his green within green eyes that the Powerpuff Girl with the fiery copper hair is no longer in the room with the other Powerpuff Girls and that is a cause of concern.

Among her sisters, Blossom is the most tactically and strategically inclined and is prone to come up with complex battle formations to get an upper hand. The fact that Blossom had disappeared despite not having her powers returned to her had defied Him's expectations like what each and every Powerpuff Girl had done throughout their time of existing on this earth. She is neither here nor in the real world, and she is nowhere near any of the Rowdyruff Boys. That in turn made Him wonder about the whereabouts of the Rowdyruff Boys.

 _More headaches for me,_ Him thought as it is unable to find Blossom and the Rowdyruff Boys in every aspect of the dream world, and it will need to remedy the situation quickly. Being unable to see the strands of possibilities of Blossom and the Rowdyruff Boys within its omniscience view is a dangerous and potentially fatal matter. The Rowdyruff Boys are by extension a chaotic addition to the incomprehensible calculation that is the Powerpuff Girls, for they were created with the sole purpose of destroying the Powerpuff Girls. Yet, they too had time and time again defied their purpose and Him understood why; If the girls are gone, they are without purpose but if they do not vanquish the Powerpuff Girls, they are able to live and take their purpose at their own leisure. Such is the paradox of the Rowdyruff Boys, and such is the convoluted relationship that the Rowdyruff Boys have with the Powerpuff Girls. They will aid their enemies when it is least expected, and fight against them when it is not expected of them.

 _Where the hell are they?_

* * *

"Brick?"

"Boomer?"

"Where the hell are we Brick?" Boomer asked his brother as his cobalt-sapphire eyes scanned his two Rowdyruff Boys found themselves in a white space that span as far as the eye can see.

"I'm not sure, Boomer." The red-eyed Rowdyruff Boy looked around and wondered how did he arrived in this room.

"I was punching some people, and now I'm here... Don't ask me how Mini-me got here, I've got no clue. This is so weird bro..." Boomer expressed his unease.

"I'm here because Lil' Brick and I were captured by an electrical web of some kind just as we-." Brick noticed something particularly odd; he felt his jaws moving.

"Dude...your face's back." Boomer said out loud.

Brick immediately touched his face and he felt his nose, cheeks, and mouth. His vision returned to a binocular vision and he looked around only to see a small figure lying on the ground. Recognizing the figure, Brick moved purposely towards one of the bodies and pressed his finger gently on the neck of a sand blonde child. Brick breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a weak pulse coming from the little child.

"Lil' Boomer's fine." However, Brick knew that time is not on his side. Brick hoped that whatever it is, they need to get out of this warped space or else they will be in for a big load of trouble.

"I can help." A feminine voice commented, causing both Rowdyruff Boys to look behind them.

"Who's-" Boomer was about to complete his sentence, but he stopped as he saw the origin of the surprise is shared with his carnelian-haired brother for he clearly did not expect this turn of events.

The figure before them is a feminine figure clad in what appeared to be the starry night sky forming into a dress, with a short black raven-black hair and the most piercing gray eyes framed by a stylish oval framed glasses. A beauty mark located at the bottom of her left cheek, close to her lips while a pair of silver moon-shaped earrings studded with dark sapphires dangled from her ear.

"Lilith?" Brick uttered.

"Wait...this is another one of this dream within a dream thing again isn't it?" Boomer looked at the woman with a great amount of suspicion.

"Maybe." The woman answered. Brick and Boomer grew even more suspicious of the woman.

"Careful Boomer, maybe this is one of Him's tricks." Brick whispered to his brother.

"I assure you that is not-"

"That is what you would say if you are one of Him's tricks!" Boomer interrupted the woman mid-sentence. The woman sighed before she continued.

"Looks I don't expect you to trust me but I can lead you to your brother Butch."

Brick and Boomer glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes, before turning their attention back towards the dark-haired woman. Brick and Boomer had gone through a lot in this surreal nightmare (twenty-one chapters and counting) and they do not wish to trapped in their dreams anymore. Yet, here they are trapped in another layer in their dreams with another entity that is offering to help them find their brother. Both of the Rowdyruff Boys seek to find their third brother, but at the same time the offer is too good to be true.

"What's in it for you?" Brick asked.

"For one, I get my boys back." The woman replied.

"What's the other thing?" Boomer queried, seeing that there is another reason behind her willingness to assist them.

"The other thing is so that you can kick Him's ass for me."

"That we can agree on." Brick answered despite his reservations.

"You will need to accept the truth." The woman's advice caused both Brick and Boomer to raise their eyebrow.

"What truth?" Brick and Boomer asked at the same time. They are not aware that they need to accept anything.

"The truths about yourself."

"Ah crap, it is one of those Buddhist Asian crap. To be enlightened we must see some things or something like that..." Boomer immediately raised his hands in a flipping motion, his eyes rolling in mockery of the situation.

"Well something like that." Lilith covered her mouth as she chuckled.

"She's right you know. Somehow I became a near-complete person...but something's still missing." Brick pointed out as he pointed towards his face. Lilith materialized a book before her. The bespectacled lady opened the book and flipped to a particular page and continued on.

"You are conflicted from your actions, and you struggle to contain the darkness within you. The burden of being the one that often took care of your brother also weight in heavily on you as you often need to take the most pragmatic solution, even if it means stepping on others." Lilith's analysis silenced Brick, a benign smile etching itself on Lilith's lips.

"You've gotten every piece except the one that burdened you all this time, but chose to put it under the carpet. That will be the clue that you'll need to be whole again." Lilith's advice surprised Brick, for her knowledge of how Brick came to be whole is only known by Break, Bubbles and himself. The gray-eyed lady pointed towards the unconscious sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy, attracting Boomer's attention.

"Among your brothers, you're the closest to being whole again. Your sense of being is stronger than your brothers as you are more accepting of yourself and most importantly, you knew the answer to your questions" Lilith pointed out.

 _The other one must be somewhere else. The me that is experiencing the nightmares. The me that wants to cry. The me that wants to scream._

Boomer recalled what one of his selves had said and he immediately understood what Lilith is trying to say. Boomer went silent as he realized that his trauma is in this dream, and that had taken the form of the little boy that is now lying unconscious on the ground before him. His mind flashed into the moment, and Boomer remembered what he (or to be exact an aspect of Boomer) had said to Buttercup ,and he wished that someone had shot him at that very moment. Alas, Buttercup knew of his mixed emotions for her. Boomer wondered if he needs to say something to Buttercup in order for him to resolve the turmoils in his soul, but at the same time he wondered if it is even significant enough to begin with.

"Thinking about Buttercup?" Lilith commented.

"Sh-shut up!" Boomer raised his voice as he is flabbergasted by Lilith's ability to read what is on his mind. Boomer immediately freaked out as he realized that he was thinking about Buttercup first instead of something more important and decided to cover the lower part of his face with his hand to hide his expression. Boomer realized his issues and immediately averted his view from Lilith.

"So...how do we get to Butch?" Brick asked, knowing well that this situation should not go on any further. Brick knew that by getting to Butch, they will all be able to get the ball moving once more. All of them shared the same mental trauma, and Brick knew that most of them had chosen to bury it under their masks of sanity to keep the demons away. However, their demons had literally trapped them in this world and they need to exorcise it to gain a sense of closure and also escape from their nightmarish torment.

"HOLD ON A SEC! BRICK ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU ARE TRUSTING HER JUST LIKE THAT?" Brick and Lilith turned towards Boomer whose face is filled with distrust and disbelief. Lilith is silent as she knew that it is not easy for her to gain Boomer's trust. The pixie-haired woman shook her head before she took off her glasses, and a pair of cloudy gray eyes are now upon Boomer.

"You don't have to trust me. Trust in me who trust in you. The you that want to meet your brother no matter the odds." Lilith's eyes are filled with a trust and belief that can not be denied, and Boomer felt a sense of unease on her conviction. Boomer turned towards Brick for a sign of something that will allow him to question what Lilith had said.

 _She's not lying_ , Brick is surprised by his observation. Brick had always pride himself for being an excellent judge of character, and he is always the first to smell if a person is to be trusted or not. Lilith's forthrightness is particularly refreshing, especially when she worded it in such a simple manner.

"Brick?" Boomer saw Brick's cyclopean garnet eye filled with a sense of ease.

"If people's faith in you is what will give you your power to bring us to Butch, then I believe you with every fiber of my being." Brick answered.

"Brick!" Boomer tried to expressed his disapproval, and he never expected his most cynical brother to be so trusting. However, Brick appeared to have made up his mind.

"It'll be enough." Lilith's faint smile stopped Boomer in his tracks, and the woman's chest started cracking.

Both Brick and Boomer watched as the crack in Lilith's chest grew larger and more numerous and within seconds Lilith shattered in a large explosion causing both Brick and Boomer to shield their faces with their forearms. The shards sliced across their arms, bodies and legs and a sudden shrill shriek echoed through the air. Before Brick and Boomer even had the chance to find out the source of the sudden voice, Brick felt a large object slamming into him, causing him to be launched in the air along with the object. Brick soon started to tumble violently with the object firmly in his chest. Brick finally stopped tumbling after a few skips and an extreme pain soon permeated across his torso and butt. Brick unshield his arms from his head and to his surprise he saw a person with flaming locks of copper lying on his chest groaning in pain.

"HUH?!" Brick exclaimed out loud, utterly speechless when faced with the presence of someone he did not expect to see in this situation.

"BRICK ARE YOU-BLOSSOM, WHAT THE HELL?!" Boomer cried out as he drew closer to his brother, clearly not expecting himself to see the bright auburn-haired girl with them once more.

Boomer noticed that there is a chain tied around her chest, waist and hips and he turned back towards the place where Lilith once were. Instead, Boomer only saw a large hole staring back at him with a long line of chain leading out from the hole towards Blossom. Whatever Blossom must has escaped from had held her captive. That in turn sparked a question within the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy's mind: Brick and himself had just separated from Blossom and the other Powerpuff Girls in what appear to be just a few moments ago. How did Blossom ended up being chained and breaking through the fabrics of reality in such a short matter of time?

Blossom shook her head before looking around to see that she is in a pure white room and she is now lying on Brick's torso. Blossom's disoriententation soon turned into urgency as she grabbed Brick's shirt.

"THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME! PULL THE CHAIN! BUTCH'S ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE! PULL HIM IN!"

Blossom never looked so frantic before in his eyes, and Brick's mind immediately triggered his body to move. Brick pushed Blossom aside and without a second thought he had started to grab on the chain that leads into the void. Using his full strength, Brick pulled as hard as he could and the chain started to get longer as he pulled. Boomer was momentarily stunned as he watched his brother started pulling on the chains in a hurried and disorganized manner. Blossom stood up and started to user her whole body to help Brick pull on the chains.

"What are you standing there for Boomer...MOVE IT!" Brick barked, and without a second thought, Boomer sprang into the chain between Brick and Blossom and started pulling on the chains with haste and great urgency.

"Shit! There's some weight definitely at the other end of the chain!" Boomer cried out as he find out to his surprise that there is something else at the other end of the chain.

Brick clearly did not bother with Boomer's surprise, for he is gripped by his own disbelief; clearly, whatever belief that Brick had placed in Lilith had been answered.

* * *

Butch's effort at breaking through the mirror had been successful, and Blossom had turned out to be what he really needed to shatter the eldritch mirror. However his elation turned to uncertainty as he felt no response from Blossom. Did he accidentally killed Blossom by smashing her through the mirror? Butch will not believe that Blossom will be dead from a single swing. No, Butch reminded himself that Blossom had apparently lost her powers. His heart started beating rapidly as he realized that he could indeed kill Blossom from sheer blunt force trauma. That or having one of the shards of the glass dealing a mortal wound upon the copper-haired girl.

"Shit." Butch muttered. A panic started to grow in his heart and he had wished that he had given himself a chance to think things through; he had ripped Blossom from her embrace and literally threw her down into the abyss before swinging her with all his might towards the mirror. His mind flashed as he recalled the sound of the shrieking Powerpuff Girl as she was propelled towards the mirror with her arms covering her face as she crashed into the mirror. The chain is now leading into the mirror like a cable into the unknown, and Butch wondered how deep Blossom had crashed into the mirror.

 _Though to be fair, it is priceless to see Blossom being used that way._

"Shut up." Butch attempted to stop the devil in his mind from formulating any further justifications.

 _Seriously Butch, you're a fucking idiot._

"I know." Butch replied to the angel in his mind.

 _So, now what?_

"Fuck me." Butch never knew that he had an angel and demon in his mind like those stupid sitcoms he had watched on television, but Butch believed that those constructs are now forming in his mind as a result of his growing trepidation on Blossom's condition. Now Butch had wished that he was the one that was thrown at the mirror. Butch immediately regretted thinking that thought as his arm felt the pull from the chain leading into the mirror. Butch did not even have time to react as he was violently pulled into the gaping hole in the mirror. Butch felt the resistance from the other chains binding his other limbs, but soon the chains gave way and he was pulled into the hole.

Butch's eyes were bombarded with the first colors that he had seen since he was trapped in the dimensional prison, and he swore that he had just seen fourteen colors of the rainbow. Seven colors that he knew and seven other colors that defies all logic and reasoning. Butch felt a pulling sensation like no other as he felt his body being twisted and pulled in all directions, and Butch believed that his body is almost torn apart by the centrifugal forces within the void. Butch wanted to scream, but he felt his throat twisting like the eye of a storm, and he is helpless to voice out his distress.

"ALMOST THERE!"

"DEAR GOD WHAT THE HELL IS HOLDING THAT IDIOT BACK?!"

"BLOSSOM, CAN'T YOU PULL HARDER!?"

"I'M TRYING YOU DAMN RED-EYED DONKEY!"

Butch heard several loud screaming voices before he felt a sudden lunge propelling him from the twirling dimension and he felt the sensation of wind blowing over his face before his face was introduced to a hard surface in the most unabashed manner. Butch's mind immediately blacked out once more.

* * *

"BUTCH!"

Brick and Boomer cried out as they finally caught a glimpse of their dark-haired brother, his face planted on the ground with his arms and legs shackled and bound in chains. Both Rowdyruff Boys ran towards their brother and immediately turned the dark-haired boy around to see his eyes rolled up to reveal his eye whites. The young man is unconscious and he appeared to be significantly thinner than they remembered. Brick and Boomer immediately went to work to release Butch from his shackles while Blossom looked at the boys while untying the chains around her waist.

"What the hell..." Brick voiced his sorrow as he broke the final shackle around Butch's leg. Brick saw the sore wounds from the cuts that his brother had received from the shackles and wondered how long is his brother held against his will. The same marks are also visible on Butch's wrists, and Brick wondered what kind of cruel and unusual torture his brother had received at the other side of the void.

Blossom rushed to the Rowdyruff Boys as soon as she released herself from the chains, for she wanted to know Butch's condition. Once Blossom reached the boys, she politely nudge Brick away to give her way and she kneeled down beside Butch and noticed that something is very wrong with Butch. His catatonic state and his white eyes are signs of something worse and Blossom rested her head on Butch's chest. Blossom's expression turned grim and her fair skin is now almost alabaster-like in color.

"What's going on?" Boomer raised his voice, not liking what Blossom is doing to his brother.

"His heart...it stopped..." Blossom answered.

"What?!" Brick yelled, but Blossom paid no heed to the shocked carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy. Boomer immediately pulled Butch up and started slapping his brother.

"BUTCH!" Boomer cried out as he slapped his unconscious brother.

"STOP YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE KILLING HIM!" Brick pulled Boomer back from Butch, and he watched as Blossom sprang into action.

"Move!" Blossom cried out and the two Rowdyruff Boys moved aside for Blossom to kneel down beside the unconscious Butch.

Blossom positioned herself next to Butch's neck and shoulders and she lay him down on the ground before placing the heel of her right hand over the center of Butch's chest. Blossom placed her other hand on top of her first hand and she kept her elbows straight and positioned her shoulders directly above her hands. Blossom started to push her arms and her upper body weight at Butch's chest. As Brick and Boomer watched Blossom pushing rhymically on Butch's chest, they felt a sense of dread unlike any other growing within their souls.

"Come on...come on..." Blossom grunted as she continued on with the chest compression.

"This is messed up man...this is messed up..." Boomer's cobalt blue eyes started to water as he saw Butch being unresponsive to Blossom's attempt to resuscitate him.

"Shit...shit...shit..." Brick can only utter curses as he watched, knowing that he had just given Blossom, his lifelong rival, the power over the life of their brother.

Blossom stopped compressing Butch's chest and she put her palm on Butch's forehead before gently tilting his head back. With her other arm, Blossom gently lift the dark-haired boy's chin forward and pinched his nostrils shit. Blossom did not even think about the consequence of what she was about to do, for she will not let anyone die on her watch. Without any hesitation, she covered Butch's mouth with her wound and breathed into Butch. Blossom looked at Butch's chest to see if it rise up.

Nothing.

Blossom repeated the action of tilting Butch's head and chin and providing her second breath. She looked at Butch's chest once more and she saw no movement. Blossom placed the heel of her hand once more on Butch's chest followed by her other hand and started to compress his chest once more. There is a silence among them as Blossom tried to resuscitate Butch, but Boomer's sapphire eyes are now flowing with tears as he assumed the worst. Brick can only hold his brother in his arms as he watched, and if he have his lips he would had bitten it until it bleed.

"Butch, don't give up on me...come on!" Blossom muttered under her breath as she attempted her second cycle of her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Butch did not respond to her attempts, and Blossom knew that she will have to resort to a more drastic measure.

"Boomer! I need you to administer an electric shock on your brother!" Blossom barked, only to see that Boomer is trembling from the situation.

"BOOMER! MOVE!" Brick yelled, knowing that Boomer's particular gifts are needed to save their brother. Boomer snapped out from his shock and rushed to Blossom's side. Boomer looked down on his brother and his eyes are almost glass-like in its appearance as the tears within his cobalt-blue eyes reflected the light from the white room.

"Put your arm around Butch's chest and when I tell you, shock your brother!" Blossom instructed Boomer, but she noticed that he is still trembling.

"Bloss..."Boomer sounded very meek as he looked at the Powerpuff Girl. Boomer had wanted to tell Blossom that he had not managed to manifest his electrical powers yet, but he is too caught by his emotions to speak coherently.

"Please, I need you to do this." Blossom encouraged Boomer, knowing well that Boomer may be his brother's only chance. Boomer nodded and as Blossom reached the last cycle of her compression, she voiced out her instruction.

"Clear!" Blossom said sternly and Boomer wondered if he can manifest his electrical powers.

Boomer closed his eyes, and his mind started to flash with the times he had with his green-eyed brother. Boomer remembered how his brother had always been the brave one and always pulled him into his various schemes, most of which ended in failure. However, both brothers always had the best of time while they go about their misadventure. His memory moved on to the memory of when the Rowdyruff Trio first decided to pull a prank on Renee, and Boomer remembered how Butch had collected enough feces to fill a bucket. However a series of unfortunate events caused Butch to accidentally fall face-first into the pile of dung, causing both Brick and Boomer to laugh like people possessed for several minutes. Boomer's mind then moved on to how Butch and himself sat with Renee under the night skies of Aleppo gazing at the stars.

The memories kept on moving, with scenes from Butch saving him from the Brazilian gangs in the Rio _favelas_ to Boomer having to save both Brick and Butch's ass in Kandahar by doing a distractionary dance. Boomer honestly wanted to have more memories with his brother and he do not want the last memory of his brother being a sad 's body started to glow, catching both Brick and Blossom by surprise. Brick noticed with the corner of his eye that there is another source of light emanating from his side and he turned around to see the young unconscious Boomer had started glowing as well. The young Boomer soon turned into a ball of lightning and it soon sped towards Boomer. Brick barely avoided the luminescent orb and Brick watched as the orb made contact with Brick. The resulting collision created a burst of electrical energy that engulfed Butch and Boomer. Blossom gritted her teeth as she felt the current flowing in her body, and the sensation is a rather shocking and painful experience.

The shock lasted for no more than a few seconds, but it was at that moment that Blossom saw Butch's chest started to move. Blossom immediately decided to take action by tilting Butch's head and started to engage in the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation despite the agonies of the shock. Butch's eyes rolled back showing his jade-green iris and his next action caught Blossom by surprise. Blossom immediately felt Butch's tongue coiling around her own, causing Blossom to pull her mouth away and giving a response is as swift as it is violent.

 _SMACK!_

Blossom slammed her elbow into Butch's solar plexus causing Butch to gasp for air before erecting himself upwards, and Brick's eye lit up with unsurpassed joy.

"BUTCH!" Brick immediately dived towards his brother and giving him a big hug.

"Brick?!" Butch took a few seconds to recognize his brother is now hugging him before he pushed him away. Butch's eyes is now wide with shock as he saw that Brick had lost most of his face. Butch's eyes immediately moved towards the glowing presence beside him and as the light subside, Butch caught a glimpse of his sand-blonde brother looking back at him with wide cobalt- blue eyes. Butch is soon greeted by his other brother joining in the hug.

"Okay..." Butch said to himself,but his initial misgiving soon gave way to a warm feeling growing from within his chest. Butch's mind soon came to the realization that he is now finally reunited with his brothers and his arms instinctively wrapped around his brothers.

Blossom stood up and gave the brothers some space for their heartfelt reunion. Blossom touched her lips and smiled a little as she saw the Rowdyruff Boys like she had never seen them before. Even though Butch had decided to give her an impromptu french kiss during his resuscitation,but she is willing to let it slide as she had done a good deed of saving a live and reuniting a family.

Also, Blossom will never admit it out loud that she finds the impromptu french kiss a rather pleasurable experience.

"Are you boys done yet?" Blossom's tone is rather cheeky despite not meaning to do so.

The three Rowdyruff Boys turned their attention toward Blossom before looking at each other, realizing that they had embraced each other for long enough. They immediately let go of each other before getting themselves up from the ground once more. Butch is visibly more wobbly than his brothers, and he was forced to put a hand on Brick's shoulders for support as he got up.

"Yes." Brick answered.

"Yeap." Boomer followed soon after.

"Yeah."

"Anyway boys, we need to figure out how to get out of here and-"

"And...you're still a stuck-up bitch." Butch responded swiftly before Blossom can complete her sentence, causing the Brick to snicker and Boomer to snort.

"Ex-cuse me?! This stuck-up bitch just saved your sorry-ass life! At least you could thank me you asshat!" Blossom clearly did not take well to Butch demeaning her. Brick and Boomer were surprised that Blossom swore, as she is not a person they think will swear like a sailor. That honor should go to Buttercup.

"Thanks, but that kiss of yours didn't wake me up in go like the fairy tales. Could be better." Butch's riposte further infuriate the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"KISS? KISS? THAT'S C.P.R YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS! IF ANYTHING YOU'RE JUST TOO DUMB TO LIVE AND I NEED TO PUT SOME THOUGHT INTO YOU TO LIVE!" Blossom fumed.

"What did you just call me?" Butch clearly did not take kindly to Blossom calling him an idiot.

"Oh I'm sorry,got too much crap in your brain to understand?" Blossom clearly enjoyed her retaliation,and it showed in her tone and brief smirk. Within seconds Butch and Blossom interactions had devolved down into a banter of insults and name-calling. Brick and Boomer turned towards each other before returning their attention on the two bickering individuals.

"It is amazing to see Blossom being so childish and crude." Brick said to himself, entertained by how his brother is able to make Blossom's primp and proper mannerism into something childishly will always enjoy every little moment where there is some form of grief on Blossom provided that it is entertaining enough.

"Those two are flirting so hard." Boomer whispered over Brick's shoulders. Brick responded with a smirk for noticing something about Butch whenever he interacted with Blossom; Butch is emotionally animated around Blossom.

With the exception of Buttercup, whom Butch considered as a rival that matched Butch's own martial prowess, and the dark-haired boy's battlelust, which Brick considered as a state akin to a drug-high devoid of any humanly reasonable emotion, Butch had never truly had anything he truly immersed himself into emotionally. Butch had been emotionally numb for ages since Renée death and that had always made Brick very concerned about his brother's emotional wellbeing. With the Powerpuff Girls entering into Butch's life, especially Blossom,Butch had slowly revealed more of his own emotions. This particular development is something that Brick is glad about, for it allowed his brother to finally open up to people. Why Blossom is the one that can cause such a change in Butch is beyond Brick, but Blossom had been doing a much needed help for his brother.

"Dude, it's weird to see them flirting so intensely for so long. I think you ought to cut them off." Boomer suggested, cutting into Brick's observation of the two bickering individuals.

"Yeah, about time this stops." Brick nodded in agreement.

Brick decided that the first step would be to stop these two people from wasting their energy with each other as they are now in the same boat. It is not in Brick's interest for the boat to sink before it even get the chance to sail. If they wanted to do so, they can always get a hotel room somewhere and waste all the energy that they wanted to waste with each other.

"Are you guys done flirting yet?" Brick echoed the tone that Blossom had used at them a few minutes ago, causing Blossom's reddened face to turn almost maroon from embarrassment.

"Yes, in fact we are just done." Butch preempted Blossom by taking the moral high ground, thereby putting Blossom in a spot. Blossom is forced to grumble unintelligible words under her breath as she looked away from Butch.

"Good. Now let's move on to our first issue; how do we get out from here?" Brick asked for some ideas from the rest. Blossom took a deep breath and cooling herself down from the heated argument that she had with Butch before she replied.

"Let's see...how'd did you boys came into this place?" Blossom asked, wanting to know if there were any clues that can be gleamed from the other two Rowdyruff Boys entering this particularly white space that they had just ended entering.

"I'll keep it short. I got pulled into this place with little me and immediately found myself here with Boomer. We saw Lilith-"

"Lilith?" Blossom interrupted Brick.

"I think it is more like a manifestation. Anyway, it mentioned clues on whole we are to be whole and also it can help us find Brick. We spoke for a while and then you came barging in. The rest is as you know it."

"Another time distortion...Butch's dream is way worse than we thought it will be." Blossom is now particularly concerned with how the sequence of events is going about with the Rowdyruff Boys and herself. As far as Blossom recalled, the Bricks had disappeared from her sight for what appeared to be fifteen minutes before she was sucked into the abyss. Blossom in turn had counted the time it had taken for her to meet up with Butch, and based on her counting it had taken her around five hours to meet up with Butch.

"On the bright side, Boomer's whole again." Brick tilted his head towards Boomer's direction.

"Wait...what's going on...huh?" Butch asked quizzically.

"Alright Butch,looks like it is time to get you up to speed." Brick sighed, knowing that it will be a very long conversation.


	72. Chapter 72: Convolution

Chapter 72: Convolution

Fighting the girls individually is almost always easier than engaging them in pairs or a group, Him observed as it readjusted its jaw with a painful-sounding snap.

Him pulled a chair down to take a seat next to the dining table, and it looked around to see if there is something resembling a glass of water. Seeing that there is none, Him sighed and materialized a glass of water from thin air and took a sip. Him gurgled its mouth for a moment before spitting out the water, now filled with dark ichor. The water landed just inches away from an unconscious Buttercup, lying down on the ground while Bubbles is leaning on the wall limply just a few feet away from Buttercup. Him looked at the Powerpuff Girls and sighed before spitting out a molar. The molar in turn landed in the dried pool of blood surrounding the French woman, and Him groaned as it threw the glass on the wall next to the dead body with such force that it shattered.

Him decided to not monkey around like how Mojo Jojo does with his opponents and ended the charade that Him is playing with Bubbles and Buttercup. Both girls are on the ground, with their face down on the ground. Even though the girls are not back to their full strength and Him did not put his entire essence in this dream world, the girls had proven to be particularly resourceful and aggressive to such an extent that Him was forced to do something about it. That had caused Him some damage from both Bubbles and Buttercup. Seeing the two girls unconscious on the ground sparked something that Him immediately shot down in its mind.

 _No...killing the girls directly will not do_ , Him thought to itself as it nursed its wound. Him will not end the Powerpuff Girls in such a manner for that will just be uncouth for one.

But the real reason is a much more convoluted, for its omniscience had shown Him that it will never succeed in killing the girls in such a direct manner. That is always the truth that Him knew, for Him can only see glimpses of the strand of fates that connect Him to the Powerpuff Girls. Him swore that the 'person above' is protecting the Powerpuff Girls in its infinite capability. Any overt attempt to even think about it will always show the blatant results of Him's self-destruction, and Him is pretty sure it understood the message from the 'person above'. On the other hand, the ones that allowed Him to survive its own machination against the Powerpuff Girls are often plans that are vague, uncertain, and indirect.

That is why Him's attempts are often psychological and Him never tried to kill the girls. Of course, there was a time when Him was part of the Beat-Alls and they almost succeed, but when the 'person above' knew of its participation it sent in the female chimpanzee to break the group up. But those times had been an incubator for Him to perfect its approach against the Powerpuff Girls, and Him had found out a way to make the path more malleable. Him had decided to use the Rowdyruff Boys in his schemes since they were five, Him had seen that the path will always be clearer if the Rowdyruff Boys are with the girls. That had always been a gospel truth for Him, and that is also why Him had brought the boys back to Townsville and engaged them in its plans.

Until now.

" _Now to find out where the boys are...and that meddlesome girl._ " Him's eyes glowed with a fiey emerald flame as its displeasure grew with every passing moment.

Him can always see the boys, and the strands that affect their choice. Somehow, Blossom and the Rowdyruff Boys had disappeared from its omniscient sight, and this is something it will not allow. The Powerpuff Girls is already a pain enough for Him to guess their actions, but to bring the Rowdyruff Boys out from its sights is utter sacrilege. No one escapes Him's sights, and no one will play Him for a fool. Him rested its elbows on its knees and let its forearms fall limply as it took a deep breath. The air around Him started to be covered with a reddish-pink haze and its surroundings started to be colored with the eldritch taint. Demons had no concept of fatigue, but they do have the concept of discomfort. Him is experiencing extreme discomfort at having to juggle its real world presence along with its presence in the dream world, along with various other matters to further its grand scheme of things to accomplish for Operation Pantheon.

Him turned its attention towards the unconscious Rowdyruff Boy and hopped towards the boy while whistling a whimsically joyful tune before picking up the boy and noticed the onyx-haired boy with a greenish pale tint. Him soon turned its attention towards the unconscious Powerpuff Girls.

" _So that's where they are...now to find out how we can reunite everyone._ " A wicked smile etches itself on Him's face as the haze enveloped the unconscious bodies.

* * *

"And that is the situation right now." Brick combed his hair as he watched his dark-haired brother trying to process all the information that was revealed to him.

"Yeap." Boomer chimed in as he watched Butch sitting down on the ground cross-legged.

"Seriously...this is some bullshit you guys are pulling out." Butch's crooked smile betrayed the fragility of his emotions about the matter.

Butch is being confronted by the situation that they are all trapped in his dream of Aleppo and how his dreams will imprison them forever if he does not get his act together. Butch is never a person to think too much about something and Butch preferred to let his instincts move him and guide his actions. That option is sadly not available to him right now as he tried to make sense of his situation. It is not every day that a person was told that his personal issues is acting as a prison for those linked to him, and he will need to find a way to get his act right to escape.

"The sooner you face the music, the faster we can dance out of here." Boomer pointed out despite his sympathies. It is not everyday that a person was told that his dreams is trapping people in an eternal prison of death and destruction. Butch flipped his middle finger at his brother, knowing well that he can shove his comment where the sun does not shine. Boomer in turn shrugged.

"Boomer's right and you know it. You've something we don't, and that something is gonna get us out of here." Brick folded his arms around him as he defended his sand-blonde brother.

"Bite me, Brick."

"Whether you like it or not, this is still a truth that is laid bare before ée-"

"Leave her out of this." Butch said coldly,but there is a simmering turmoil in his voice.

"Butch...we all know it has to do with her. We need to talk abou-" Brick said sternly to his raven-haired brother,but at the same time Brick's tone appear to be pleading to his brother to not make things more difficult.

"No." Butch stood his ground, visibly shaken by the sudden focus on his issues. Blossom sensed that Brick had triggered Butch's defensiveness by mentioning Renée

"Butch, you can't shove things under the carpet if you don't like it. You'll have to-"

"NO!" Butch barked back at his crimson-eyed brother.

"You need to man up you idiot! If you had resolved this issue in the first place, we will not be trapped in your damn unresolved issues and be brought down with it!" Brick raised his voice, his patience running thin with his brother's apparent reluctance to talk.

"What about you huh! You're always if your heartlessness will swallow you whole!" Butch bit back,and Butch's remark had apparently touched a nerve.

"Heartlessness?! I did all that for us brothers! Who it is that have to bite the bullet and bear the wounds over the choices that keep us alive!"

"Ah man...they're at it again." Boomer sighed as his brother's bickering is heating up and becoming more verbally violent by the moment.

Blossom realizes that this is something that had happened before. She had seen the boys bickering before in Boomer's room in such a manner that Butch was choking Brick while slamming his head on the ground. This time,Blossom is not sure if anyone can stop these two from going all out.

What happened next surprised Blossom.

Butch planted his face into his palms as he took a deep breath while shaking his head, and a groaning sound soon escaped his mouth. Blossom noticed Butch's pali g complexion and his sudden silence is disturbing considering the explosiveness of his verbal argument with Brick moments ago. Brick took in a deep breath as he watched his dark-haired brother brooding in his own thoughts. Boomer walked up to his brother and nudged Brick with his elbow.

"Man...never seen him went down that fast before." Boomer pointed out to Brick.

"There's always a first time for everything." Brick replied while trying to cool his head.

"Do you think he's gonna get it straight?" Boomer asked his brother.

"No Boomer, I don't think so."

"Then, what could it be Brick?"

"Whatever it is, he will need to find it for us." Brick said with uncertainty. Despite becoming whole in body once more, but there is something within the boys that that they felt missing within them. Both Rowdyruff Boys knew that the missing piece of the puzzle lies within Butch, but none of them knew what it is exactly.

Blossom on the other hand is now thinking inwardly, the cogs within her mind moving like a great gear in a finely-tuned machine. Something about how the boys all ended up crossing through dimensions within the dream world is bugging Blossom to no end. Blossom and her sisters are unable to do so until they had interacted with the boys in a much deeper level, and only when the boys chose to do so. Brick and Bubbles had informed that they went through only because Brick is still finding the pieces to make himself whole once more, while

 _The blood test showed that they're under the influence of some variant of Red Candy. But what exactly is the main effect is not so easily pinpointed. Their body biochemistry is definitely affected,but it is not causing any terminal side effects._

Blossom remembered her father's comment about the influence of the Red Candy, and she delved deeper as she tried to recall what Professor Utonium had said to the Powerpuff Girls.

 _Based on your descriptions girls, it appear to have a psychoactive effect on Butch at least. But for the rest of the boys, it has a neurological effect of unknown magnitude, shutting down most bodily functions save the most basic ones._

Blossom wondered if the Red Candy that Him had given the boys are meant to be a sedative with a hallucinogic effect in the first place like nitrous oxide instead of the usual strength and emotional enhancing versions of Red Candies.

 _Neurological conditions can often lead to hallucinations and also misperceptions of their bodily senses. Despite this state, the brain is somewhat awake, with cerebral neurons firing with the same overall intensity as in wakefulness._

There is something else she is missing, but Blossom is uncertain on what question she should ask in order to get the right answers. Blossom wondered how the drug affected the boys in their state, and the more the thought about it,the more it does not make any sense. Blossom wondered how did all three boys had their dreams connected in the first place and why it connected in the first place. Blossom wondered if this particular situation is what allowed the dreams to be so vivid in nature.

That may also tie in with how she had lost her abilities in this world.

Blossom and her sisters had the ability to venture into dreams and alter it to their will ,but the ability was taken from them along with their usual strength and abilities as soon as they entered into the boys' dreams. Why their abilities disappeared in the first place,and how her sisters regained their abilities to an extent is something of a puzzle in itself but it appeared to correlate with the state of the boys's state of mind.

Or to be exact,it is their state of mind when it comes to certain issues. Blossom wondered if her abilities had returned, but she will need to know the rules of how the girls regain their powers in order to fully utilize the situation to the best of her capabilities.

"What are you planning?" Blossom wondered what Him is trying to do to all of them.

"Babe."

"I'm not your babe you pigheaded redhead!" Blossom instinctively snapped at Brick, causing Brick to graciously retreat from Blossom. Blossom realized her folly and wanted to apologize but Brick stopped her.

"Need to catch your attention quick enough, as you're too deep in the tank. Babe hits the mark. Glad that it still works." Brick answered.

Blossom's silence acknowledged Brick's reasoning, for calling her 'babe' is a particular pet peeve that Blossom had gained over the years fighting against the Rowdyruff Boys. Even after all these years, Blossom is still affected by it. Blossom noticed that Brick and Boomer are looking at their brother with growing copper-haired teenage girl turned her attention towards Butch and she saw the reason for the boys' concern.

"Seriously the event's all screwed up...this ain't right..." Butch mumbled to himself as Blossom noticed that the wiry boy's body is now shaking uncontrollably.

Butch's trembling is very different from the shakes that Butch had when he is excited for a fight,as it is a far more dejected and fearful body gesture. Blossom turned towards the other two Rowdyruff Boys and is expecting an answer about Butch's uncharacteristically vulnerable immediately knelt down next to his brother and put both his hands on his dark-haired brother's shoulders, and he immediately recognized the signs.

"He's breaking down isn't he?" Boomer's asked his carnelian-haired brother.

"He's growing cold...he's in the 'Catatonic Special'." Brick voiced out his observation, and immediately took out his turtleneck shiet over his head and draped it over his brother like a blanket. Blossom is greeted by the surprisingly well-sculpted body of Brick showing through his white sleeveless shirt that he wore underneath.

Blossom's thoughts at the time were focused on how well build Brick really is, and she wondered how would Bubbles react if she got the chance to see Brick the way Blossom did.

Seriously I need to focus here, Blossom said to herself as she mentally snapped herself out of her stare.

"What's happening to him?" Blossom asked as she had never seen Butch in such a state before.

"When we talk about Renée,there will be a point where Butch will just lose it. He'll turn into a cold, unresponsive mess." Boomer explained.

"And that is not a figure of speech. He literally turns cold. It's really hard to snap Butch out of it. This had happened five times before,and it gets harder for us to snap him out of it." Brick added, and his expression darkened significantly.

"But this will ease up right?" Blossom tried to lighten the mood,but Brick shook his head.

""Blossom, we don't have much time. If what you say is right about this world being affected by his state of mind...Butch had just triggered the countdown to our destruction." Blossom is clearly was caught offguard by the escalation of the situation, and Brick's tone only served to highlight the severity of the situation.

"So Blossom, any bright ideas?" Boomer asked Blossom, knowing well that Blossom's smarts is vital in their endeavor.

"No...no...no...I don't wanna..." Butch is now in a very distressed mood and his brothers watched with pained expressions as he rocked back and forth without ever revealing his face through his palms.

"This is hard to watch." Boomer bit his lips,while Brick clenched his fist tightly.

 _This is really odd_ , Blossom thought to herself.

Something about Butch's reaction reminded her of a diagnosis that she once read before in a medical book. Something about Butch's reactions and behavior raised a flag in Blossom's mind and as she tried to recall what that is, her mind started to pick up on other things that she had initially took for granted when she interacted with Butch.

His tendency for aggression and his easily triggered battlelust.

His unnatural outbreak of his emotions.

His apparent problems with relationship boundaries.

His social isolation in school.

His difficulty perceiving and responding to others' emotional states.

His compulsive sexual comments and actions.

His utter breakdown after a particularly combative phase whenever Renée is mentioned.

Blossom covered her mouth with her palms as her mind realized the signs. The signs are there but she had never taken it seriously. Correction; Blossom had never seen nor interacted with a person with Butch's disorder. Butch's disorder is not apparent but the signs are there if one looked hard enough. The signs are Butch's unconscious way of telling the world what is going on in him, and it is a cry for help. His mind is constantly torturing himself and Butch reacted by trying to pick a fight with everyone in order to take his mind off the emotional pain. No, perhaps it is a way to punishing himself for the deeply distressing experience that had scarred him. Blossom immediately moved towards Butch, knocking Brick's arm.

"Pinkie watch-" Brick went silent as he saw Blossom kneeling down and hugged his brother, bringing his head closer to her chest. Brick and Boomer were taken by surprise as they watched Blossom embraced their brother. To their further surprise, both boys watched as Butch did not resist her embrace. Butch rested his arms and he started to assume a fetal position.

 _Crack!_

Boomer turned towards the sound of the cracking sound and saw a large crack had just appeared in the void that both Butch and Blossom appeared from, a sickly red glow emanating from the crack.

 _Crack!_

Brick eyes widen with shock as the crack became more spread out and the glow became more ominous. Brick decided to not take the chance and prepared himself to face whatever that is breaching the dimensional space.

 _Crack!_

The dimensional space soon collapsed, revealing a lanky and tall crimson figure with a black widow's peak. As Brick and Boomer watched, the figure entered with an unnatural grace and stepped into the realm with its long, slender boot-strapped leg.

 _Crack!_

The metrosexual figure held a young girl in each of its pincer-like arms, with a lean dark-haired girl and a shoulder length straw-colored girl held in its left pincer while a young boy with a jet-black hair held on its right pincer.

"Bubbles!" Brick voiced out, betraying his fears.

"Buttercup!" Boomer yelled as he saw the demon held the raven-haired girl with neon-green highlights.

Blossom notices the commotion and she looked up to see both her sisters dangling from the arms of their newly arrived guest like prizes from a hunt.

"Him..." Blossom whispered as she watched the crimson figure strutted towards them like a model on a runway. Him threw the unconscious girls towards Brick and Boomer, causing their bodies to move and catch the girls. Brick managed to catch Buttercup without much difficulty while Boomer fell down with Bubbles's chest landing squarely in his face.

" _There...that should be everyone. Am I missing out someone_?" Him asked itself and soon gasped as it realized what it missed out.

Him clamped its pincer like how a person snapped its finger, and a figure of pure abyss with two pure red eyes appeared before Him. The dark figure threw a punch that connected with Him's cheek. The dark figure is visibly surprised by the sudden opponent it is facing against before a red pincer grabbed the shadowy figure by its wrists.

" _Not bad...not bad at all._ " Him flings its arm and Break was tossed towards Brick's side without any hassle.

"Break!" Brick called out to its alternate personality.

"What is Him doing here" Break asked his red-haired counterpart.

"Trying to kill us from the looks of it."

" _Does everything need to end in deaths and killings Brick? I thought I taught you better._ " Him chided the Rowdyruff Boy leader.

"You managed to gather us all...now what?" Brick retorted with a question that put a smile on Him's face.

" _Now we wait. Will Butch take us all down or will Butch get us all out from here?_ " Him answered.

"What do you...what do you mean by that?" Brick sensed that there is something particularly odd about the way Him phrased the issue.

" _I have decided to pull the plug on me getting out of this world the easy way. Now,I can't get get out from this world without your help._ " Him shrugged as if its choice is just a minor inconvenience.

"That made no sense! That is just downright admitting that you screwed up big time!" Boomer shouted as he managed to get Bubbles off him,causing a smile to draw itself on Him's face.

" _No, I decided to make it a game of choice; fail and I lose my life or succeed and I get out alive._ " Him said darkly.

"You-" Boomer is overcomed by so much disbelief and anger that his voice was caught in his throat.

"And for all we know you're lying about the part where you die with us." Brick coldly states his opinion, though he is no less angrier than his sand-blonde brother.

" _No point lying if I can't get out._ _Blossom, anything you want to add?_ " Him focused the attention of the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy and the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy towards Blossom and Butch with a single sentence. Both Brick and Boomer watched as Blossom held their brother in her arms and watching Him with brave and determined eyes.

"Why are you telling us this Him?" Blossom asked, the sound of the sobbing dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy in her embrace is just a whimper as compared to her own.

* * *

 _Crack!_

"Urgh...my head..." Brick heard a raspy sound, only to sense movement from the Powerpuff Girl in his arms. As the dark-haired girl regained consciousness, she realized that she is in the embrace of a particular carnelian-haired boy.

"Finally awake it seems." Brick answered Buttercup with a charming smirk.

"Never thought I'll see that smug look again." The fact that Brick regained his face is not lost on Buttercup. That and Brick has a surprisingly good physique, accentuated by his white sleeveless shirt.

"Speaking about smug looks, I'll suggest you look ahead." Brick suggested.

Buttercup felt an uneasy sensation and turned to face Him with a young Butch in its pincers. Buttercup looked around and saw her blonde sister is lying unconscious beside her blonde counterpart and her eye soon caught on Blossom holding Butch in her arms. Buttercup is surprised by how miserable and weak Butch appeared in her sister's embrace as she never saw Butch as a fragile crybaby before.

"Shit...what the hell?" Buttercup wondered what kind of situation had caused this particular mess they are in.

" _A hellish mess_." Buttercup's peridot eyes caught a dark shadowy figure resembling Brick's outline with two glowing red eyes beside her. Buttercup was about to whip out a punch when Brick preempted her action with an answer.

"Break. The resident in my subconscious and source of my fear factor."

" _Hello Buttercup. Nice to finally see you in person._ " Break greeted the peridot-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"Hello." Buttercup instinctively answered the shadowy figure in a polite manner.

"Why are you doing this Him?" Buttercup heard her sister's voice and Buttercup turned over to Him.

" _Honestly? I. Am. Bored._ " Him's joyful voice is sweet and disturbing as it stated its purpose, sending chills down the spines of the conscious individuals in the dimensional space.

"Bored?" Blossom is visibly shocked by Him's answer, and Buttercup watched on to see what Him has got to say. Him always had something to say.

 _"I am bored._ _Three words. So simple. So profound. I want to see you try and get out from this mess and I am willing to out my life on the line. Either we all be lost forever together or we all live and fight another day. If you want vanquish me,you may do so at the cost of everyone's lives. Up to you,and I will just watch._ " Buttercup noticed that Him is in one of his monologue moods,and when that happens that is always a clue that they are in a very bad situation.

"What's Him talking about?" Buttercup asked Brick, who in turn pointed upwards. Buttercup looked up to see that the entire ceiling is now cracked and a red glow is emanating from the cracks.

"This place's gonna collapse if we can't find out the last part of the puzzle." Brick explained to Buttercup.

"Okay...what's the good news?" Buttercup asked.

"We know who has the last piece." Brick pointed his head towards Butch, showing Buttercup the person that had the last piece.

"And the bad news?" Buttercup is not liking the answer for the question she had just asked, as she saw Butch being an emotional wreck. Brick's sigh only intensified the anxiety within her heart.

"It is in Butch and he had just broke down mentally, causing the cracks to become much worse." Brick pointed his head upwards towards the ceiling and the ceiling had started to crack even more intensely than before.

"Ah nads..." Buttercup's heart sank as she realized that their lives are now in the hands of her green counterpart.

"Yes. Nads." Brick agreed with Buttercup's blunt and concise assessment of the situation.

* * *

 _Crack!_

A voice woke Bubbles up, causing her eyes to open wide. Her bright sky-blue eyes saw that she is leaning to her side in a white place illuminated by a ominous red light. Bubbles decided to get up and she soon regretted her choice. Her eyes were greeted by a sight unlike any other.

First, Bubbles noticed her fiery copper-haired sister's arms are around a fragile,crying Butch with his head buried in her chest.

Secondly, she saw Him holding a younger Butch in its pincer rambling about some nonsense she did not bother to pay attention to.

 _That's bad_ , Bubbles said to herself as she assessed the situation. Him had a hostage, and hostages always complicate matters.

Thirdly, it seems that the ceiling of this particular place is now filled with cracks and there is an evil red glow from the cracks above.

 _That's really bad_ , Bubbles said to herself. Things with evil-looking glows are always instruments of dire situations.

"Bubbles! You're awake!" Bubbles came to realize with great displeasure that Boomer is right next to her.

"Boomer..." Bubbles hoped that this could not get any worse and yet it did. She noticed Brick is now holding her sister while wearing a white sleeveless shirt that showed his surprisingly well-sculpted body. Something popped in Bubbles' head and she did not like what she saw.

"Um...Bubbles?" Boomer interrupted Bubbles' glare, and now her ice-cold glare is focused on the sand blonde Rowdyruff Boy.

"What." Bubbles bit back, causing Boomer to jerk back instinctively from Bubbles. Boomer had not seen Bubbles' cold death glare in ages and having it now homed on him once more send a cold chill down his spine.

"We need to help Butch or else we are all screwed." Boomer is answered by Bubbles raising one of her eyebrow quizzically.

"What?" Bubbles is very lost and she will need some help to find out what is going on.

* * *

 _Crack!_

Blossom may be showing a brave expression on the outside, but her outward expression does not reflect her internal turmoil over the situation. Correction; Blossom honestly knows nothing of their dire situation. Blossom honestly just wanted to get out from this unending nightmare, and she wanted to just return home to the real world .Yet at the same time the seed of doubt is always in Blossom's mind on whether they can ever get out from this increasingly nightmarish realm in the first place.

"Please...don't leave me...I beg of you...why...did you..." Butch's mumbling snapped Blossom out from her depressing thought.

Blossom looked down to see an emotionally devastated Butch is now clinging on her like a scared, crying child to his mother. Blossom clearly never expected herself to be in this situation with Butch,let alone for a second time. Blossom wanted to say to herself that this coincidences are just coincidences, but her rational and logical mind informed her that by sheer constant exposure to the Rowdyruff Boy as compared to her sisters or anyone else (except his brothers of course), she is more statistically prone to see Butch's other emotional state than other people.

 _Curse my logical mind_ , Blossom said in her mind. Still, seeing Butch in such a manner made her wonder if such logic and rationality is needed to console him. Blossom knew the answer to that question, and she wondered why she had doubted it in the first place.

"Butch...shhh...it's okay...it's okay..." Blossom said in a calm, soothing voice as Butch mumbled.

"No...it is not okay...no..." Butch's voice started to tremble, and the combined sounds of sniffing and sobbing soon revealed itself as Butch's body shook.

 _This is turning worse with every moment_ , Blossom observed the cracks above them is so numerous that it is turning the ceiling into a bright glow of sickening crimson that lighted the whole area with a blood-like atmosphere. She wished that she could connect with Butch the same way her sisters had done with Butch's brother, for she honestly never knew Butch despite their interactions. Blossom sensed that if this goes on, the world as they knew it will collapse upon itself and they will all be lost.

 _Yet, if you fail you'll bring Him down with you._

The thought shocked Blossom, and she wondered if this is part of Him's mind game to make her fail. The temptation to fail is stronger than the will to succeed precisely because Him had offered the silver bullet to its demise. Blossom did not count upon is that Him had put its wager on their escape. If it is a normal villain, they would have put the wager on them not succeeding and that would made Blossom more motivated to escape and vanquish them. But Him choose an action that made Blossom wonder if she wanted to fail just to stop Him once and for all. Him may be a conniving monster,but it never go back on its word nor bend the rules of the game.

Blossom knew in her heart that both results will further Him's plan, and such was its plan that Him can afford losing itself if it means bringing down Blossom and her sisters with it. On the other hand, escaping will only serve to let something else escape from Butch's mind that will further Him's objective. Such was Him's machination that Blossom doubt the decision that she will have to make.

"This is messed up." Blossom said to herself.

 _Fear not,Blossom._

Blossom's eyes widened as she heard a voice that is not her own in her mind. A voice that is familiar to her, but at the same time a voice that is utterly strange. Blossom decided to hide the situation with the ease of an experienced disassembler, and fortunately Him had not caught on the situation. If anything is to be deduced from the situation, anything goes in this dream and Blossom will take her chances. Not her usual way of doing things, but Blossom will have to make do with the hand that she was dealt with.

 _Who are you?_ , Blossom asked the voice in her head.

 _It matters not who I am, just that you accept the help I am about to give you._

 _Help? How?_ , Blossom is particularly curious on how a disemboweled voice can possibly help her in getting them out of their situation.

 _You'll have to make Butch accept and move on. He needs to know that there is no other way. But I'll provide the push that you need._

 _Push? What pu-_

* * *

 _Crack!_

"Blossom, any bright ideas!" Brick yelled at his red-haired counterpart, but received no response in return. Brick saw Blossom staring with glass-like eyes with his brother still in her tender embrace.

"BABE! ANY IDEAS!" Brick yelled once more, but there is no response. Brick is now extremely worried as Blossom always responded to him calling her 'babe', and Blossom not responding to the blatant provocation is a very serious situation indeed. Buttercup shared the carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy's concern and looked at her sister to see if her sister is alright. However, Buttercup's eyes had picked up on something that put a smile on her face.

"Wait...give my sis time." Buttercup advised, causing Brick to raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean time?! She's just stoning like she's high on weed!" Brick is unable to accept that Blossom being as stiff and emotionless as a statue as a good thing.

However, Buttercup knew better.

Blossom's mind had went into her problem-solving overdrive mode and it takes an extraordinary situation for her to be triggered into such a state. Blossom is a particularly observant person, but there are times where even she is not aware of the things that she had stored into her photographic memory. Things that can be used to solve particularly novel and complex situations. Depending on the nature of the problem at hand, it can be a very logical manner of solving the issue or in more abstract situations it will become close to a shamanistic experience. That in turn will affect how long it takes for her to solve the issue.

"Let's hope that she can figure out a way that will get us out of here." Buttercup respond, and Brick raised an eyebrow.

"So what do we do at the meantime?" Brick pointed out, knowing that relying on Blossom's trance is pure unadulterated nonsense. However, Brick will have do grudgingly admit that Blossom is better in solving complicated puzzles as compared to him and if Buttercup put that much faith in her sister, he will have to trust Buttercup's judgment on the matter. Brick wondered how odd it is to put so much faith on a Powerpuff Girl while he was designed to bring them down to their knees.

"Well, let's kick Him's ass." Buttercup suggested. Brick looked at Buttercup for a moment and realized that she is essentially his dark-haired brother in female form with more brains.

"I'll take the left nut. You take the right." Brick relented.

* * *

Blossom found herself in a dark room with a teenage spiky-styled dark-haired boy with jade-colored eyes looking at her with stream of tears running down his eyes The boy is clad in a green long-sleeved shirt with a black horizontal stripe across the torso region and black pants. Blossom soon realized that something is amiss and she felt a breeze in between her legs. Blossom should not feel a breeze in between her legs for she recalled that she was wearing pants.

"What the?" Blossom looked down to see herself clad in the traditional Powerpuff Girls dress of a pink dress with a rather short skirt that has a black stripe in the middle with white tights and black Mary Janes.

"Pinkie?"

"Butch, what is going on?" Blossom turned towards Butch, expecting an answer from the Rowdyruff Boy.

"I will be honest and I don't remember much. I just don't remember what happened after Brick and I stopped arguing." Butch answered her, and it appears that he is also as perplexed as Blossom is when it comes to what happened.

 _He remembered nothing_ , Blossom realized that Butch had literally had a lost of memory during a period of great distress.

"And why am I crying?" Butch soon realized that his eyes are flowing a steady stream of tears. Blossom watched as he tried to wipe his tears away, only for it to start all over again. Butch decided that in the end it is not worth his time and he stopped wiping his tears. Butch soon raised his eyebrow and noticed Blossom's particular attire. Blossom did not appreciate the way in which Butch is looking at her, and she grabbed her skirt and pulled it down, trying her very best to not show more that she wanted to.

"That's hot. Never knew your old costume can be so...sexy." Butch raised his eyebrow and whistled a catcall.

"Great...we're dressed up like our five-year olds." Blossom groaned as she recalled that the skirt was never this short.

"And I must say that your looks now will stop crime in its track." Butch winked at Blossom.

"Urgh..." Blossom groaned before she saw Butch wiping the tears from his eyes, and seeing Butch wiping his tears in such a gentle manner surprised her a little.

"Looking at it...it looks like we are trapped in my soul." Butch answered as he looked around.

"That's not possible" Blossom is answered with a tear-filled stare, the jade green eyes of the Rowdyruff Boy burning itself into her mind. Blossom decided to not press on the issue.

"A miserable place, and I know it by heart." Butch answered the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl and wiping away the tears once more.

"Butch..." Blossom wanted to continue on, but she struggled to find the right words for the situation. Butch noticed Blossom's difficulty in expressing herself and he decided to make it easier for her.

"Spit it out. Better out than in."

"Butch, if this is your issue...then...that means..." Blossom hesitated once more, and Butch knew what she wanted to say.

"Yeap. This is about Renee." Butch's tears started to flow down his cheeks once more as he stoically attempted to put on a strong front

"Butch..." Blossom tried to communicate with the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy but all she was met with is silence. Blossom knew that this will be a very hard issue to crack, let alone ease Butch into accepting the issue.

 _Looks like I will need to try something different,_ Blossom thought to herself.

"I don't recall the Baron of Berserk being such a wuss." Blossom bit her lips, knowing that it is very insensitive of her to throw an insult at him. But for her to understand, she will need to get him fighting once more.

"Yes I can. And watch me." Butch finally spoke out, and Blossom heard the young boy's croaky voice. Blossom clearly did not expect Butch to accept such an insult, and that is a great cause of concern for her.

"No. I will not. Not when you are this miserable." Blossom turned away from him, trying her best to do a reverse psychology situation on Butch. Blossom noticed a hand on her shoulders and she turned around instinctively only to see a teenage boy with a darkened mood looking at her with livid jade-green eyes.

"Yes,you will once you see the truth." Butch answered softly, at odds with his normal outburst of anger. Butch soon reached for Blossom's other arm and grabbed her hand. As Butch's fingers touched her wrists, a bright green light soon emanated from Butch's fingers and covered both individuals in a blinding light.


	73. Chapter 73: Acceptance

Chapter 73: Acceptance

"What's this?" Blossom wondered as she find herself in a rather unassuming building. However Blossom soon saw a young boy with onyx hair and jade green eyes walked past her. Blossom spotted the Rowdyruff Boy and tailed after the boy. Outwardly, Butch appeared calm as he walked towards Renée's office, and to Blossom's surprise she is able to hear what he is thinking about.

"My regret. My guilt. My heartache." Butch answered and Blossom realized that Butch is behind her. Blossom turned around to see Butch wrapping his arms around his torso as if trying to keep himself warm.

"So this is..." Him had shown Blossom parts of how Renee passed away and what happened after she had passed away, but this will be the first time she is witnessing the past from Butch's point of view.

"My memory. Of what truly happened on that fateful day. I'm a mess at this time. My brothers wanted to leave Syria, and the rebels over here are losing. Everyone knew that whoever wins this will most likely win the war."

"Then...why don't you-"

"I'll not let Renée die here. Of course Brick being the ass he is,he told me that if I want her out,I need to plan for her to get out."

"But...you're terrible at planning." Blossom pointed out hesitantly,for she know that he is the worst at making intricate plans and negotiations.

"Yeah...Brick got me but if I can prove Brick wrong I'll be able to rub it in his face. You know how that feels. Brick's face turning black at his plans screwing up is a precious expression." Blossom nodded,and she know how that exhilarating that feeling is.

"Anyway, this is the night to throw the dice and hope for the best. And look, little me just arrived." Butch pointed his finger towards the younger Rowdyruff Boys standing before the door.

Within a few seconds, the door opened up to reveal a sky-eyed pale woman with dark brown hair braided in a single pony tail behind her back that is surprised by the presence of the young Rowdyruff Boy at her doorstep.

"What's wrong Petit Verde?" Renée asked.

"We need to talk." Butch voiced over his younger self, and Blossom realized that he had burned the memory into his mind. Blossom watched as Renée beckoned the boy to enter. Butch and Blossom watched as the younger Butch stepped into the room. Renee closed the door behind her and took her seat, turning her attention. Butch swallowed hard and Blossom nudged him.

"Get a drink." Blossom chided the Rowdyruff Boy as she noticed at the way he looked at Renée. Butch glared at her for a moment but soon turned his attention once more to René remembered how they talked about the situation and how she had told Butch that she understood if the Butch and his brothers left the city. Butch knew what will come next and-

"No." Renee answered adamantly as young Butch's asked if she will be leaving the city as well. Blossom is perplexed by her answer as there is no reason for anyone to leave this living hell.

"I know right. No reason at all." Butch picked on Blossom's internal inquiry,startling the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"Anyway, this is the night I knew about Renée's reason for joining the war; she's from Aleppo and she got some serious beef with the government. Not even my brothers know about this." Butch chuckled darkly as he watched Renée interacting with his younger self.

"Do you know where you're from, Butch?" Renee asked, the manner in which she asked is meant to be a figure of speech.

"A toilet in the Townsville Prison Complex." Butch voiced the young boy's reply, knowing that his origins is never the most logical nor elegant.

The French woman chuckled, and little Butch gave out a wide smile, while the teenage Butch had a bitter smile with a softened look on his face. Blossom had never seen Butch having such a soft and tender expression before and she almost forgot that this is the Baron of Berserk, the most bloodthirsty of the Rowdyruff Boys. His eyes longed for a time that was before, and Blossom knew that it is a world where time had passed by. Butch glanced over towards Blossom and he shrugged, knowing well that there is no way Blossom will ever understand their bond. Butch listened on as Renée leaned back on her chair and continued on, her expression turning darker with every moment. Butch and Blossom watched as the woman hugged the boy, expressing her desire to see the Rowdyruff Boys live long and peaceful lives. The moment however was rudely interrupted by a violent tremor rocked the entire building and a loud boom echoed throughout the room. Blossom was startled by the sudden sound, but Butch was calm and he watched as the scene further unfold.

"Russians jets." Renée pointed out as she recognized the sonic booms.

"Shit." Butch cursed.

As the explosions increased with greater intensity, the communication walkie talkie on the table started to become alive with frantic communication.

"This is the big offensive. Looks like they are using fuel air bombs and ballistic missiles to bombard the city in addition to their normal repertoire of barrel bombs and artillery."" Renée pointed out.

"They're really going for it?" Butch asked the dark-haired woman.

"But night fighting is clearly is not their main strengths." Renée wondered out loud, her eyebrows turning into a deep frown.

"Maybe that's the main surprise. No one expected them to attack during the night?" Young Butch pointed out innocently.

Renée was about to respond when the ground rocked violently and a cloud of dust and dirt drizzled on both Butch and Renée. The building continued to rock with every tremor and the tremor is getting more intense the closer they get and the cracks on the walls became more apparent. Soon, the floor below them is trembling so much that it felt that the ground will give way at any moment from the sheer intensity of the offensive.

"We need to move." Renée informed and Butch raised his hand.

"Tunnel sounds good for now. We better go through the tunnel networks. We will be protected against the bombardments if we are underground." Butch suggested and Renée nodded as she agreed with the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy's suggestion.

"Lead the way, Petit Verde." Renée pointed out and gave Butch the responsibility to get them out of their predicament. Butch gave her his best confident smile and moved out from the room.

"That is some decent thinking from someone like you." Blossom informed Butch.

"Screw you." Butch answered back, clearly not pleased that he was indirectly called an idiot.

"Aleppo...it's burning." Renée said with a saddened voice as she looked out the window.

Blossom noticed Renée is holding her body with her slightly trembling arms as she walked down the stairs with the young boy. Blossom looked out the window and she watched a city in conflict, ablaze with columns of fire reaching out to the heavens and the skies above Aleppo is alight with anti-aircraft fire. Blossom is awed by the dark majesty of the scenery and utterly terrified by the means in which humanity seek to kill one another. The sound of a bullet whisking by snapped Blossom out of her gaze. Blossom watched as the young dark-haired boy snapped into action and he pushed Renée down just moments before a hail of bullets flew past their heads. Butch retaliated by firing beams from his eyes and the several agonizing screams were heard, causing a brief lull in the firing.

"Cover me!" Renée cried out as she took out her handgun and started running towards the stairs.

"Time to kick ass!" Butch smiled wickedly as he calmly took a stride towards the window. The bullets are bouncing off his skin as the attackers attempted to mount an effective opposition.

"They didn't even stand a chance." Butch smirked as he watched the scene unfold.

Blossom watched as three soldiers fired their rocket-propelled grenades at the Rowdyruff Boy in the attempt to stop Butch in his tracks. However Butch formed an energy field in front of him and all the projectile violently exploded as the shield protected him. Butch replied with a blast of energy from his eyes and he is sweeping the horizon while cutting through the ground with the beam from his eyes. However, several orange beams struck the rooftops and window, causing even greater chaos among the fighters. The young boy was blown back from the blast and was forced to retreated.

"Isn't that an Antidote-X beam?" Blossom pointed out, not expecting the weapon to be used in this flashback.

 _No...this is real and that is why we saw the-_

Blossom's thoughts are immediately interrupted by a loud, pulsing, deep-throated growl. Blossom just barely avoided a man being flung towards her direction, and she was forced to watch a familiar scene of men being mangled, mauled or shot by a being moving so quick that it is just a blur. Both Butch and Blossom saw a man thrown through a brick wall and landed on one of the armored vehicles, and focused their attention towards the individual that was thrown out. The man is mangled beyond recognition, each limb twisted and torn to the point where only a few tendons are what holding the limbs to the body. The body had deep wide gashes and the face of the man is an utter disfigured mess, revealing innards and organs flowing out from the gashes and wounds. The thing that caused the mayhem soon stood before the brown-haired woman and the onyx-haired boy. Blossom gasped as she recognized the sight before them.

"That a werebear with an Antidote-X beam guns on its backs" Blossom said his thoughts out loud, and Butch shook her head.

"No. That is a Russian werebears with laser beams on its backs." Butch corrected Blossom, causing Blossom to instinctively roll her eyes.

The beast charged right before the young Butch and Renee, and Blossom saw tue young boy tightening the muscles around his back and his legs, preparing the torque that he needs to explosively throw out his punch. Once the beast reached within his striking range, Blossom saw the boy whipped out its punch with such force that his feet cracked the floor below them. With a single blow, the fist slammed into the jaws of the werebear and the creature was launched out from the building.

"If you must know, that guy never came back." Butch felt that he need to explain the situation to Blossom. However Blossom's attention is now on the sudden appearance of an individual aiming his pistol behind Butch's head.

"How did you not notice that?" Blossom is aware that Butch is perhaps the most instinctively proficient fighter she had ever known, and seeing him having a gun aimed behind his head without any reaction is something new to her. Blossom saw the young boy reacting immediately and struck the man with such force that the man's chest caved in while dodging a bullet by sheer microns.

"Not sure how that happened, but I think it is because of the Antidote-X beam. Look." Butch beckoned Blossom to continue watching and Blossom saw a stream of blood running down the young Rowdyruff Boy's cheek.

"Ruki Vverkh!" Blossom watched as the boy was stopped from resisting further by holding Renée at gunpoint. The young boy raised his arms above his head.

"Impressive, took out one of my Medveds." Blossom was taken by surprise as she saw a large burly man with silver-white hair and burn scars covering half his face. She recognized the man from the post-briefing from the Declaration Attacks, and the man is one of those responsible in hurting both Butch and Bubbles.

"Colonel Nikolai Zhukovitch Sergetov." Butch's displeasure is etched on his face and he spat out the words bitterly.

"You...knew who he is?"

"Yes, but never knew that the Lunatic that impaled me is also the same Russian bastard that dropped the bomb on us." Blossom can feel the simmering rage in Butch's voice.

"Did your brothers-"

"No, they never did nor did I expect that bastard to live. Then again, I never expected her to be alive." Butch pointed with his head towards the woman that refused the Russian's handshake.

"I'll never thought I would see the Hound of Aleppo face to face." The French woman said with venom in her voice.

"I would prefer Colonel Nikolai Zhukovitch Sergetov of Squad Medved. Much more polite." Blossom is amazed once more on how sharp Butch's memory is on some things if it involves things he hate and Blossom wondered if that is the reason for his ordeal.

Blossom watched as both Renée and the Russian man stared at each other for a few tense moments before a bestial soldiers appeared. The Russian colonel turned around to see the beastman ripping off his fur revealing a lean and well-build human body. The auburn-haired man saluted before he curtly reported to the Russian colonel. After hearing his report, the Russian commander saluted the man before turning his attention towards the younger Butch and Renée,with Butch and Blossom watching by the wayside.

"Looks like Hound found Fox." The man's polite mannerism is marred only by his heavy Russian accent.

"Congratulations, you rabid dog." Renee bit back, giving the Russian a chuckle.

"And boy here...Rowdyruff Boy. Interesting." Renee's face turned pale as the man deduced the identity of the Rowdyruff Boy.

"He knew who you are." Blossom expressed her shock and surprise.

"I will be more surprised if he didn't. A villain always knew another villain." Butch wiped his tears once more and Blossom was reminded once more that Butch is still perpetually crying.

Blossom clearly saw that the situation had changed for the worst as the man known as Medved pointed towards the dark-haired Butch and one of the men moved towards him. The soldier taped young Butch's mouth and pulled the little boy up by the back of his collar before throwing the boy down on the ground.

"Beams of my troops got Antidote-X as precaution. Looks like working now." The burly Russian smiled as he puts his foot on the nape of young Butch's neck, causing Butch's eye to widen with fear. Renee's eyes are wide open as the man slowly pressed his boot on the boy's neck and the muffled voice of the Rowdyruff Boy is heard as he struggled to escape. Renee attempted to move towards the Rowdyruff Boy, but was hit on her spine with the butt of an assault rifle. She groaned in pain as Butch struggled on the ground frantically before a soldier knelt down and held the Rowdyruff Boy's legs to prevent the boy from struggling further. The young Rowdyruff Boy breathed deeply as his jade eyes tried to look up towards the silver-haired man.

"So, where are brothers?"

"Not telling." The young Rowdyruff Boy said defiantly."But you've just lost your powers. You shouldn't have antagonized him." Blossom protested as she turned her attention towards Butch.

"As if you wouldn't do the same for your own sisters." Butch's riposte caught Blossom's tongue and she admitted that she will not sell her sisters out even under duress.

"You really are an idiot." Blossom pointed out without any hint of malice in her voice as she watched the interrogation scene.

"I'm stubborn." Butch emphasized while he watched the Russian man practicing his mark by doing a mock stomping.

"Correction; stubborn and stupid." Blossom corrected herself while the voice of Renée cursing in the background is heard.

"Polkóvnik." The voice of one of his man stopped the colonel's boot just inches away from the boy's neck. The man shifted his stomping foot aside and landed his leg gently by the boy's head. The silver-haired Russian looked down at the boy with a stony expression, and soon turned his attention on his subordinate. The soldier whispered in the ears of the colonel, and the colonel nodded a few times as he listened.

"If only Bubbles is here...she would be able to know what they are saying." Blossom whispered under her breath, but her eyes soon witnessed the colonel knelt down and pulled Butch by his hair, causing Butch to voice his discomfort. The braided woman shouted, and a rifle butt hit her squarely in the cheek. The soldier that hit her bend down and picked her up. As she is brought up to stand on her own two feet, the colonel looked at her with his icy-blue eyes.

"Please follow these gentlemen to that building over there. I will be joining you shortly." The Russian man immediately walked away, leaving them with their two captors.

"I'd say that he got the news that his position was screwed and he had to brace for impact." Butch answered Blossom as he watched his younger self and the sky-blue eyed woman were led out from the building.

"Butch, you speak Russian?" Blossom asked, surprised by the certainty of his answer.

"Well...watch on." Butch suggested.

Blossom watched as the captors and their captives navigated through the destruction wrought from the raging battle as corpses and injured men were littered everywhere the eye can see. Flames from vehicle wrecks cackled like a dark sinister laughter while the smell of burnt flesh and gunpowder peppered the air like a malignant spice. Blossom turned pale as she saw the injured soldiers were pulled away into the armored transport and the living took away the gears of the dead.

"That's not the worst." Butch warned, but he was too late as several gunshots were heard. Blossom covered her mouth as she witnessed several soldiers were seen firing on injured enemies while the least wounded enemy units were taken away for interrogations. Blossom turned away and she wanted to throw up, but nothing came out.

"And...it should happen...right...about..now." Butch counted down, and Blossom was about to ask Butch about it until she heard a loud and raspy cry.

"Allahuakhbar!" A fusillade of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades soon rained down on the Russian soldiers, causing the soldiers to seek cover as they returned fire. A few men ran out from some of the buildings and Blossom watched as the soldiers fired on the men.

"W-what's going on?" Blossom is visibly shaken by the sudden ambush. Butch empathize with her, for his first experience with them is as terrifying to him as it is to her.

"That Pinkie, is a group of Jihadis attacking." Butch explained, and as if on queue several men jumped on the closest vehicles or soldiers before they were engulfed in a cloud of fire along with their immediate surroundings.

As Blossom watched in horror, the battle swung in the favor of the attackers and the government forces were overrunned by these fanatical zealots. The Russian soldiers pulled the young boy and the woman back into the building once more and before long, the government forces are entrapped within the building that they had just cleared of rebels moments ago. The government forces went to action immediately as they set up firing positions from the windows and opened fire. However their defense is for naught as several tanks entering into the streets and aimed their cannons towards the building. The sound of machine guns returning fire and missiles whistling towards their target rang in the ears of Butch and Blossom.

However, a sound familiar to both individuals immediately echoed in the air above them, and Butch's face paled immediately. Throughout his time in Syria, he had learned to associate the sound of flying military aircraft with a disproportionate amount of death and suffering. It will soon be followed by the sound of bombs whistling through the air as it descended upon its targets,and followed by large explosions. Such was the sequence being played in his mind that his senses were dulled by his imagination, robbing Butch of the seconds he needed to react.

"BUTCH!" The brunette called out to the jade-eyed Rowdyruff Boy as she pulled the boy into her embrace and the building collapsed on them.

Blossom watched as there were no activity from the rubble for a few minutes, but soon one of the bricks dropped off and several more followed suit. A young boy covered in dust crawled out from the rubble and the boy started cursing before he was shocked into silence by the ghastly sight of mutilated bodies scattered and buried among the rubble. The little boy looked around and the little boy panicked. He looked around and saw a block of brick which he started to pick up immediately and threw it behind him over his head. The boy's labored breath is the only sound echoing throughout the site, and as the boy moved the debris, he finally saw a lock of braided brown hair, and he stopped for a moment before he immediately intensified his effort to remove the bricks away from the site.

"Hey! Hey! Renée! Wake up!" The little boy called out to the woman, and her eyelids slowly opened up to the little boy's voice.

Blossom watched as the young Rowdyruff Boy sensed something was wrong. Young Butch raised his hands up and saw that the bricks are stained with a dark maroon color that colored his arm in a dark red liquid. The dark-haired boy immediately threw the bricks away and slowly but surely, the horrifying extent of the damage is laid bare for Butch to see. Renée's limbs were not present on her torso, and blood is now oozing out from the large wounds. The Rowdyruff Boy immediately picked her up and started to move away from the site, looking around for a sign of shelter as the sensation of warm blood soaked into his clothes. Butch and Blossom watched as the little boy saw a building that caught his eye and the little boy immediately rushed towards the building and kicking the door without any hesitation. The door opened up violently and the young Rowdyruff Boy entered the building with a mortally injured Renée.

"This is where I rested her, and looked for medical supplies." Butch narrated as both Blossom and himself watched the young Rowdyruff Boy scrounging the home for something that can stop the bleeding.

"And right about now, I will spot a first-aid kit." Butch's narration is spot on as the little boy spotted a first aid kit box nearby. Blossom watched as Young Butch ran over towards the wall and pulled the first aid kit box from the wall. Young Butch muttered something under his breath and he rushed back towards Renée.

"And this is the scene...the scene where..." Blossom realized that she was about to see a scene from Butch's past that Him had forced her to see.

"You've seen it before." Butch voiced a mild surprise at Blossom's reaction, but he did not pursued it further as he turned back his attention towards the little boy trying his very best to provide a first aid to the dying woman.

"Medic! Medic! I swear...I swear, I will not let you die!" Young Butch screamed out desperately as he tried to administer first aid on his badly injured patient in order to regain a semblance of reality within this surreal situation.

Blossom closed her eyes as she is not strong enough to see the scene for a second time. However the dialogue between them still entered into Blossom's ears and she covered them with her palms. Her efforts is for naught, as her mind started to play the scene within her mind. Such was the strength of the scene that it had burned itself into her mind. Like a fire, it burned brightly and painfully, searing Blossom's heart, mind and soul. Her body ached as the memory branded itself into her body, and she knew that the memory had an impact that marked itself as a scourge on Butch's conscience.

* * *

"Hard to watch isn't it Pinkie." Butch said to Blossom as he gently let go of his grip on Blossom's wrists and also his hand on her shoulder. Blossom opened her eyes to see Butch taking a few steps back from her, and she find herself back in the dark room once more. _That's why he had blamed himself all this time,_ Blossom's eyes are now flowing with tears as her body reacted to the vivid memories.

Butch's love for Renèe had made him go insane in a way unlike any other. Her loss had impacted him in such a way that it materialized itself as a open wound that continued to fester with his guilt, regret, trauma and fears. That open wound had caused a darkness that never left him, aggravating his acute post-traumatic stresses that prevented him from living a normal life. Whatever he did, he did it with the unconscious decision to punish himself for losing her.

"This memory...you don't deserve to be tortured by it." Blossom spoke, knowing well that this may fall on deaf ears.

"Yes I do." To Blossom's surprise, Butch answered her.

"Butch..." Blossom's stopped herself as she realized that she is clueless of what to say next.

Blossom saw Butch's body trembling and Butch turned away from Blossom, his broad back facing her. Blossom tried to make it less painful than it already is, but there are some things that needed to be said. Butch did not say a word as both of them engaged themselves in an awkward silence. Butch had started fold his arms and his hands are bracing his arms from trembling. Seeing the toughest Rowdyruff Boy being so emotionally vulnerable is making Blossom uncomfortable. Blossom tried to reach for Butch with her hands,but she hesitated just as her fingers was mere inches from Butch's back.

 _Is this enough?_ , Blossom asked herself.

This man here had broken down in the real world and the dream world, and now it appear that his soul is about to break down as well. Blossom thought about what she can say, and what she can advice to get him out. But this is not some philosophical debate nor a scientific forum. This is a person in need of emotional support. Logically sound advice will not penetrate such an emotional person, and that made Blossom very uncomfortable. She is a being driven by logic and reason, and now she is faced with a situation that warrants her to throw the idea upside down.

 _No, it is not enough._

Blossom decide that she will have to let her heart moved her body in the most appropriate way, and she will have to suck up on any regrets she will feel later. Blossom immediately grabbed Butch's arm and turned him around, surprising both Butch and herself. Before Butch can even reach, Blossom pulled the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy down, causing his knees to bend and the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl's eyes are now staring at Butch's own watery jade-green eyes.

"Blossom?" Butch was taken once more by surprise as Blossom embraced Butch's head in close to her chest, and Butch can feel the Powerpuff Girl's heartbeat from his forehead. Butch felt the warmth of her body before he felt a patting sensation on his shoulder. Butch felt a surging fear within his heart and he attempted to push Blossom away, but Blossom brought her arms closer and Butch's body instinctively gave way, their height difference bringing Butch to his knees. Blossom closed her eyes and tightened her embrace of Butch. Butch's rested his arms on Blossom's shoulders, with every intention of pushing her away from him. Instead, Butch's intentions fall short, and Butch's arms soon fell limp beside him.

"Keeping this all inside...it hurts so much."

"What do you know about losing someone?! YOU NEVER LOSE ANYONE IN YOUR LIFE!" Butch howled, seeing Blossom's words as an affront to his condition. However, Butch is greeted by a stare that took his words as an affront. In fact, Butch recognized those eyes; eyes insulted by someone disrespecting a memory of a loved one. Butch understood that this emotion can never be faked, and Blossom is telling him the truth.

"I did. My sisters and I sisters and I...we had a fourth sister. Her name is Bunny, and...she's special. She's large, she's tall, she's hunched, she's got a stray tooth, she's got big lips and she's got a raggedy brown ponytail. Not what you call a perfect little girl." Blossom whispered with a breathy tremble in her voice, her voice dark and filled with a solemn pain and sadness.

"She's...created because we were selfish. We were overworked...and we wanted someone to help us save the day. As Bubbles said, three Puffs aren't enough. We used a flawed recipe...and she came out flawed. No...come to think about it, she's flawed because we are flawed. We created her with a flawed mindset..." Butch heard a sniffing sound, and Butch now felt droplets of warm liquid on the back of his neck.

"Of course, being little girls we never...never... thought about the consequences...of creating a life...and boy...did we learn it the hard way. She started helping out villains, beating up the cops, breaking prisoners out of jail...but...she's not at fault. We did not teach her the right things...and...we never considered her mental state...things went...horribly wrong. The criminals ganged up on us...and we almost got..." Blossom swallowed hard, and her voice is now trembling and she stopped. Butch listened as Blossom struggled to continue on with her words, sensing the dark pains of Blossom's memory seeping from her words and the dark guilts of what she had done.

"But...she saved us...at the cost...of... her own...life. She's unstable...and...she exploded...into her original ingredients... She was...she was good after all. We are...we are... the ones who's bad." Butch gently pulled away from Blossom's embrace, and he is now seeing a pair of rose-colored eyes filled with the darkest of guilt and her eyes are now flowing with tears. Butch had never seen Blossom cried before, and somehow that stung his heart. Blossom is miserable beyond compare, and Butch is speechless. The strong, confident young woman with the sharpest wit and an even sharper tongue is an emotional wreck like himself.

"Why...why haven't anyone knew about her?" Butch asked, for this is the first time he had heard about a fourth Powerpuff Girl, and how no one knew about her existence.

"We created her...without the Professor's knowledge...and...he never knew...she existed...No one did...She's our secret...we kept it all in...We can't even mourn for her..." Blossom's voice is but a whisper, but Butch is able to understand her and Butch took a deep breath.

Blossom was taken by surprise as Butch embraced her in his arms. Blossom soon wrapped her arms around Butch and she buried her face into his chest. Butch felt the wetness of Blossom's tears spreading across his chest, and his mind started to wonder how the Powerpuff Girls are able to live with such a painful secret all this while. Butch failed to imagine losing a sibling and Butch felt that the pain must be excruciatingly painful, especially when they can never mourn for their lost sibling.

"Pinkie...you're strong. I...I can't even..." Butch wanted to say something, but his emotions took over as choked.

"Bunny would have wanted...us to move on...So... we accepted...we move on...but we never forget...she will always be our sister. And that memory kept us all going." Blossom tightened her embrace, and Blossom grabbed the back of Butch's clothing tightly.

Butch realized that Blossom is never emotionally strong because she is strong, but because she had to. Blossom is the leader, and she have to set an example for the rest of her sisters to follow. Bubbles and Buttercup are more emotional than Blossom, and they would have cracked from the lost of their sister if it were not for Blossom's stoicism over their loss. That burden is not something Butch can even comprehend, and that allowed all of the Powerpuff Girls to live with a lighter baggage. Butch can imagine Blossom consoling her sisters throughout their ordeal, and he was reminded of how Brick had tried to get his brothers to function after the incident.

Butch had never appreciated Brick's coldness over Renèe 's death, but seeing Blossom in such a state made Butch wonder if Brick only did so to keep himself together and kept the Rowdyruff Boys in one piece. Butch wondered how his brothers must have felt, and how they had coped with their loss. Butch realized that his inability to cope must be very painful for his brother to see, as Butch served as a reminder of how deep the wound of losing the only figure that had ever treated them with love, dignity and respect as human beings rather than living weapons.

 _There's always a silver lining as every ending has a new beginning. Time will heal all sorrows..._ _No matter what the future brings, the fundamental things apply._ _Live Petit Verde, live long ...and ...prosper..._

Renèe 's voice echoed in his mind, and Butch finally understood what she meant. Butch do not want to admit it, but he will have to let go. To let go for everyone's sake.

"So please...please don't hurt yourself anymore...your memory of her...no one wants it to be that way...especially her...please...be strong for your brothers...please...be strong for her..." Blossom's voice is as soft as silk, but the emotions lacing the message is piercing as a needle through the heart.

Butch wanted to resist the Powerpuff Girl, but deep down, he knew that she spoke the truth. A painful truth that Butch never accepted, but now he was being led into the fray by example. By a Powerpuff Girl no less. Butch realized that no one escaped the pain of losing a person that they loved, but it will be a great disservice for their living memory if their death eclipsed the good memories of that they shared together. Butch bit his lips, but the emotions welling up inside can not be contained any longer. Butch's pent-up emotions came out as a heartbreaking howl. Blossom soon joined him as they both cried their hearts out in each other's embrace.

* * *

Butch and Blossom soon found themselves back in the dream realm once more, and both can feel the flow of tears running down their cheeks. Blossom loosen her embrace before both Butch and Blossom looked at each other with incredulous eyes. Both had just experienced an experience that is deeply emotional and spiritual, and the two individuals had bonded in a way that they never knew they could with another person. Both Butch and Blossom had opened up to each other and they are now privy to each other's greatest lost.

"Blossom." A husky tenor voice called out Blossom's name, causing her attention to focus on the person in her embrace.

"Butch?" Blossom expressed her relief, but Butch's response caused Blossom to express a different emotion in a flash.

"Why is my head in between your flat chest?" Blossom immediately put both her palms on Butch's head before pushing it down with all her might and slamming Butch's face first on the ground. Such was the force that the ground cracked and there is a small crater formed from Butch's face.

"You asshole!" Blossom scolded the dark-haired boy, clearly not pleased by the boy's comment about her physique and also Butch's utter rudeness. Butch immediately rose up and stood two heads taller than Blossom,looking down on her with enraged jadeite eyes.

"Shit! You don't have to slam me that hard to the ground you redheaded barbarian! You almost rearranged my face !" Butch showed his rage clearly.

"Wait...I just hit you hard enough that you cracked the floor...my powers...my powers are back!"

"ABOUT TIME YOU GUYS CAME BACK!" Blossom faced the source of the voice and saw her dark-haired sister waving at them.

"BUTTERCUP!" Blossom yelled out, and Buttercup just barely dodged one of Him's hooks.

Blossom saw that Brick, Buttercup and a dark figure resembling Brick are now on the offense against Him, while Bubbles had the younger Butch in her arms. Blossom wondered where the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy went before a lightning arches itself towards its target. Him disappeared in a wisp of smoke and the lightning pierced the smoke, missing its intended target. Him reappeared once more, but both Brick and the dark figure simultaneously attacked Him, but Him dodged the attacks with only inches to spare.

"BABE, YOU BETTER CAME BACK WITH SOMETHING GOOD!" Brick yelled as he dodged a stabbing kick by one of Him's stiletto heels.

"GET OFF MY CASE YOU PIECE OF BRICK!" Blossom instinctively yelled back at Brick, causing the red-eyed to give a wide grin. However, Brick's split moment of not paying attention was rewarded with Him slamming its pincer towards Brick's face and causing him to crash down on the ground below. Instinctively, Blossom fired the beams from her eyes and it impacted Him right in the face.

"Nice one sis!" Bubbles cried out, and Butch's attention honed in on Bubbles' location.

"FOUND YOU!" Butch exclaimed as he pointed towards Bubbles and catching Blossom by surprise. Butch immediately sped off in an arch of forest green lightning towards Bubbles and as he reached the golden platinum-haired Powerpuff Girl he grabbed his younger self and pulled him violently from Bubbles. Bubbles fell down on the ground on her bump, and the arch of forest green lightning sped off once more.

"HEY!" Bubbles protested as she watched the forest green lightning ascended towards the cracked ceiling.

The forest green streak of light soon transitioned into a brighter light and it impacted the ceiling with all its might. The earth-shattering sound of the impact caught everyone's attention and as they looked up, the ceiling shattered and the bright light of the catastrophic explosion that occurred blinded everyone.

* * *

[Utonium Household, Suburban Townsville, 12.30am]

Butch opened his eyes and the first thing that greeted his eyes are the view of white lights and a pristine alabaster ceiling. Butch got up and noticed that he is in a ward and he saw his brothers and the Powerpuff Girls lying down on medical beds. He looked around and he wondered if this is still a dream. Somehow, having too much dreams within dreams had distorted his sense of reality. Butch started to touch his chest and he started to stare at his wrists. No wet sensation from Blossom's tears, nor the scars from being bound by the shackles in the dimensional prison. Reality appeared to be much more stranger than the dream that Butch had just experienced and that thought disturbed him.

"GAAAAHHHH!" Buttercup jumped out from consciousness, startling Butch. Her peridot eyes soon started scanning her surroundings and her eyes soon focused itself on Butch, who in turn stared at Buttercup like she was a bat who had just escape from fiery pits of hell itself. The Rowdyruff Boy and the Powerpuff Girl stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Shit...Butters...that's scary." Butch spoke first and his voice is surprisingly calm, but his heart is pounding like a jackhammer from the sudden fright from Buttercup's awakening.

"That's...just a dream?" Buttercup's eyes are now wide open with shock, and before long Buttercup's eyes started to water.

 _Shit, Butters' crying?_ , Butch watched as Buttercup broke contact with him. Butch had never seen Buttercup in such a state, and it is surprisingly heartbreaking to see his rival in such a state. Of course, he had always wanted to see her cry as she defeated him, but seeing Buttercup in tears is not as rewarding as it should be. Instead, he felt a certain emptiness within him.

Butch suddenly felt a rather dark and ominous atmosphere building up and he turned towards the direction where he felt the unsettling sensation. Brick had just risen up, and his dark expressions says a lot about the Rowdyruff Boy's mental state. Brick shot a glare at Butch, and Butch instinctively jerked away from his brother. Whenever his brother is in such a bad mood, Butch always steered clear from his red-headed brother. Now with that 'thing' merging with him, Brick's black eyes and red iris brought a new level of fear in Butch's heart.

"Good work bringing us all back Butch." Brick's mood lightened up a little, but not by any meaningful degree. Brick soon started sieving his hair through his fingers, looking at the particularly eldritch manner in which his hair is glowing crimson red from its tips.

"Yeah." Butch knew that when his brother is combing his hair, he is in a particularly bad mood and Butch preferred to not say anything else.

"Brick, what...what happened to your eyes?" Both Brick and Butch turned their attention towards the soft, surprised voice of the golden-haired Powerpuff Girl.

It appeared that during their brief conversation, the joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls had regained her consciousness. However, Bubbles is not joyful nor laughing for that matter, and Butch immediately turned towards his brother to see a particularly pained expression from his face. Butch saw Bubbles' eyes started to water and she got out from her bed and rushed towards Brick's side. However, as Bubbles was about to reach out to Brick, Brick stopped her in her tracks by showing her his palm. Bubbles took a step back and she stood silently, watching Brick brooding by the side of the bed with his other hand covering his glowing crimson eyes surrounded by black scleras.

 _Ah...he never told her_ , Butch realized that Bubbles knowing Brick's condition will not bode well for Brick at all.

"Damn...that is one wild ride." The androgynous voice of the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy is heard, and Butch turned to his brother.

Butch saw his brother being even paler than usual and something is missing in Boomer's voice. His usually carefree and positive vibe is markedly absent, and Butch knew that even the most positive of the Rowdyruff Boy is affected by the ordeal. Boomer's mood turned darker when he saw Buttercup wiping the tears from her eyes, and Butch turned away from his brothers to focus on the last remaining unconscious person in the room. Butch turned his attention towards Blossom, and noticed that she is still lying unconscious on the bed. Butch immediately got up from the bed and walked towards Blossom's side. The other Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys noticed Butch's action

"Yo, Pinkie. Time to wake up." Butch talked to Blossom as he finally stood next to Blossom's bed. He was met with silence, and the mood in the room turned considerably darker as they realized that Blossom is not conscious yet.

"Don't tell me that after telling me that story and getting me up on my ass, you plan to chicken out on me." Butch clenched his fist, and the Powerpuff Girls started moving towards their sister while the other Rowdyruff Boys watched from afar.

"Blossom?" Bubbles held her copper-haired sister's arm and her zircon-blue eyes are now filled with tears while Buttercup bit her lips.

"What the hell did you do Butch?" Buttercup accused Butch, even as he stared at Blossom. Not appreciating that she was being ignored, Buttercup moved towards Butch and slammed him towards the wall of the ward.

"I...I..." Butch stuttered as he looked as Buttercup.

"Well? Cat caught your tongue?!" Buttercup glared at Butch, her eyes wanting answers from the much taller teenager.

"Girls?" A soft voice diverted Buttercup's attention away from Butch, and Butch's jade-green eyes soon turned towards Blossom as she was helped up by her golden platinum-blonde sister.

"Bloss!" Buttercup lets go of Butch and rushed towards her sister and started to hug the copper-haired girl. The blonde Powerpuff Girl soon joined in the hug, catching Blossom by surprise. Blossom looked around to see the Rowdyruff Boys all looking at her.

"Girls!" A baritone man's voice called out to the girls, and the Powerpuff Girls turned to see a square-jawed man with jet-black hair and clad in a labcoat at the entrace of the ward. His dark brown eyes are focused on the Powerpuff Girls and as he attempted to enter, a flash of pink light slammed into the man, causing Lilith and the Rowdyruff Boys to rush towards the entrance and saw Blossom lying on Professor hugging Professor Utonium on the ground.

"PROFESSOR!" Blossom cried out with joy at the sight of her father. A cough distracted Blossom for a moment, and she turned to see Butch looking down on her with a rather haughty grin.

"I didn't know that you're such a daddy's girl." Butch's riposte is as precise as it is sharp, and Blossom clearly did not appreciated the gesture. Blossom immediately got up on her feet and marched towards Butch.

"BOYS!" The three Rowdyruff Boys heard a woman's voice calling out, and they turned to see a bespectacled onyx-haired lady with gray eyes standing at the entrance of the ward staring at them with wide open eyes. Brick and Boomer got up and walked towards the woman, while Butch got off the wall and turned to face the lady. As soon as the three boys are within an arm's length from the woman, the woman embraced them all in a hug.

"Oh thank goodness you are all alright! I thought I lost you all!" The Rowdyruff Boys are not accustomed to such warm gestures, and they are visibly taken by surprise. As they looked at their adopted mother showing them the most sincere and honest emotion that they had ever experience, they decided that it is perhaps the best time to appreciate the little things in life. The boys hugged their mother, and all of them expressed their heartfelt appreciation for the moment.

"Sorry." Brick expressed his apologies.

"Glad to be back." Boomer expressed his appreciation of being back with Lilith.

"Miss you mom." Butch's response caused the group hug to loosen up and Brick, Boomer and Lilith looked at Butch with surprise. The Powerpuff Girls also turned their attention towards Butch and their jaws dropped as they heard the words coming out from Butch's mouth.

"I didn't know that you are such a momma's boy, Butch." Blossom blurted out. The other Powerpuff Girls started laughing and the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy broke out from the group hug and was about to say something when something else stopped him. Butch have to grudgingly admit that the particularly despicable woman is the person that had brought the salvation that he need to move on. Blossom walked past Butch as she returned to her sister's side and Butch's ears captured a whisper.

"1-1." Blossom winked mischievously before turning away and walking down the corridor.

"Son of a-" Butch turned around to see Blossom winked mischievously for a moment before her long, flowing fiery red hair swinging elegantly as she turned to face her sisters. Butch is speechless but his mind had the comment he wanted to say at the moment.

 _That girl is a whole load of trouble_ , Butch thought to himself.

* * *

[Olympus, Earth's Orbit]

"Him...you're bleeding."

Fennec is alarmed that Him is now bleeding dark ichor from its eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The demon gently rubs its claw on its mouth and observed the tar-black ichor that stained its bright red claw. The other Lunatics also noticed the particular incident, but none dared to ask the demon further. With Him, nothing is as it seems and none of them would want to engage themselves in its otherworldly affairs. This is further enforced when Him started to break into a maniacal glee before it covered its mouth with one of its claws. Immediately, Him started coughing violently and its claw is painted black from the ichor from its mouth.

" _That went well enough._ " Him spoke as it finally stopped coughing.

"You're hurt." Medved pointed out.

" _Yes, yes, yes...extraplanar battles always had their own particular consequences when you delved with it far too much."_

 _"_ Still, you too reckless _."_ Medved protested at the demon's reasoning.

Everyone can see that the demon is a shade of lighter red. The damage must be significant enough if Him is spilling pints of blood from its mouth and turning Him into a paler shade of red. The Lunatics also noticed that Him's legs are a little shaky and it appeared that Him is struggling to stand up. Most of them wondered if this is the right time for them to defeat Him and gain their freedom. They had noticed that the others smelled blood in the water, and are thinking of the same thing in their minds. Their thoughts are very similar; perhaps they can all work together to bring Him down, and earn their freedom once and for all.

" _If anyone is stupid enough to think that I am far too weak to wipe your existence off the multiverse, please do so at your own peril."_ Him's word of caution stopped them in their tracks before they even think of their next move.

This is why Fennec never considered such treasonous plots, for Him is ever-knowing, and it is not in her interest to be on its bad side. That particular pragmatism is also why Him made her its second-in-command, for Him knew that she is smart enough to know the consequences of crossing Him.

 _"W_ _e have Zeus's Thunderbolt, and we had obtained all the ingredients necessary for our confectionary store. The next step is afoot my dear Watson._ _At the meantime, I will be taking a vacation to recuperate myself. I'll leave it up to you pretties to do the next stage for me."_ Him answered with a joyful tone.

 _What counts as a vacation for a demon like Him?_ , The Lunatics shuddered at Him's concept of a holiday and everyone knew that it had just dragged them further into a more nightmarish situation.


	74. Chapter 74: All In A Day's Work

Chapter 74: All In A Day's Work

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It's been a long time since the narrator had came out to narrate, and boy is the Dream World arch particularly dreadfully dark._

 _Autumn had been a rather ridiculous period for the Powerpuff Girls as they jockeyed between their studies and crime-fighting and the lull in crime as a result of the worsening weather is a godsend to the girls. With the Rowdyruff Boys entering into Townsville High, Him and its Lunatics literally annexed part of Townsville, and their astral journey into the dream world, it had literally wore the girls to the bone._

 _Now that we're out from there, it appear that Townsville is moving on from autumn and entering into winter! Let us see what is going on in our dear little city of Townsville!_

* * *

[Snyder Residence, Suburban Townsville, 7.00am]

A light brown-haired girl tossed and toiled in her bed, seemingly in a blissful state of rest. It is not long before a knock on her door opened up her eyes, revealing deep ocean blue irises. The young woman took a deep breath before she got up and sit on her bed. The door to her room opened up, and a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair spoke to the teenager.

"Robin, it's time for school."

"Alright, give me a sec mom." The young woman scratched her head as she let her heart calmed down a little from the pounding that woke her up.

Robin slowly got up from her bed and she sat by the edge of her bed for a moment before she moved once more. Robin's heart is still pounding like a jackhammer from a dream though she is clueless o what the nature of the dream is. The brown-haired teenager walked towards the mirror and looked at herself, clad in a white shirt with a picture of a green apple in the center and her red track pants. The young woman then slapped both of her palms on her cheeks and a surprisingly wide smile appeared on the heart-shaped face of the teenage girl.

"Let's do this."

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 7.00am]

Sunlight steals across the windows, illuminating the Powerpuff Girls. As each one of them were woken up by either the sunlight, ringing alarm or a combination of the two, it appears that both Bubbles and Buttercup woke up with rather messy hair. Buttercup wakes up yawning and patting her hair, and Buttercup looked at her blonde sister with sleep-clouded eyes, and soon Buttercup's eyes picked up on her red-haired sister getting up from her bed.

Buttercup watched in disbelief as Blossom sits up and loosen her hair, letting it fall free behind her. Buttercup groaned as Blossom swung her hair from side to side, and she honestly wondered how Blossom is able to keep her hair so straight and presentable despite having the most hair on her , if there is one reconciliation about such nice and presentable hair, it will be that it is a mess to maintain without another person's assistance.

"Morning girls." Blossom is beaming with energy, and Buttercup groaned once more.

"Seriously, not sure how you do it every time." Buttercup complained, knowing well that Blossom is always the most alert when she wakes up.

"I'm going in first." Bubbles got up and dragged her feet towards the is the life of high school teenagers, being forced to go to school every weekday to get the education that they need to resemble productive individuals. Or for that matter, superheroes that need to project an otherwise perfect image.

* * *

[Suburban Townsville, 8.00am]

"Heya Robin!" The brunette noticed the blonde Powerpuff Girl calling and waving at her as she left the house. It is not a common sight for Robin to see the Powerpuff Girls walking out from the door of their own home, and Robin walked up to the Powerpuff Girls. Robin noticed that the girls are particularly fatigued and she wondered if they are doing well at all.

"Good morning Robin!" Blossom greeted their neighbor and undeniably the closest friend that the Powerpuff Girls have.

"Heya girls, haven't seen you coming out from your home on foot. What's the occasion?" Robin asked Bubbles.

"We kinda got sick of flying and wanted to take the scenic walking route. Want to join us?" Bubbles extended the invitation to the brunette, and Robin nodded.

"Sure, that will be nice."

The girls walked down the street and chatted about various things, ranging from gossips in their high school to what they wanted to do after school for the day. However, the amiable atmosphere was interrupted by a convoy of several Humvees rolled down the streets in beside them. The girls are soon reminded that despite the lull in crime for the past week or so, the curfew is still in effect in Townsville and they were reminded of that harsh fact.

"Seriously, I really hope that this curfew will end." The raspy voice of the dark-haired Powerpuff Girl is genuine in its wish, and Robin agreed to a certain extent.

Unlike the Powerpuff Girls, Robin is just a normal human and she is vulnerable to the machinations of monsters, creeps and crooks if they so desire to do harm to her. That in itself is also why many people had advised her to not be too close to the Powerpuff Girls, for fear that she will be used as a hostage to make the Powerpuff Girls yield, or worse be used as an example by the villains. But Robin knew in her heart that the girls need a friend, and a friend that will not abandon them at their time of need. She knows that it is their job to keep the peace, and the peace is now at the brink of utterly collapsing. The girls are also faced with villains unlike anything they faced before, and they needed all the help that they can get to keep their sanity together.

"Yeah." Robin answered, knowing that every single bit of encouragement helps. All in a day's work as a friend in need.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 10.30am]

Robin noticed that Blossom is not paying any attention at all to the Chemistry class, and that is a sign that something is amiss. Blossom never ever not pay any attention to her classes and to make it worse, she is clicking on her pen. That means Blossom is contemplating about something deeply. Robin decided that she will need to talk to her friend, _now._ Robin scribbled on her notebook and gently tore it from the notebook before folding it. Robin tapped the shoulders of the person in front of her, causing the student to turn around and Robin whispered to the student of her intention. Before long, Robin passed the piece of paper and the student went on to relay the piece of paper to Blossom's direction.

Robin watched as Blossom's shoulder is tapped, and Blossom turned around to have the piece of paper passed to her. Blossom opened up the piece of paper and she suddenly snorted out loud, catching everyone by surprise. Blossom's face is now beet red, and she meekly apologized as the rest of the class laughed. Blossom immediately turned to Robin's direction and she mouthed her response to Robin's note.

 _You're evil_ , Blossom is clearly having mixed feelings but she is leaning more to being grateful for brightening her day.

 _All in a day's work_ , Robin congratulate herself.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 12.00pm]

Robin is now walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria, hoping to help herself to her BLT sandwich and chips that she brought from home. However, something else caught her eye. Robin recognized a certain pig-tailed blonde girl in a light blue dress walking around the hallway with what appeared to be a lunchbox, and Robin immediately hide behind one of the corners and observed the girl's peculiar actions. The young blonde teenage girl had a rather worried or concerned expression on her face, and Robin observed that she appear to be looking for something, but Robin soon corrected herself. The girl appear to be looking for _someone_.

"Bubbles?" Robin said to herself, and she decided to tail her friend.

It is not every day that she tail her friends, but this is one of those days where she will make an exception. Robin had been one of a very select few friends that had knew the girls for almost their entire lives, and she is one of those people who know what the girls are capable is the most sensitive of her sisters, both emotionally and physically. So it is easy for Robin to know her friend's distress and also to move about and avoid being detected by her friend's super senses. Robin trailed behind Bubbles, taking every precaution to ensure that she is not detected by her friend as Bubbles went around searching for someone.

Bubbles soon climbed up a flight of stairs and Robin took out her shoes and held her shoes in one hand, while the other held her lunch. Robin followed suit while trying not to be detected by her superhuman friend. Fortunately for her, Robin knew them all like the back of her hand and so far she is doing a fine job of trailing a superhuman. However, Robin did not count on another factor when she trailed Bubbles.

"I don't get it. Why are you hiding behind the walls for?" A voice asked Robin, causing her to jump. Robin turned around to see a red-eyed teenage boy staring at her with one raised eyebrow, and Robin immediately recognized the teenage boy by his waist-length carnelian braided ponytail and crimson red cap.

"Oh hi Brick! Wasn't expecting you here at all!" Robin said nervously.

Robin had never talked with the infamous Rowdyruff Boys before and their first month in Townsville High had been particularly harrowing for all the students in Townsville High. Bubbles to her recollection had been assigned to watch over the most intimidating of the Rowdyruff Boys during that period of time. Bubbles being Bubbles, she managed to somehow make the best of it and among the Powerpuff Girls, she is the most successful in keeping tabs on the Rowdyruff Boy that she was assigned to watch. Bubbles do talk about Brick from time to time, and so far from what Robin recalled, Bubbles told Robin that Brick is a surprisingly well-behaved person.

"The same can be said about you, Robin. Especially when you're walking without your shoes, holding your shoes in one arm and your lunch on the other." Brick informed the brunette.

"You know who I am?" Robin expressed her surprise.

"Yeah, Bubbles talked about you and how you're the 'bestest friend of the Powerpuff Girls." Brick shrugged.

 _Huh, so they're close enough that Bubbles is sharing stuff with him,_ Robin observed. Bubbles may be friendly, but she is not that naive to share personal matters with strangers.

"Anyway, have you seen Bubbles?" Brick asked Robin.

"Well, she's right there. She's looking for someone I reckon." Robin informed the Rowdyruff Boy as she pointed towards Bubbles.

"I think she's looking for me." Brick answered as he watched Bubbles looking around with the lunch box in her arms.

"How'd you know that?" Robin is now rather curious about how Brick came to that conclusion.

"She's my lunch partner ever since I came here." Brick admitted, and Robin finally connected two and two together. Robin had been wondering where Bubbles had disappeared to for the past few weeks during lunch. For Bubbles to go out of the way to have lunch with Brick is something even the most dimwitted person will understand.

"Looks to me that you're more than a lunch partner." Robin pointed out and Brick pulled his hat down, amd Robin find Brick trying to hide his embarassment particularly adorable.

"Right, but I really don't want to see her today." Brick revealed to Robin, surprising even himself.

"Why's that? She may be a little annoying at times but she is never malicious about it."

"Yeah...all of us are not doing well because-" Brick held himself back,and Robin knew that the girls and the boys must had an experience of sorts.

"Gotcha. You and Bubbles had some weird adventure of sorts in some surreal world and now you felt awkward aboyt facing her. Is that it?"

"How...How'd you know?" Brick's eyes are now wide open in surprise.

"Seeing the timing of that prison attack and how you guys are all behaving, there must be some weird crap. Hanging with the girls long enough to know that anything's possible."

"You're seriously their 'bestest' friend." Brick acknowledged Robin's role.

"Anyway Brick, lend Bubbles an ear will you? Talk it out with her. She's not doing too well today and I think it will help both of you out." Robin gave her two cents of advice to Brick.

"Right." Brick curtly answered while narrowing his eyes. Robin noticed that Brick had something resembling regret for trying to avoid the Powerpuff Girl and Robin knew that something is going on between them.

"Also it'll help sort out your feelings for here are some movie tickets." Brick's eyes opened wide once more as she slapped it on his palm. Before he could say anything else Robin yelled out to Bubbles.

"YOO-HOO!YOO-HOO!YOO-HOO! HEY! HEY YOU! YOO-HOO! OVER HERE!" Robin sees her friend turning around and Bubbles' eyes lit up as she noticed the presence of the red-haired boy behind Robin.

"Robin! Brick!" Bubbles ran towards Robin and Brick and soon she is face to face with the two teenagers.

"That's a big lunch box." Robin pointed out, and Bubbles smiled with a grin.

"Yeah wanted to share this and-Robin...Why are you holding your shoes?." Bubbles asked her brown-haired friend, finding it odd that she is carry her pair of shoes in one hand and her lunch on the other.

"Um...I need to um...get my shoes fixed. Anyway I am off,and you can share it with Brick or something! See ya!" Robin excused herself and walked away from the two superhumans.

Robin waved at them and Brick and Bubbles looked at each other before they turned their attention to her and waved back. Bubbles passed the lunch box to Brick before reaching out to her bag to take out something. Brick's attention turned towards Robin as he waited for Bubbles, and Robin decided to give Brick some advice.

 _Ask her out on a date_ , Robin mouthed to Brick and winked, causing him to blush.

Robin soon turned to a corner and watched as Brick conversed with Bubbles. Brick showed the movie tickets to Bubbles and Bubbles' reaction became even brighter and she hugged the Rowdyruff Boy.

 _All in a day's work_ , Robin congratulate herself once more before she moved away from the scene.

* * *

[MMA Club, Townsville High, 3.15pm]

Robin is never a member of the MMA Club but she skipped her Chinese Cultures Club just so that she can hang out with Buttercup. Of course,Buttercup is particularly delighted by Robin's presence.

"Skipping out on that boring club today huh?" Buttercup asked.

"Variety is the spice of life." Robin replied, and both girls started laughing.

"Well, life's real spicy these past few weeks and have to admit that it's gonna be bad for the digestive system. Want some chips?" Buttercup offered a bag of Lay's barbeque chips to Robin.

"No thanks."

"You sure Rob?"

"Nope."

"Alright your loss." Buttercup sighed before helping herself to some chips.

 _She's in a really bad mood_ , Robin noted to herself. Robin had never seen Buttercup sigh so much before and she knows that Buttercup is in a bad mood if she is snacking on junk food. However, Robin will not point that out to Buttercup nor ask her what it is that is putting the peridot-eyed Powerpuff Girl in such a foul mood.

"Where's Butch?" Robin decided to go about it in a more indirect manner, while disguising her answer as an oblivious question.

"That bonehead? No idea. He only comes here if he wants to challenge me or something."

"And what do you mean by something?" Robin said in a cheeky tone as she nudged Buttercup.

"No, don't go there got some fighting creds,but he ain't my type." Buttercup said as she took out her bottle and takes a drink.

"Oh! I thought that you'll like girls instead!" Robin's remark immediately made Buttercup spit out the water from her mouth and Buttercup started coughing.

"No I don't swing that way Robin!" Buttercup answered back, clearly not pleased by Robin's remark.

"Then what is your type? Come on...you can share with me. Cross my heart~." Robin said in a rather sly and feline-like manner. Buttercup knew that she can never deflect Robin away from the truth for she will always find out the truth, and she sighed once more.

"Well...um...somehow...um..." Buttercup struggled to explain herself and Robin is glad that she is able to see such a pure side of the toughest Powerpuff Girl.

"Let's start with some traits...do you like muscular men?"

"Too much muscles is a bad thing, they slow you down Robin. I...prefer someone a little more...scalable." Buttercup regained her composure, but only barely.

"Scalable? You mean like a underwear model?" Robin prodded further, and Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

"Those guys are lean, but I think that's about it. Their body's are just useless in my opinion...and why are we talking about outward appearances?" Buttercup asked Robin, and Robin chuckled.

"Because I just want to know what is your preferred body type for a guy. Personally I like a lean with defined muscles. Helps if the man is tall, dark and handsome. " Robin admitted without any shame in her guilty pleasure.

"That sounds like Butch." Buttercup pointed out.

"Yeah, he hit all the right spots for me."

"But his personality sucks." Buttercup tried to convince her friend to look to someone else.

"Never knew him, and who knows, he might show me a softer side." Robin shrugged, and Buttercup shook her head.

"Man...Butch's more popular than I thought." Buttercup lamented how Butch is slowly turning into a sex idol in Townsville High.

"Back on the topic...looks doesn't matter to you Buttercup?"

"I mean it does matter, but I'll take that as a secondary trait as compared to his personality." Buttercup admitted, and Robin is now particularly curious on what Buttercup sees in an ideal man.

"So what is your type, personality-wise?"

"Um...I will have to say that he will need to show me that he's good with kids."

"Kids? Wow...you went way ahead of yourself there. You really want to have kids with the guy that you like? Please use protection." Robin said with a mockingly serious face, causing Buttercup to slap her friend in the back. Robin cried out in pain, but a laughter followed shortly after.

"No, bad Robin, bad Robin! But still I like a guy that's good with kids because it shows that he is both gentle and caring, and willing to patiently take care of someone and willing to guide them even if they are wrong or foolish. It helps if he is also funny and happy-go-lucky." Buttercup stretched her arms as she converse with Robin.

"So in other words, you're looking for a goofy, all-around good guy. I kinda expected you to go for the bad boys y'know?" Robin asked Buttercup, surprised that the most combative and strong-headed Powerpuff Girl is looking for a person that is so gentle.

"Bad boys are easy to come by in my world, and a good guy is a treat." Buttercup pointed out, causing Robin to say a silent 'ah'.

"You know...your guy is kinda hard to find, especially that part about being good with kids. The boys in our school are...found wanting based on your specs." Robin pointed out and shook her head as she figured out that Buttercup is a true maiden at heart.

"Yeah, there's no one that will fit the-Oh." Buttercup's casual face soon turned into a dark realization, and that in itself caught Robin by surprise. Robin's face contorts itself into a cheeky expression, akin to a cat that had found something fun to mess around with.

"Managed to find someone that fits the bill...Hm~?" Robin purred as she picked up on Buttercup's uneasiness, smelling blood in the air. Buttercup's discomfort and sudden lost of her composure caused Buttercup to react disproportionately to Robin's teasing.

"Boomer does not fit the bill okay! He's a dumb, airheaded idiot!" Buttercup barked, but soon realized that she had inadvertently gave Robin more ammunition to tease her with.

"Boomer? Boomer! Oh, so the pretty boy is your type huh!" Robin latched on to the name like a tenacious bulldog, and Buttercup realized that Robin had put her in a checkmate. Buttercup can see that the spark in Robin's ocean blue eyes are now ignited with an inquisitive fire that can not be brought down easily.

"Wait, Rob, hold on a sec-" Buttercup tried to calm her friend down, but to no avail.

"Boomer is amazingly beautiful and he is rather dreamy. That complexion of his is amazing and honestly I wonder how he takes care of his skin-" Robin pointed out.

"Rob, please-" Buttercup tried to stop her friend, but her mind is reminded of how in the Dream World she had wondered about the same thing as she played with Boomer's eyelashes.

"He has that fragile look that make you wanna take care of him, but at the same time he's a Rowdyruff Boy so you know he's tough and dangerous and can take care of himself and you as well-"

"Rob-" Buttercup tried once more, but she was reminded of her time in the Dream World on how Boomer's cobalt-blue eyes showed power and domination as he confronted her in his room as Tommaso. There is also the memory of Boomer taking care of her and treating her nicely while she was trapped in his dreams.

"He have a very good singing voice too and I wish he could serenade me with that voice~" Robin pointed out and sighed, causing Buttercup to remember her time in the dream world where he sung to her as she felt homesick for the real world and her family.

"I don't mind Boomer kissing me with those soft, full lips..." Robin puts her index finger on her lips while looking and imagining the scene.

Buttercup on the other hand is remembering how Boomer stole a kiss from her lips in the Dream World. Buttercup turned red and decided she will need to stop Robin in her tracks before Buttercup will die from embarrassment. Buttercup rested two hands on Robin's petite shoulders and held her friend's shoulders tightly for her to snap out from her ramble. Robin felt the tightening vice-like grip of her friend and she is greeted with the sight of a utterly flushed Powerpuff Girl looking down on the floor, and being as meek as a little tiny dormouse.

"Robin Snyder." Buttercup said meekly despite wanting to say something far more stern.

"Sorry." Robin apologized, but she did not regret her teasing of the toughest Powerpuff Girl.

Suddenly, the doors to the MMA Club are opened forcefully, causing Robin and Buttercup to turn their attention towards the wide open door. Standing before the wide open doors is a sand-blonde teenage boy with cobalt blue eyes and a black hoodie, looking around the entire clubroom for something. Or someone. Robin and Buttercup immediately walked up to the teenager with particularly androgynous looks.

"Have you seen Butch?" Boomer asked, his soft-spoken voice touching the ears of the girls like the finest silk.

"Can't say I've seen him." Robin pointed out, and she turned her attention to the Powerpuff Girl.

"Nope." Buttercup answered, but her voice is not filled with her normal confidence. This fact is also not lost on Boomer. Suddenly, Boomer rested his forehead on Buttercup's own, causing Robin to gasp. Buttercup immediately jumped back, her face turning red once more and flabbergasted by Boomer's sudden display of intimacy.

"Alright, you don't have a fever at least." Boomer said without realizing what he had just done.

Before Robin and Boomer realized what is going one, Buttercup grabbed Boomer by his hoodie and pulled him down. Buttercup mounted on Boomer's back and hook one of her legs in between Boomer's legs, before grabbing a hold of Boomer's head and crank it in the opposite direction. It all happened in a flash of a second, and the loud slam of both individuals on the floor caused the other MMA club members to stop what they are doing and rushed towards the two superhumans on the ground. Robin is surprised by how quick Boomer had been brought down by the Powerpuff Girl, but soon realized that this is due to the Powerpuff Girl reacting disportionately to Boomer's rather bold advance. Buttercup is never the most mature when it comes to her personality, and her attack can be boiled down to the conflict between her feelings and her reaction to having those feelings.

"Damn...I never seen a Twister submission before!" A very forgettable member of the MMA club exclaimed out.

"ARGH! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO?!" Boomer cried out in pain as he felt his spine being compressed in a very unusual and painful manner.

"YOU IDIOT!" Buttercup cried out while closing her eyes, her face showing anguished embarrassment.

"Stop!" Robin immediately tried to break free of the two individuals grappling on the ground, and Buttercup finally relented due to the sole reason that the person trying to break up her submission move is her friend. Boomer groaned in pain as Buttercup panted, covering her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Thanks a lot...um..." Boomer thanked the brown-haired girl, but soon realized that he never knew who she is.

"All in a day's work,and the name's Robin" Robin sighed, knowing well that she may need to keep track of both individuals less someone blows up the school by accident.

* * *

[Snyder Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.00pm]

Robin Snyder is lying down on her bed while surfing on Youtube on her laptop, taking a rest from a rather eventful day. Helping the Powerpuff Girls in various ways, both overt and subtle, is a real daunting task but rewarding at the same time.

"Robin, time for bed!" A man's voice called out to Robin.

"Alright dad!" Robin answered the voice and closed her laptop.

As she puts her laptop aside, she wondered is she should have so much eventful scenes going on in her life. That saying, it will always be eventful when it comes to the Powerpuff Girls and that has always been the case since she first moved into Townsville. But the longer she had known them, the more she know that deep down inside these physically near-unassailable beings, they are just as vulnerable on the inside. That is where Robin know that she will be able to save their day and be a friend that will lend an ear and maybe, just maybe, even help them out. Robin knew that they helped her out and the people of Townsville all the time, so why not give back to her friends?

 _All in a day's work_ , Robin said to herself as she turned off the lights.


	75. Chapter 75: Passing Time

Chapter 75: Passing Time

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Winter is here in Townsville and the cold and blue atmosphere of the cold season is a stark contrast with the warm and red decorations and liveliness of the Chinatown enclave in Downtown Townsville! The sight of the large Chinese-styled red arch entrance structures flanked by two imperial Chinese stone lion statues stands proudly at the entrance to the enclave and the various stores and restaurants with Chinese letters gave the enclave its unique atmosphere!  
_

 _And look what we have here in Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse!_

 _Our dear redhead heroine is dining inside her most favourite teahouse in the whole of Chinatown and she is cherishing the blissful moment of having a good hot Pou Lei tea and her Siu Mai and Har Gau! Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the patrons enjoying their meal and tea, Blossom is surprisingly in a tranquil mood in this particularly busy teahouse._

 _Now let us see what is up with our dear heroine and watch closely._

* * *

[Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse, Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 11.00am]

"This is the life..." Blossom said in bliss.

There is not even a trace of crime happening in Townsville for the past few days and that is a godsend for the Powerpuff Girls. Blossom is able to truly relax by catching up to all her studies, and rewarding herself for finishing her studies with this most serene of meals. The fiery copper-haired girl breathed in and out, letting all the fatigue within her to escape and further loosening the strained muscles in her body. Blossom closed her eyes as she expressed her bliss with a contented sigh, knowing well that she sounds like an old lady. But Blossom cared not for such triviality for this is heaven. Blossom even dressed up in a dark green velvet winter _cheongsam_ dress, the dark green almost appearing black and the silky texture of the velvet flowed elegantly around the form-fitting dress. Blossom thought that nothing in this world will make her lose her bliss.

But as they say, never attempt fate because fate loves to throw a curve in a person's everyday life.

"Babe?"

A vein popped on Blossom's forehead, and she recognized the boyish voice of the person she rather not be with at this time of the day, if not ever. Blossom would have snapped at the young man,if it were not for the cup of tea already touching her lips. The fiery redheaded girl puts down the cup with an elegant poise, but she can feel her blissful relaxation slipping away from her as her neck muscles tensed up.

"Brick." Blossom curtly young carnelian-haired teenager with the bright red hair tips sat in front of her,sporting a charcoal-black turtleneck long-sleeved shirt with a maroon red newsboy cap.

"Sorry about calling you that, just was not expecting to see you here." Brick expressed his surprise as adjusted himself on the stool.

"Is it wrong to be a long-time patron?" Blossom's displeasure is clearly making itself clear in her voice, and Brick realized that he had asked a rather foolish question.

"No,not at all."

"So what brings _you_ here?" Blossom inquired though her mannerism is more akin to an inquisitor finding a sin.

"I've learned to appreciate the _Wu-Lòng_ tea that this teahouse provides to be honest."

" _Wu-Lòng_?" Blossom's tone became less hostile after hearing the name of the particular type of Chinese Tea.

"Yeah...especially the ones that are woody and thick with roasted aromas." Brick described the attributes of the tea that he is rather fond of.

"That tea is a rather robust tea." Blossom agreed.

Brick and Blossom chatted a little more about tea before both individuals realized that they had particularly limited topics to talk about. Other than academia and politics, Brick and Blossom share no hobbies or interests that can bridge their particular awkwardness in conversation as both of them are not interested to talk about academia and politics for the day. That soon led a awkward silence between the two individuals for Brick is not much of a talker, and Blossom is lacking in small talk topics. Both soon realized their limitations and Brick and Blossom and both redheads sat on the table and quietly enjoyed their tea, wondering if they should even continue on sitting at the same table.

It was at that moment that Brick noticed a particular box under the tea table among the magazines and he picked it up. The box had a large Chinese writing on the box and drawing of various animals are printed on the box. Blossom noticed that Brick is looking at the box and wanted to ask him what he had just saw before he preempted her and showed Blossom the box.

"What's this?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl, and he noticed that her eyes lit up in excitement.

"Oh! This is Chinese Animal Chess!" Blossom is ecstatic, causing Brick to raise an concerned eyebrow. He had never seen her geeking out over anything and seeing her being dorky is a bit of a surprise for Brick.

"Animal...chess?" Brick clearly had never heard of the game, let alone knowing how to play the game.

"Want to play?" Blossom asked the red-haired boy and the Rowdyruff Boy pondered for a moment.

"Well, since we do have time..." Brick shrugged and figured out that passing the time with something to focus on is easier than making a conversation.

"So it's on!" Blossom is particularly animated and she immediately started to set up the board game on the table.

Brick watched Blossom deploying the game and noticed that the board consists of seven columns and nine rows of squares with pictures of eight animals and their names appear on each side of the board to indicate initial placement of the game pieces. Two particular squares are located in the centre of the board, each comprising 6 squares in a two by three rectangle, and labeled with a Chinese word that Brick is not familiar with. There are single columns of ordinary land squares on the edges of the board, and down the middle between the two particular squares. The pieces are wooden pieces with stylized carvings of animals on each piece, and Brick noticed that there are a pair of the same animals but with different colors.

"Alright, so what's the rules?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"Each player controls eight game pieces representing different animals of various rank. Stronger-ranked animals can "eat" animals of weaker or equal rank."Blossom explained.

"So you've said ranks. What are the ranks?" Brick pointed towards the chess pieces.

"From the strongest to the weakest; Elephant, Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Dog, Wolf, Cat and the Rat. However the Rat can "kill" the Elephant by running into its ear and gnawing into its brain.

"Seriously Blossom?"

"Says so in the manual."

"Hardcore stuff for a rather cute game." Brick pointed out, causing Blossom to chuckle. Brick always finds it surprising that Blossom owns one of the most attractive chuckles on a female ever.

"So the players alternate moves with Blue moving first. As for movement, the pieces move like a normal chest movement with the ability to move from all directions but only a square at a time. However the rat is the only animal that may go onto a water square. The lion and tiger can jump over a river horizontally or vertically. They jump from a square on one edge of the river to the next non-water square on the other side. If that square contains an enemy piece of equal or lower rank, the lion or tiger capture it as part of their jump. A jumping move is blocked if a rat of either color currently occupies any of the intervening water squares."

"The rat can "kill" an elephant, but only from a land square, not from a water square. A rat in the water is invulnerable to capture by any piece on land. Therefore a rat in the water can only be killed by another rat in the water." Blossom explained as Brick nods his head.

"What about those symbols?" Brick asked Blossom as he pointed towards the Chinese-labelled square located in the centre of their first row of the board followed by the square that border the centre square, to each side and in front.

"Each player has one den and three traps on their side." Blossom pointed out the Chinese-labelled centre square followed by the square that border the center square, to each side and in front.

"What's the purpose of the traps then?" Brick asked as he pointed towards the three 'trap' symbols.

"A piece that enters one of the opponent's trap squares is reduced in rank to 0. Thus the trapped piece may be captured by the defending side with any piece, regardless of rank. A trapped piece has its normal rank restored when it exits an opponent's trap square."

"Right."

"And then there are the two areas of rivers," Blossom pointed towards the two particular squares that Brick had seen moments before, "and the player who is first to maneuver any one of their pieces into the opponent's den wins the game."

"Hm...okay. Got it." Brick figured that he understood the general rules of the game and nods his head.

"So shall we start?" Blossom suggested.

"Before that...why don't we bet on something?" Brick proposed, causing Blossom to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry?" Blossom had a rather disapproving expression on her face, and Brick decided to try his luck.

"It's not fun if we just play. We need something to...motivate us. And since we can't just duke it out like when we're kids...this is good enough. Also, I believe that we prefer the more cerebral part of our fight." Brick silver tongue sparked something in Blossom, and she decided that this time she will bite Brick's bait.

"What's the bet?" Blossom bit the bait, and a smile etched itself on Brick's face as he realized that Blossom had essentially danced straight into one of his little mind games.

"Winner get to make the loser does whatever they want." Brick proposed, causing Blossom to roll her eyes.

"That's so childish."

"Yet the one that will set our minds free." Brick prodded, and Blossom do like the idea of having a novel reward for her efforts. But Blossom will need to set some ground rules first.

"No perverted stuff."

"Of course not. I'm not Butch. Give me a little more respect will you?" Brick playfully chided the copper-haired teenager.

"No money as well." Blossom added.

"Money's overrated. Beside, I'm pretty sure I've got more cash than you right now Babe." Brick replied, and Blossom shot him a glare that will kill a monster.

"And no illegal stuff."

"Nothing get pass you." Brick chuckled.

"Alright...with that the bet is on." Blossom extends her hand out in a handshake, and Brick reached out and shake her hand.

"So who goes first?" Brick asked.

"That will be you Brick." Blossom informed, and Brick stretched his arms above his head before resting it on the table.

"Just the way I like it."

Brick picked up one of the pieces, the one that looked like a lion and moved it forward. With the move, the shots had been fired and the mind games between the two geniuses had begun. To say that this is the perfect scenario to a healthy competition between the two geniuses is utterly wrong. There is a clear power play between the two exploiter and the exploited. A servant and a they wished to live splendidly, then losing is out of the question.

This is war, and it is total war.

* * *

[Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse,Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 1.30pm]

Brick and Blossom are now locked in a battle of wits and there can be no prisoners. Their game is such that several of the teahouse patrons are standing around the two teenagers and watching their game. Multiple empty _Dim Sum_ plates flanked both teenagers, the number of plates showing how long they had been playing the game.

"Coming through." The waitress cuts through the crowd and with two fresh pots of Chinese tea for the two belligerents. The waitress poured the tea to the respective cups and she was greeted by the thanks for her service.

"Thanks." Brick thanked the waitress.

"Thank you." Blossom followed shortly after with tapping two fingers on the table,a sign of thanks for pouring tea in Chinese culture.

"My pleasure." Seeing how immersed the patrons are, the waitress took the empty plates away and left the two teenagers alone.

The interaction with the waitress is the first time that they had broken contact from the board state ever since they started their game for both teenagers had managed to maneuvered to such an extent that they are now in a stalemate. Brick is surprised how intricately complex the game is as the depth is injected into the game by making most pieces move so slow that you have to think several turns in advance to make sure that they have time to get to where they may be needed. In addition,the three narrow corridor for advancing into the enemy side of the board is particularly challenging to break through and one needs to think about the Lion and Tiger pieces that can jump across the rivers to mount an effective defense. The Rat also has a particularly pivotal role in defense,as the Rat can block the leaping advances of the Lion and Tiger pieces if properly placed.

"Interesting." Brick voiced out his observation as Blossom placed her Elephant piece in front of the den. So far Brick had identified the two particular pieces that defines the movement of every other piece in the game; the Elephant and the Rat. In addition the dynamics of only equal or greater strength pieces can 'eat' a particular chess piece made for a game that can be drawn provided certain conditions are met. However, Blossom being one of the smartest person on this planet makes this a very hard prospect to do.

"Your turn." Blossom informed the red-haired boy. As much as Blossom wanted to go on the offensive, she is wary of how Brick had managed to arrange his pieces to counter her offense into his side of the board. With his Rat piece in left 'river' guarded by a Tiger piece nearby and the Elephant and Lion pieces guarding the banks of the other river, she is unable to use her Lion and Tiger pieces freely. However, Blossom had made sure that Brick is also unable to go on the offensive by providing close support to all her pieces.

"Right, let's see." Brick acknowledged that it is now his turn and he monitored the board and wondered how best to break the stalemate.

Contrary to what most people think about Brick and his mastery of strategy, he is not the best strategist. Brick is a gifted tactician, but merely a competent strategist. His genius is not in the planning, but in the fighting of battles. He combines situational awareness with a near-perfect assessment of the capabilities of both his own men and the opposing force. What he lacked he more than made it up with his cunning, and this aids him in his more offensive-oriented puts his Leopard piece right in front of the pathway to the center bridge to his side of the board. That in turn negated some of Blossom's offense and providing more support for his larger animal pieces.

"Okay..." Blossom inhaled a deep breath before expelling it out from her lungs, seeing that once more Brick is able to cut her off her avenue of offense.

In contrast to Brick's eye for tactical awareness, Blossom shines in setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions to achieve those goals. In practice, Blossom usually sacrifices tactical flexibility and adaptability for strategic and operational flexibility and adaptability. Her approach often make her a strategist with a particular flair in defensive and counter-offensive actions. It also suited her temperament as well, as she is a person that often observe first before acting. Blossom moved one of the Tiger pieces towards the other empty space between the traps, and Blossom noticed that Brick narrowed his eyes at her move.

Due to the restriction of the board game, a particular situation had formed; both are able to play to their strengths but at the same time are unable to capitalize on the other's weakness. The board game forced Brick to be much more transparent and conventional and he forced to attack from the front, while Blossom is increasingly forced to play a more defensive game with her avenues of attacks being constricted. Blossom's defensive play in turn prevented Brick from penetrating deeper into Blossom's side of the board and thus he is forced to maneuver his pieces to such an extent that he can't be counterattacked from his lost of tempo.

 _This is annoying_ , Brick and Blossom thought at the same time. Both of them are neither winning nor losing, and both are hungry for a win despite the draw being the best possible situation for both of them. Both will not accept the situation where they just do not have to lose, and both observed the board with more intensity that they thought they would put into this game.

 _A tie is not acceptable_ , Both redheads decided.

"Seriously, I never seen such an intense game of Animal Chess before." One of the patrons, an elderly balding Asian man, pointed out.

"That's what you get when you have two superhumans with brains to spare playing such a game." A middle-aged lady with curly hair shrugged.

The atmosphere descended into silence once more, and they watched as the two superhumans stared at the board. A heated battle is being waged despite the tranquil silence, and both are impatient to break the stalemate without sacrificing their chances of winning. Brick is impatient as he is not used to such honest fights, and his idea of a good defense is a good stab in the back. Blossom is impatient as she is not able to move for a counteroffensive and make the breakthrough she needs to win the war.

"Seriously babe, this is harder than real chess." Brick slipped, hoping that Blossom will be reckless enough to take the bait and do something stupid.

"I didn't expect you to want to give up this quickly." Blossom responded with her own taunt, knowing that Brick is a person that never quits.

"Not at all. Besides you're the one that's sitting comfortably in your little fortress doing nothing." Brick replied, knowing that the board game had open up a new front in their battle with each other.

"At least I'm comfortable sitting around, unlike you and your constant shuffling." Blossom sensed the same sentiment as the Rowdyruff Boy; the psychological war is on.

"Shuffling is better, at least I get to move around. Staying too long in one spot makes you really _fat_." Brick proded, and it appear that it hit a nerve.

"Well, there is no point moving around and wagging your tail like a dog." Blossom's riposte struck deep into Brick's ego, knowing well that Brick's element is puppy dog tails.

"Better a dog than a bitch." Brick decided to let his tongue loose, and the spectators all took several steps back as they realized that things had escalated significantly.

"I'll accept that. Better than being a pussy that yaps." Brick immediately stood up, knocking the chair down on the ground. Blossom looked up at Brick with a satisfied smirk, and everyone stepped further back as they smelled trouble is in the air. Brick tightened his fingers into fists and his eyes are now glowing in a bright amber.

"I need to use the toilet for a moment." Brick informed the Powerpuff Girl before walking away towards the restroom.

The time passes on and everyone wondered if the Rowdyruff Boy is alright, but no one dared to check up on the teenage boy as they do not want to be in the path of a rampaging superhuman. Blossom is not fazed by Brick's absence and she observed the state of the board and wondered how best to break through the encirclement that he had imposed on her.

"Blossom, you think it is wise to make boy angry?" Blossom noticed the elderly woman's voice speaking to her and Blossom's rose eyes picked on the presence of an elderly lady with greying hair tied up in a bun and held in place by chopsticks.

"Poh Poh." Blossom recognized the lady as Madame Soong, the owner of the teahouse establishment.

"Not nice to make boy angry, and I don't want brawl in my teahouse. Play nice." Madame Soong sternly warned Blossom.

Before Blossom can say anything, the sound of a stool being brought up and the legs of the stool placed on the mosaic floor of the teahouse interrupted Blossom. Blossom turned her attention to a much calmer Brick, and Brick poured himself a cup of tea before taking a sip. The sudden calmness of the Rowdyruff Boy is a cause of further unease among the patrons as they wondered if this is the calm before the storm of anger and venting. Blossom however recognized his calmness for something else; confidence.

"Sorry about that, took longer than I expected." Brick apologized.

"It's alright. It's your turn anyway." Blossom pointed out to the red-haired teenager, and Brick turned his attention once more towards the board game.

"Cool." Brick move his Tiger piece horizontally across the river and finally ate Blossom's Leopard.

"Nice." Blossom complimented the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Your turn." Brick passed the turn back to Blossom, and Blossom knew that the game had move on to its next phase. Blossom will need to get a little serious.

Brick and Blossom jockeyed for position across the board and the casualties for their chess pieces soon mounted. Somehow, losing the pieces did not dampen their spirits and instead ignited something that they had long lost; a thirst for competition. Time seem to stand still for the two teenagers, and for once in a long while they felt that they can put their all into the task at hand. Soon both of them have two pieces left; the Elephant and the Rat. Both are once again stuck in a stalemate and neither can afford to lose any more pieces. Both are deep in their thoughts, wondering how they can solve the conundrum and let the other submit to their will. Their pride and their freedoms are at stake and none will take a tie for an answer.

Both are oblivious to a threat unlike any other that will cause them a great amount of pain.

* * *

[Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 3.00pm]

"God damn it...where the hell is Brick?"

Boomer had been trying to find his brother in this labyrinthine enclave for over thirty minutes, and he is not even close in finding his brother. Boomer is forced to get out from the warm comforts of his room to find his brother, and he had been searching around the city for the past few hours. The trail of questioning and investigating brought him to Chinatown and Boomer honestly is just tired of searching for his brother. If it were not for Lilith's insistence for all of them to go for the theater for the night, Boomer will not even bother searching. That and it appeared that the batteries on Brick's phone is dead.

"Seen him yet?" Boomer looked up to see his other brother hovering above him. Dressed in a worn-out brown leather coat over an olive green turtleneck and his distinctive camouflaged pants with a skull and crossbone belt buckle, Butch's getup is particularly spartan as compared to Boomer's blue-flamed patterned black hoodie and half-faced mask emblazoned with a skull and crossbone.

"Nope."

"Seriously, this searching is making me real thirsty." Butch complained as he touched down on the ground.

"Yeah, and the weather's terrible. That place looks like a good place to have a drink." Boomer pointed out towards a rather unassuming restaurant of sorts.

"Sounds good." Butch agreed with his brother and both individuals entered into the restaurant and the chime announced their arrival.

To their surprise, they noticed that every person in the restaurant is crowding around a particular table. The odd situation piqued the two brothers' curiosity and they decided to find out what is going on. As they approached the crowd, they heard two very familiar voices speaking to each other. Both Butch and Boomer looked at each other before they decided to cut through the crowd. Both Butch and Boomer emerged from the other side to see a carnelian-haired teenage boy with ombre crimson red hair tips with his hair tied in a long, waist-length braided ponytail and a teenage girl with the long, flowing reddish penny-colored hair tied in a red rose ribbon playing a board game of sorts.

"What the hell?" Butch raised an eyebrow as he noticed his brother had folded his sleeves up, for as far as Butch is concerned Brick only folds his sleeves when he is utterly serious."What's...going on?" Boomer asked one of the spectators from the crowd, clearly trying to get an idea of why their brother is locked in a battle of wits with the leader of the Powerpuff Girls.

"They're playing on a bet; the loser have to do what the winner tell them to do."

"Let me guess, the guy in the red hair suggested it?" Boomer asked, knowing his brother's character."Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He's my brother." Boomer revealed his relationship to the red-haired teenage boy.

"Shhh! Quiet will you! The game is about to reach its climax!"

Butch and Boomer watched the two superhumans playing with what appear to be a peculiar kind of chess,and somehow both Brick and Blossom have that look on their face that tell them that their rivalry is ignited to its highest level. To Butch and Boomer,they understood that when it comes to Brick and Blossom, they tend to bring out the best and worst in each other. By the virtue of being pound-for-pound the smartest teenagers on the planet, they strive to find a person that can push them to the limits of their cerebral capabilities,but the two red-haired teenagers will never admit that to each other nor respect the other for it.

"These two are just too hypercompetitive." Butch sighed, not realizing the irony of him saying such a comment.

"Right." Boomer rolled his eyes as he know how competitive Butch is with Buttercup. A thought struck Boomer's mind and he smirked wickedly, and Butch noticed his sand-blonde brother's evil smirk. When Boomer smirks with malice, he is thinking of something very nefarious.

"What do you have in mind?" Butch whispered.

"Just open the door to the restaurant." Boomer walked closer to the two red-headed superhumans and watched the game, and it appear that they are at the climax of their battle of wits. Both are frowning so hard that Boomer swore that it had turned into a permanent feature of their faces. Boomer scanned around and noticed that both of them are holding any chess pieces. Boomer sensed that this is the perfect time to do what he wanted to do. Without warning, Boomer pushed the board game down on the ground, causing the other spectators to gasp. It took the two red-haired teenagers a few seconds longer to realize that their match is rudely interrupted.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Brick and Blossom cried out, and everyone knew then that a fire is lit. Butch watched as Brick and Blossom turned towards the criminal that had desolated the results of their battle of wits.

"YOU DICK!" Brick is clearly turning a red as his eyes, his crimson eyes glowing with such intensity that everyone else around Brick felt the heat coming out from his body.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Blossom's anger matches Brick's own anger, and Boomer reminded himself how Blossom had from time to time kicked his ass if her anger is triggered.

Boomer swallowed hard, seeing that the two teenagers before him will not forgive him for his prank. When two of the world's brightest individuals had marked Boomer out as the reason for their anger, Boomer knew that it is time to leave. Boomer immediately bolted and a bolt of blue lightning flew past Butch before Butch bolted as well, knowing well that holding the door will mark him out as an accomplice. A pink streak of light and a bolt of crimson soon zoomed past the closing door and within seconds, the superhumans are all gone.

"HEY! YOU FORGOT TO PAY!" Madame Soong cried out, but she was soon greeted by a flash of pink and red and the two lights escaped the teahouse with only seconds left for the teahouse entrance to close gently. The old lady looked at her hand and noticed two fifty dollar notes in her hands.

Looks like it is just another peaceful (somewhat) day in Townsville, and the day requires no saving from our resident heroines nor intervention from our dear boys.


	76. Chapter 76: Uptown Date

Chapter 76: Uptown Date

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It is a nice day, though it is quite chilly and personally I don't see how we all can love such a chilly weather. Hence let us go to somewhere warmer, like the Starling Movie Theater!_

 _The most prestigious and oldest movie theater in Townsville, it sports an almost Parisian-styled architecture and it is as much a heritage of Townsville as a place for people of all ages gather to have a good time in the theaters. That saying today's a very exciting day for we see two of our heroines, Blossom and Buttercup along with their best friend, Robin watching Bubbles from a distance. Bubbles appear to be waiting for someone inside the theater, and this is perhaps why Robin, Blossom and Buttercup are in the theater in-_

 _Oh god, Blossom! That is a horrible disguise! Putting on a moustache on yourself does not disguise yourselves from your identities! Even the staff knew that such disguises are tacky and hopeless! And Blossom I expect something better from you!_

 _Buttercup's disguise is reasonable solely because she is wearing a long black wig and a dress (honestly I wonder why Buttercup did not keep her hair long) but her lime-green eyes gave her away. As for Robin, she's got sunglasses on and a snowcap and scarf, but that is really suspicious. How these people are even here in the first place and in such disguises is something best described as both their protective nature and also inquisitive nature coming into play. Mostly the latter, as girls will be girls._

 _This fellow readers, is the day where Brick is bringing Bubbles out for a date._

 _Let's see how events unfold shall we?_

* * *

[The Starling Movie Theater, Uptown Townsville, 12.00pm]

The day of the date had arrived, and is wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and a gray vest over it. Brick felt a little uncomfortable as he rarely wear anything that is not a turtleneck. The Animal Chess Game from the day before had made him forget the purpose of why he left the house; he wanted to shop for some new clothing for him to wear for the date with Bubbles. However, he failed to find the time and was forced to wear something a little far too formal for a day at the movies. He took a deep breath and entered into the theater.

"Brick!" A youthful voice called out to him and Brick's eyes trained in on a sight that he never thought he would see.

Standing a distance from Brick is a girl with her golden platinum hair let loose, held by a simple gold-colored pin. A pumpkin-colored wool-knitted winter dress flattered the youthful girl's light blue eyes and figure, and her dress showed off her fair-skinned shoulders. To tie up the girls appearance, two silver earrings with a caged five-pointed aquamarine star and light brown boots completed the image. The young woman walked towards Brick, and Brick swallowed hard as she finally came within a few inches away from him.

"You...you look stunning Bubbles." Brick complimented the young attractive woman.

"Thanks." Bubbles combed her hair as she smiled.

"So...shall we?" Brick asked his date for the day. In response, Bubbles hooked her arms around Brick's arm and Brick sensed her bosom pressing on his arm. Brick seriously felt a jolt of something coursing through his body, and he turned his attention to the sky-blue eyed girl.

"Let's get some popcorn!" Bubbles cheerfully suggested to Brick, and both of them are on their merry way towards the food counter.

* * *

[Starling Movie Theater, Uptown Townsville, 12.05pm]

"So far so good." The brunette with the ocean blue eyes commented as she watched the couple lining up to get some snacks and drinks.

Flanking her are the siblings of the girl being followed; an onyx-haired girl with lime green eyes, and a fiery rosy copper-haired girl with long flowing hair that reached to her knees, with her hair tied in place by a spiraling array of ribbons which all ended up in a bow behind her head. The copper-haired girl watched with her rose-colored eyes with a great amount of concern.

"I don't know Robin. I mean...Bubbles can be far too trusting of people." The copper-haired girl responded to the brunette.

"Blossom, sometimes you just need to let your sister go and experience the world." Robin patted the copper-haired girl on the shoulder.

"But with Brick?!" Blossom raised her voice, causing Robin to cover her friend's mouth.

"Shhh! Do you want your sister to spot you stalking her?" Robin hissed with disapproval.

"Guys...seriously, you dragged me here for this?" Buttercup clearly am not fond of having to wear a disguise just to trail her sister, and she was told to dress up without knowing why. Buttercup was about to leave when Blossom pulled her sister's arm, holding her in place.

"Don't you have even an inkling of what Brick will even do to her in that dark place?" Blossom hissed to highlight the concerns that she had over her sister.

"If present Brick is anything to go by, he will never do lewd stuff with our Bubbles." Buttercup responded, knowing well the kindness and warmth that the Rowdyruff Boy can show if given the chance. However, Buttercup understood that Blossom had never seen that side of Brick before and her disbelief is something she expected from her rose-eyed sister.

"Are you serious?" Blossom's tone struck a nerve with Buttercup, and the dark-haired girl pulled the wig from her head, revealing her undercut hair with neon green highlights.

Buttercup looked at her sister with a stern look and Blossom clearly did not expect that her most headstrong sister had given her consent for Brick to be with her sister. Robin noticed that the situation may ignite a powder keg of issues and she decided that she will have to be the person that will defuse the situation. If she fails, she will consider her life forfeit, and by extension, the moviegoers and also the Starling Movie Theater. These kinds of situation warrant a much more personal touch, and maybe, maybe even a more selfish touch.

"Buttercup, if anything...would you stay to be able to blackmail your sister later?" Robin asked Buttercup with a sly smile, and Buttercup raised an eyebrow before her lips contorted itself into a thin, wiry and sinister smile.

"Girl, you're now speaking my language." Buttercup puts on her wig once more and flanked Robin once more.

Blossom is not appreciative of the fact that Buttercup is only willing to stay because of the darkness of her heart instead of doing it for a righteous cause. However, that also sparked a question within Blossom's mind and how this situation even came about in the first place; why did Robin even bought a pair of tickets in the first place?

"Speaking about that...why do you even have a pair of tickets in the first place?" Blossom immediately posed her question on the brunette, causing Buttercup to also notice the odd coincidence of her friend having the tickets to be given out in the first place. To her surprise, Robin admitted to the reason why she bought them in the first place.

"I am guilty of buying the tickets initially to ask Butch out. He looks fine and I want a piece of that hunky boy." Robin revealed her intentions to the two Powerpuff Girls, causing Blossom to turn pale and Buttercup to held back a gagging reflex.

"No." Both Blossom and Buttercup responded at once, not believing their friend is brazen enough to even attempt to ask the Rowdyruff Boy out.

"Then I noticed Brick and Bubbles got a thing and I decided to ship them. Not regretting a single moment of it." Robin said proudly while patting her chest.

"Time to see if your investment is worthwhile then. They are going in." Buttercup pointed towards Brick and Bubbles walking away from the food stands.

"Wait, we don't even have tick-" Blossom was cut short by Robin revealing three more movie tickets. Blossom was about to ask Robin why she had three more tickets when Robin answered her.

"Why did I even tell you guys about their date if I'm not gonna bring you in the theater with me?" Blossom and Buttercup looked at each other and they learned to respect the tenacity of their human friend.

"What are we even watching anyway?" Buttercup asked and Robin grinned.

"Creed II."

* * *

[Starling Movie Theater, Uptown Townsville, 1.15pm]

Brick did not expect himself to be watching a movie like Creed II, for he was expecting Robin to buy movie tickets for some particularly romantic story or some overly complicated thriller. Instead, Brick is honestly pleased that he is able to watch a movie that is neither of those and the particularly simple yet relatable storyline is something that he can appreciate. What is even more surprising is that Bubbles did not even complain about the movie, and instead she is very much immersed in the movie.

"C'mon Adonis! Don't go down just like that!" Bubbles breathed out her encouragements as she watched the titular character of the movie crying out in agony on the boxing ring as his ribs were broken by his opponent. Brick is particularly entertained by Bubbles being so immersed in the movie that he is unable to help himself to think how adorable the Powerpuff Girl is.

Still, it is surprising to Brick how easily Bubbles is able to adapt to things and he wondered if he can even coexist with Bubbles in the same space. He is a figure that lurked in the darkness, like a malevolent demon stalking for prey to drag down to the fiery pits of hell. Bubbles on the other hand is a creature of the light, like an angel descending down from the heavens to spread the gospel of God on earth.

Brick took the ends of his ponytail in his hand and as the flashes of the screen illuminate his vision, he is taken a little aback by the encroachment of his crimson tips in the strands of his carnelian hair. The activation of the Tyrant gene had altered his genetics to such an extent that his sclera are now permanently black and the tips of his hair glowing with a bright crimson. Despite his attempts to hide what he considered as deformities, they are slowly showing itself in ways that reminded Brick that he is an artificial product made from the darkest hate and vengeance.

That thought made Brick particularly livid about the present state of affairs.

Things beyond his understanding and immediate control are moving him in a direction that he knew nothing about, and he is helpless to do anything about it.

Him's manipulation of the boys as prisons for the girls for a certain amount of time. may only last a night, but the time experienced in the dream world is much longer. Whatever Him did to trap them in the Rowdyruff Boys' dreams for as long as they did, it must had forwarded one or more plans concocted by Him despite its apparent failure. Brick was reminded of his dreams and how he was taken over by his darkest emotions. Though he had returned to the real world,the fact still remains that he is still a being haunted by his inner demons.

"Brick?" Brick snapped out from his thoughts as he heard Bubbles' concerned voice.

"Huh?" Brick wondered what Bubbles had just said to him.

"Your eyes...they're glowing." Bubbles pointed out. Both of them knew that when the Powerpuff Girls or the Rowdyruff Boys are particularly excited or agitated, their eyes will glow. That is something Brick is unable to hide from Bubbles, and Brick covered his eyes.

"Sorry about that, the movie was a little more exhilarating than I thought it would be." Brick lied,but it seems that Bubbles took him at face value.

"Yeah, it really make the heart pound huh?" Bubbles made a wide grin and somehow Brick felt that the grin made his efforts to be in the light worthwhile.

"Bubbles, you're adorable you know that?" Brick teased Bubbles.

"I know." Bubbles said with a cheerful tune.

"By the way, is it me or I smelled spice and everything nice?" Brick pointed out to Bubbles. Brick had been smelling the unique fragrance for a while now, and he wondered if it is his paranoia or something else.

"You're not the only one, and you missed out on the Anna Sui Fantasia perfume that Robin always use on herself." Bubbles said nonchalantly as she took a handful of popcorn.

"So we are being spied on." Brick reasoned with Bubbles as he took a handful of popcorn.

"I knew that it was her plan all along. The tickets got Robin's scent all over it." Bubbles munched on the popcorn and took a sip from the soda once she stated the facts.

"Wait...you knew the tickets are from her?" Brick turned towards Bubbles for a moment, but the blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl shrugged.

"Yeah. You're not very good with this kinds of things ... for now." Bubbles takes a sip from the soda as she watched the scene from the movie unfolds.

"If you knew, why accept the tickets from me?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"For one, you never knew Robin as well as I do. However her schemes are never malicious so it's fine. More popcorn?" Bubbles offered the Rowdyruff Boy the box of popcorn, which he duly refused with a wave of his hand.

"And..." Brick felt that Bubbles had another reason for going out with him that made him particularly anxious.

"Secondly, and perhaps the most important point of all... Brick, I accepted because you asked me." Brick turned towards Bubbles and was greeted by an incomparable angelic smile.

"That's good to know." Brick expressed his relief, and he is honestly touched by Bubble's answer.

* * *

[Uptown Townsville, Townsville, 4.30pm]

"Seroo

Robin, Blossom and Buttercup trailed behind the two couple as they took a stroll down the streets of Uptown Townsville. So far, Brick and Bubbles are just window shopping and talking about things and that in itself is not a cause of concern. Earlier, the two superhumans are having some coffee and chatted for a while, and Blossom's hearing heard nothing suggesting that Brick is about to do anything to her. Buttercup tapped her sister's shoulder for a moment, and Blossom's attention was diverted to Buttercup.

"See? Brick is alright." Buttercup pointed out.

"But..." Blossom's voice betrayed her still lingering suspicions.

"To be honest, I'm more worried about Bubbles being the aggressive one." Buttercup sighed with Robin nodding in agreement.

"What?" Blossom is perplexed by Buttercup's assessment.

"Do you even know your own sister Blossom? She's overemotional and very independent." Robin is surprised that Blossom is oblivious to what Buttercup is implying.

"Yes,so?"

"So what happens when she's...you know...particularly lustful?" Robin suggested,causing the color from Blossom's face to turn into a much paler shade.

"No...you're wrong...Bubbles will not..."

"And speak of the devil." Buttercup pointed towards Bubbles, and Blossom's eyes turned towards her blonde sister and widened as she saw Bubbles pointing towards a lingerie shop. Brick it seems is also taken by surprise, and Buttercup and Robin started conversing with each other while Blossom's jaw dropped.

"Victoria's Secret huh?" Buttercup is impressed by Bubbles' sudden assertiveness.

"Brave move,Bubbles." Robin whistled.

"We need to follow them!" Blossom immediately sprang into action. Buttercup and Robin looked at each other..

"Well, we need to make sure Blossom doesn't burn down the lingerie shop." Robin reasoned.

"And we don't want Bubbles to do anything stupid." Buttercup added on with a shrug. Both Robin and Buttercup soon followed shortly behind a very livid Blossom.

* * *

[Victoria's Secret, Uptown Townsville, 4.05pm]

This is Brick's first time in a lingerie shop,and his heart is slowly beating faster with every second. Stick and stones may not break Brick's bones, but sexy lingerie is having an effect on his body in more ways than one. His uneasiness is not helped by the countless eyes staring at Brick and Bubbles as they walked deeper into the store. Bubbles' arms are held close to Brick's own and he can feel Bubbles' warmth seeping from her body to his arm. If there is a God, Brick knew that God is really messing with his body and mind right now.

"Um...Bubbles?" Brick's voice cracked a little as he asked the Powerpuff Girl.

"Yeah?" Bubbles asked innocently.

"Why are we here?" Brick asked with a great amount of discomfort.

"Well, I need some babydolls,teddies and some push-up."

"Sorry?" Brick is clueless about women's clothing, let alone lingerie. This utter lack of recognition reminded Bubbles that boys do not have too much types of undergarments to wear.

"Oh right, you don't know. Anyway...let's see..this is a teddy. I think this is particularly nice." Bubbles pulled out a super strappy and sheerly sexy black teddy, in eyelash lace with satin bands from the clothing 's mind is shutting down from making intelligent comments, and he can only allow Bubbles to lead him in to this situation.

"Ur..." Brick's mind is slowly becoming numb from the lingerie and his imagination is now warming up to the idea that he will be able to see Bubbles in the lingerie.

"And this is a Babydoll." Bubbles pulled out a fiery red chantilly lace and mesh babydoll from the clothing rack that comes in a set with a matching v-string panty.

"Um..." Brick can feel the blood rushing to his head and he wondered if he can even keep his mind in control in this situation. However Brick is dragged towards the bra and panty section and he soon realized that despite being a veteran of countless battlefields,he is an utter greenhorn when it comes to seeing girls in sexy lingerie.

"This is a push-up bra and panty. Oh, this set is very pretty!" Bubbles exclaimed and Brick's eyes immediately glowed when he saw the design of a lace bra and panty set with the panty having minimal back coverage with a lot of cheek peek.

Brick is not even paying attention to Bubbles anymore as his mind started to go down the deep end of imagining Bubbles in such daring mind is immediately flooded by a very vivid imagination of very attractive Bubbles kneeling down with her back facing him, with a laced panty that showed a lot of Bubbles butt cheeks, with her hair let down and twisting her body to show a little bit of her push-up bra supporting her impressive bosom. Brick's face immediately reddened and he covered both is palms over his face and realized what he had just imagined. He is not expecting the stimuli to overwhelm him to such an extent and this is a great cause of concern.

"Ur..."

"Alright, time to try them out!" Bubbles winked with a mischievous smile, and Brick is once more seeing Bubbles' playful side. Brick smiled back nervously, knowing well that things are escalating a little more than he expected.

Bubbles dragged Brick towards the entrance of the changing room and Brick's heart is now pounding louder than an artillery bombardment. Brick is not prepared for such a situation,and he wished that he has Butch's lewd desires or Boomer's openness to new sensations. Brick's mind is screaming for something to be done and he understood that there is a need for immediate action. Unfortunately for Brick,that immediate action is not immediate enough.

"Ta-da~!" Bubbles pulled the curtain to the dressing room to reveal herself in a lace push-bra and panty that hugged her body to the point where it almost appear to be part of her body. Brick is no longer able to make coherent sentences,and Brick knew that one more stimuli will bring him down. Brick is now, for wanting of better words, being distracted by the sexy.

"What do you think?" Bubbles turned around,showing Brick a rear view of Bubbles with a lot of sneak peek of Bubbles' butt cheeks. Once she completed a circle to show Brick her lingerie,she leaned towards Brick and Brick is greeted by a flattering view of Bubbles' chest.

 _Why did the heavens gave me the sexiest one first?_ , Brick cursed in his mind.

""Also,those three had just entered the store. Time to play." This prank is gonna be good!" Bubbles puts her index finger on her lips,as if to tell Brick to keep a secret. Brick's eyes contorted into an expression of surprise. Bubbles immediately glomped Brick before he uttered his sentence, causing him to freeze in place like a deer staring at headlights.

Her bosom.

Her arms.

Her torso.

Her hips.

 _This is not a dream, this is not a dream, this is not a dream. .NOT. ._

The warning alarms inside Brick's mind is now blaring like an air raid warning siren as he realized that whatever he is feeling and seeing right now is real and this is not the same as the time when he was trapped in the dream world. This time, Brick is now seeing and experiencing Bubbles' body in all its glory as she pressed further upon Brick's body.

"STTTTOOOPPPPP!" A voice screamed out loud enough to stop everyone in their tracks and Bubbles turned around to see a long-haired slender teenage girl with rose-colored eyes looking at her with a reddened face. The presence of a black-haired girl with an undercut and neon green highlights holding a wig and a brown-haired girl with ocean blue eyes are holding back the teenage girl.

"Ah, finally revealing yourselves." Bubbles said snidely.

"Bubbles what do you think you're doing with Brick!"

"What I am doing with Brick? I'm pranking all of you! Isn't that right Brick?" Bubbles explained and asking for Brick for validation. However, Bubbles did not expect Brick's silence and she turned around to see Brick standing silently in a frozen pose.

"Brick?" Bubbles walked in front of Brick only to notice that Brick's eyes are glowing but they are rather glass-like in appearance. Suddenly a stream of blood ran down Brick's nose and Brick immediately collapsed.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 5.00pm]

Brick woke up and tried to remember what on earth caused him, one of the Rowdyruff Boys to be knocked out cold. Brick knew that he felt a very warm and soft sensation enveloped him before he collapsed, but what that is exactly is not clear to- Brick's memory immediately rebooted and he remembered why he was knocked out in the first place.

"Thank goodness you're alright." Brick heard a soft voice, or to be exact a whimper,and he turned to see that Bubbles is next to him. Bubbles is wearing a simple white t-shirt and Brick is once more surprised that she had let her hair down. Brick got up and notices that Bubbles is wearing a much more casual set of clothing than he used to seeing. It is not everyday that he can see Bubbles wearing sweat pants.

"Well, almost died a happy man." Brick joked and Bubbles immediately slapped him in the arm.

"That's not funny! You really were out cold and we can't snap you out!" Bubbles' eyes are now watering up, and Brick realized that she is clearly worried sick about him.

"Well, that's one killer body you got there." Brick teased, and Bubbles slapped his biceps once more.

"Hmph!" Bubbles pouted, and Brick decided to take things into his own hands. Brick pulled Bubbles into his embrace,catching the Powerpuff Girl by surprise. Bubbles' head is now resting on Brick's surprisingly broad chest and his arms wrapped around her back. Bubbles can now hear Brick's heartbeat and her cheeks are now turning a deeper shade of pink.

"Sorry about that. But seriously, you're a meanie too. I'm not prepared for that situation. Thought that you'll gonna really do something you'll regret." Brick explained to Bubbles.

"Well, I already regretted my actions." Bubbles said meekly.

"That's good to know. But if anything, your beauty and sexiness is a weapon of mass distraction." Brick admitted to Bubbles. Bubbles pulled away from him with a visibly offended look.

"Weapon of mass distraction?!" Both individuals paused for a moment and stared at each other for a few tense moments. However, the tense situation is diffused when Bubbles snorted and started giggling. Brick soon followed with a chuckle before both of them burst out into laughter.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville,5.15pm]

Several figures are observing the animated conversation between Brick and Bubbles from the one-sided observational window into the ward; two young men and two young women.A sand-blonde teenage boy with the dark blue eyes voiced out his opinion as he watched the blonde-haired girl and a carnelian-haired boy conversed with each other in a very intimate manner.

"Never seen Brick laughing like that before." The blonde teenage boy's androgynous crossed his arm with a soft smile on his face.

"Yeah Boomer, it's been a while since I saw him laugh like that." Another individual responded with a husky tenor; a tall,dark and handsome young man with charcoal-colored hair with a green hairband watched the scene with his pair of jade green eyes.

"Sorry about what Bubbles had done." A feminine voice apologized to the two teenage boys and both teenagers turned their attention towards a slender, copper-haired teenage girl.

"It's alright Blossom. If anything, I was expecting Brick to have more willpower." The dark-haired young man chuckled.

"Yeah...didn't expect him to be such a pure, innocent kid." A feminine voice with a raspy timbre joked and the young men's attention are focused on an onyx-haired teenager with undercut short hair and neon-green highlights.

"Anyway girls, we'll be taking our leader back with us now." The tall teenage boy informed the two teenage women.

"Go ahead Butch." The copper-haired girl permitted.

"Alright Blossom, thanks for taking care of our bro." The sand- blonde boy expressed his gratitude.

"Well, we better get in there before they do something worse." The short-haired girl suggested to the two teenage boys.

"Good point Buttercup, don't wanna see my bro doing an amateur por-" The husky-voiced teenager was interrupted by the copper-haired teenage girl.

"Ahem! If you may!" The long-haired girl stared at the dark-haired teenage boy,who in turn shrugged and smile back.

"Sure Blossom,we get the message." The two teenage boys immediately walked away from the two girls and walked out from the observation room. Both teenage girls saw as the two teenage boys entered into the ward and Brick and Bubbles saw them entering into the ward.

"So Blossom, what do you have to say about this situation?" The short-haired girl asked, knowing well that her copper-haired sister had a lot to say about the developing situation between Brick and Bubbles.

"We'll need to keep them in check, just in case. Keep them _all_ in check." Blossom said darkly, and Buttercup is surprised by the short and terse comment coming from her sister.

"That's gonna be tough." Buttercup scratched her head as she watched Bubbles interacting with the rest of the Rowdyruff Boys. Each Rowdyruff Boy is much more independent than the Powerpuff Girls and their movements are best described as decentralized at best and unknown at worst.

"They're are all Trojan Horses, and Butch's the first one being unleashed. Two more just waiting to strike when our guard's down." Blossom pointed out.

Blossom understood that something else is already put into motion ever when they are all trapped in the dream world. Their time in the dream world is used as a distraction to keep the attention of the Powerpuff Girls off Him's grand machination. But the purpose of the plan is lost on Blossom's intellect, for the layers of what is being planned by Him is convoluted, complex and labyrinthine in its purpose and implementation.

The mysterious item taken away from the military base.

The growing potency of the Red Candy drug.

The missing prisoners.

The Rowdyruff Boys.

Blossom failed to see the connection of these myriad of schemes concocted by Him, and these are the things that Blossom knew on the surface. Blossom is clueless about the other plans that Him had concocted between the lines, and this uncertainty silently infuriate Blossom. But all she knew is that the Rowdyruff Boys still had a role to play in this convoluted scheme.

"Or maybe, just maybe, we're the traps." Buttercup suggested as she turned away from her sister and stop just short of the door and turned her head to face her sister. Blossom's rose eyes met Buttercup's lime-green eyes, and Blossom's expression is that of confusion. Buttercup closed her eyes, cutting away her eye contact with her sister.

"We are all reacting to the boys in ways we never think of, and we are letting them in our worlds. We can hurt the boys in ways that will make them more destructive if we pressed the wrong buttons. Keep that in mind Bloss. Keep that in mind before you blame the boys as being the timebombs. We are the timers that will trigger the boys." Blossom stood in silence as Buttercup left the room, stunned by Buttercup's assertion.

Blossom turned her attention towards the ward once more and she saw Bubbles waving goodbye to the Rowdyruff Boys leaving the ward. Blossom wondered if what Buttercup said is true and Blossom thought ruefully about Buttercup's words.


	77. Chapter 77: Family Issues

Chapter 77: Family Issues

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Crime had gone to a halt and there is an uneasy peace in the entire city as the seasons transitioned from autumn to winter._ _Ever since the attack on the Townsville Organized Crime & Terrorism Security Force, or otherwise known as TOCTSeF, and the breakout of the prisoners from Townsville Prison, nothing particularly spectacular nor villainous happen in Townsville. The Ghetto in particular is now locked in a stalemate that no one dares to break, or willing to keep. For the TOCTSeF forces, the lull in the violence is not a sign of decreasing crime. Instead, it is a calm before the storm. Full divisions of men went missing during the chaos, and they are still unaccounted for alongside the missing prisoners._

 _Families mourned the losses of their loved ones, and amidst the aftermath of that fateful day no one truly know the plans of the confederation of crime known as the Lunatics. Each organized crime group that formed the confederation had went about their own agenda, but their collective silence is unnatural compared to their previously independent activities. There is a need for information for the security forces to defend against the organized crime groups, and the security forces are slowly using more extreme means to get the information that they need.  
_

* * *

[The Projects, Downtown Townsville, 1.00am]

"Never thought I would see a part of America becoming some warzone."

A man covered from head to toe in a full black body armor shakes his head, his expression hidden behind the night vision goggles and balaclava. The man, along with several others, are all dressed similarly with body armor, knee pads, gloves and harnesses. Assault rifles are visible, with many holding the rifle while others hang it loose around their neck. The dim lights of the armored personnel carrier makes the near black clothing appear a darker shade of gray under the light.

"First time for everything." One of the other men replied.

These men are on a mission; a mission to go deep into enemy territory to get a high-ranking member of the crime organization known for its sheer brutality and utter disregard for human life; Los Noches. The gang had entrenched itself into the poorest neighborhoods of Townsville,known as the Projects, and their influence and control is all but secured. In fact, it is so deeply entrenched that any forces entering into the neighborhoods requires a fully militarized armored convoy to even patrol the streets. Such a state is unthought of just a few months ago, but the poorest areas of Townsville combined with the neighboring area known as the Ghetto had became a bastion of the Lunatics.

But even with such a show of force, it is no guarantee that they will get their man. Los Noches is the most outwardly aggressive among the Lunatic forces, and they are not afraid of engaging the TOCTSeF forces. The Los Noches gang members are armed to the teeth, and many an armored convoy had met their demise due to the use of improvised explosive devices and also guerrilla-like ambushes conducted by the gang members. Combined with the use of Red Candy among the Los Noches forces, they are arguably even more well-armed than even the TOCTSeF forces, which comprised of US law enforcement agencies and US military elements.

During their briefing, they are told that apprehending the man known simply as Little Chico will help the TOCTSeF forces in their intelligence gathering efforts to find out what the Lunatics had in the works. But the men had doubts that it is worth the risk and the time. In addition, they are entering into the neighborhood without the support of the Powerpuff Girls. That in itself is a flawed plan, but high command had deemed that the Powerpuff Girls are too obvious and will alert the Lunatics. But the men already figured that since they are entering into the Projects with an armored convoy, it is as obvious as day that they are planning something.

An explosion is immediately heard, and the men within the vehicle knew what they had got themselves into. The hatch door to the armored personnel carrier opened up and the men immediately rushed out from the vehicle so see one of the main battle tanks alight on fire, with several streaks of missiles firing towards the other vehicles. Several more vehicles were hit, and they exploded spectacularly. The cracking sound of bullets were soon heard and several of the TOCTSeF men were brought down by the hail of bullets. The TOCTSeF personnel immediately ran for cover before mounting a fierce resistance to the ambush. Several cries were heard as the battle intensified, and soon the sound of heavy machine gun fire and cannon fire from the tanks and armored vehicles accompanied the small arms fire.

The battle escalated and before long the ambush had turned into a proper battle.

One of the TOCTSeF personnel recognized one of the Los Noches combatants, and he yelled out what he saw; a middle-aged bald man with a tattoo of a crescent moon over his face with the eyes and mouth of the snarling crescent moon being his own mouth and eye calling out to the other Los Noches gangsters while firing his assault rifle at the TOCTSeF forces. That is the man that they are looking for; _Tiburon_ , Los Noches' second-in-command.

Seeing their chance, the TOCTSeF personnel charged towards the gangsters, knowing that their survival and the fate of Townsville hangs in the balance. The men knew that they need to take this man alive at all cost. After all, they are all trapped in this living hell just because of this man. Several of the men were shot down, but still the TOCTSeF personnel moved forward with courage. Before long, the firefight turned into a brawl, with the men using their rifles as bludgeons. The resulting brawl is arguably more violent than the firefights, as men started to use whatever within reach to engage in the fight, and whatever

The bald man noticed the brawl and seeing the desperation of the men fighting, he decided to enter into the fray.

The bald man kicked one of the TOCTSeF men down with a frontal kick before unleashing the fire from his rifle towards the falling man. Seeing that his target was neutralized, he moved on towards his next target. One by one, the bald man slayed several members, without a care in the world for his surroundings. However, the man's bravado proved to be his undoing as one of the TOCTSeF member managed to sneak a rifle blow to the back of his head, knocking the man out. Seeing their chance, two of the TOCTSeF men picked up the man and started running under fire towards one of the armored personnel carriers. One of the men carrying the unconscious gangster was shot in the leg and collapsed immediately, but the other TOCTSeF soldier is unfazed and jumped into the vehicle.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" The TOCTSeF personnel cried, and the armored personnel carrier immediately revved up and started to leave the pandemonium. Seeing that their leader was taken, some of the Los Noches members fired several rocket-propelled grenades towards the vehicles, but some of the grenades missed while others grazed the vehicle. The vehicle sped off into the night, leaving the rest of the TOCTSeF forces to fend the increasing numbers of Los Noches members by themselves.

* * *

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Today is a chilly day, and yet there were many people out on the streets today in Townsville's little Japanese enclave, Little Tokyo. A center of modernity and tradition in the heart of the Asian enclave, it acts as the de facto capital of the Asian trade and commerce for the Asian community in Townsville. Despite the tranquil environment, my dramatic sense of drama is telling me that something is about to happen and it is going to happen with this person!_

 _*Flashes towards a cute little Shiba Inu with a red scarf staring at the readers*_

 _Ahem...I said this person, not this cute little puppy!_

 _*View zooms in on a_ _tanned-skinned man in his late twenties walked down the streets of the Japanese enclave of Townsville dressed in a simple black hoodie and matching pants with a black duffel bag in tow.*_

 _There you go!_

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville,1.30pm]

"Miserable." The man cursed under his breath as he pulled up his hood and wondered how people can even live in such a dreadfully cold man's slick-backed hair is held in place by a hairnet, and the man's buttoned-up black and white tartan shirt is showing underneath the hoodie. Despite the man's youthful looks his eyes are surprisingly sullen and sad, as if he had seen far too much in his life.

His opinion is that no one in their right mind will take a stroll in this particularly chilly weather. It is not helped by the sudden breeze that chilled the man, and he weathered the weather the best way he know how; keep calm and carry on.

The only reason why he is out here in the first place is because he had to meet someone. He need to plan out some things with his associate on their next course of action, and his associate had decided to set up shop in this particular enclave. Thinking about it, the man did not ask his associate where they are going to meet in this Asian enclave, and he was reminded that he should had asked simple things like that in the first place. He should had just called her and be done with it, but the man knew that sometimes a personal touch goes a long way in resolving a particularly trying issue.

The man walked down the streets of Little Tokyo and he passed by several stores with Japanese words and letters printed on the store signs. Japanese script is particularly odd to him as it reminded him of slashes and little swirls, and he is amused by the contrasts of the sharp and round elements of Japanese written language. It reminded him of how chickens would have written words if they can use their talons to write.

His eyes soon tuned in on a TV screen on one of the electronics store, and his eyes is now watching a news bulletin.

" A dramatic capture, one of the world's most wanted gang leaders, Ernesto " _Tiburon_ " De La Hoya, is now in TOCTSeF custody last night. TOCTSeF announcing 'mission accomplished' after an eight-year manhunt for the Los Noches right-hand man. A TOCTSeF official told CNN that at 1am this morning, TOCTSeF forces had closed in on one of the Los Noches safehouse within the Projects. There was a battle, twenty-five TOCTSeF personnel were killed, with another sixty-five injured. Analyst were surprised that he was taken alive. Officials have said that the gangster have a lot of firepower near him, and it is only through sheer luck that they managed to capture him and evacuate the Projects with _Tiburon_ in custody. The gangster will prove to be of vital importance as he can be a source of vital information on the operations of Los Noches and Lunatic activities nationwide. Presently TOCTSeF officials had informed that _Tiburon_ is held in an undisclosed location-"

 _Bump!_

The man suddenly felt a bump on his legs and he looked down to see a young boy with blonde hair and brown eyes looking up to him. The little boy is no older than five years old, and a pair of innocent brown eyes stared vacantly at the man and in turn he looked back at the child with his cloudy gray eyes.

* * *

[San Salvador, El Salvador, Fifteen Years Ago]

Two boys are looking upon a freshly covered patch of earth with a hastily tied-up cross consisting of two sticks embedded on the ground. The elder one, a boy no more older than ten years old, looked at the cross with his stony gray eyes, while the much younger boy, no more than five, is grabbing the elder boy's pants. The boys are surrounded by forests, and there is no one else in sight. The young boy started sobbing as he looked upon the mound, and the other boy rested a shovel on his shoulders.

"Father didn't do anything wrong did he? Did he?" The small child looked up towards the elder boy.

"Papa is a fine man, Rodrigo. Before heaven, before earth, by the name of the Lord, he would have nothing for which he would bow his head." The older boy comforted his brother.

"Then why, why did God take him away from us to heaven?" The little boy sobbed causing the older boy to hesitate before giving his answer.

"It ia not the Lord's doing that killed our Papa; it is men that took him away from us Rodrigo." The elder boy answered,with great bitterness in his voice.

"Then...what was the person thinking...when he took away Papa from us...what was the reason Papa has to die? Why Garcia,why?" The young boy demanded an answer from his brother,but knew what will be his brother's answer.

"I...I don't know Rodrigo. I don't" The elder boy answered solemnly.

That is a lie.

Garcia knew the answer all too well, but it he because he knew it well that he is unable to tell his brother the answer to that most heartwrecking question. He beg his young brother's forgiveness for not telling the entire truth, the cold hard truth. Garcia knew what the person that killed their father is thinking; They were not thinking of anything at all. They were thinking of no pain, no real thought. No need to deaden the emotion, no need to become cold. That is what the victims are to those that kill others, their victims simply doesn't matter. And as for the reason, somewhere, somebody decided that it is better to not have their father than to have their father.

All the days the person had lived,

All the money, or greed, or great and worthy cause.

All were worthless against that decision.

That is why Papa went up to heaven Rodrigo, Garcia thought as a tear rolled down his eye. Now both boys started to sob, with only each other to soothe the pain. That is how the Gutierrez brothers lost their father.

That is how the rule of life is in the city of San Salvador; where the helpless are killed by their government for suspicions of helping the gangs,and the helpless are killed by the gangs for suspicions of helping the crooks. Life is devoid of value once it has been decided so, and people like the Gutierrez brothers paid the price for such decisions against their wills.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 1.32pm]

"Sorry." The man answered as he patted the child's head. A woman appeared before the man, and the man assumed the woman to be the child's mother.

"Aaron! Are you alright?" The woman called to the little boy, surprising the man. The woman squatted next to the little boy, patting the little boy's head as the little boy nodded.

"Sorry about that ma'am." The tanned man apologized once more, knowing well that a small gesture like saying sorry goes a long way resolving conflicts.

"It's alright. Say sorry Aaron."

"I'm sorry." The little boy apologized.

"It's okay, kid." The man assured the little boy.

"Come Aaron." The mother gently pulled the little boy away from the man, and seeing that everything is alright, the man walked away from the mother and child. Suddenly his phone rang, and he took his phone out from his pocket and retrieved the call.

"Are you at Little Tokyo?" A monotone woman's voice asked.

"Yes. But where is the damn place we're supposed to meet?"

"It is in the Ichiyo's Sushi restaurant. Walk to the kitchen and you'll see the mark of a black and white stripe on one of the freezer doors." The conversation was cut, and the man groaned.

"This lady is impossible. It's alright, we'll be alright." The man looked around the streets of Little Tokyo and realized that it will be a while for him to go about searching for a stupid little Sushi restaurant.

* * *

[Somewhere in Nevada, United States of America, Thirteen Years Ago]

Garcia Gutierrez and Rodrigo Gutierrez had entered into a truck straight from the smuggler's tunnels they exited few days ago, and they were cautiously optimistic of their prospects in a land they only ever heard about from hushed whispers of hope; The United States of America. There were others like them, who ran from the many troubled places of Central and South America, but Garcia cared not for them. In this world, everyone will need to take care of themselves and there is no other way.

The smugglers had informed them of the location they are to be dropped off, and Garcia hugged his sleeping brother in his arms. Garcia recalled that they are heading to a place called Oakland,and any place is better than the hellhole that they ran from for there is a chance to start a new life over here. Garcia had given everything he had in order to smuggle both his brother and himself. They had nothing to lose,for they had no living relatives left in San Salvador. But there were hushed rumors that America hates their kind of people, and that they are not welcomed here in the promised land. For that reason, Garcia is aware that once they settled down, they will need to get the money that that they need to survive. But for two children, it will be a tough order, and Garcia knew that they might be dead on the streets if they messed up, either by the crooks or the law enforcement agencies. Garcia shakes his head to get the negative thoughts out from his head, and he tried to reassure himself that they are doing the right thing.

 _We'll be alright_ , Garcia repeated the mantra in his mind, _We'll be alright_.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 1.45pm]

"Where is the place..." The man said to himself as he looked around the streets of Little Tokyo. His patience is running thin enough that he is considering calling off the meeting. However fate decided to give this man a helping hand. He saw the symbol of a salmon holding a board with the words 'Ichiyo' written on it with the corner of his eye. Seeing the restaurant, the man had no reason than to enter into the restaurant.

The man pushed the door and a chime rang as he stepped into the restaurant. The man cautiously stepped further into the restaurant and looked around the rather unremarkable interior design. Just a bunch of tables and chairs with some tacky Japanese designs, the man commented in his mind as he entered further into the surprisingly empty restaurant. A particularly old Asian woman walked up to the man in the hoodie and the man knew what to expect.

"Mr. Gutierrez?" The woman asked.

"Yes, that is me." The man in the hoodie answered.

"Follow me." Seeing that he is expected, the young man headed towards the kitchen without a second though with the old woman.

There were only two staff in the kitchen as the woman opened the doors to the kitchen area. The two staff looked at the man for a moment before returning back to playing with their phones. The woman and the man known as Mr. Gutierrez walked towards the freezer units and Mr. Gutierrez saw the black and white markings on one of the heavy metal freezer doors. The old man opened the marked door without any hesitation and a dark, dimly lit hallway greeted him. Seeing that there is no other way than to go down, the man took the steps down the passage.

* * *

[Oakland, California, Twelve Years Ago]

Garcia Gutierrez is is a fetal position as three other white men started kicking and stomping him. The men had stumbled upon Garcia as he was returning from mowing the lawns of some people and they had decided to mug him and beat him up. He had done no wrong, but even then the others looked upon him as a common criminal. But what crimes had he done to these people? Is it a crime to work an honest job to give his little brother the education that he needs? Is it a crime for Garcia to get his chance in fulfilling the American Dream? Is it a crime to even exist?

"That'll teach him a lesson!" One of the man hooted before walking away from the injured boy, with a handful of small notes in the man's hands. The other snickered at the boy, and one of them even kicked the boy once more before leaving the scene. To make it all worse, Garcia noticed that the others that were watching him did not even stepped in to help him. In fact, once the beating is over, they dispersed as if a show had just ended.

 _Why is God so unfair?_ ,Garcia cursed in his mind as he nursed his wounds.

Suddenly he heard a yelp coming from afar and Garcia turned to the source of the voice. His eyes were wide open as the men that beat him up moments ago were themselves beaten by a group of people who were the same as he is. But something about their appearance struck Garcia as odd. These men were clad in blacks and whites, dressed in white wifebeaters or plaid clothing with black cargo pants. Each one of them had a tattoo over some parts of their bodies; some on the arms, some on the legs and some even on their face. But all of them shared the same tattoo; that of a snarling white crescent moon over a black sunburst. The white men that were beaten up are at an inch away from death, and Garcia can not stomach that someone will die before his eyes even if they had just caused him a great amount of pain.

"Stop!" The boy called out, causing the men in black and white clothing to turn towards Garcia. One of them, a young bald man with a tattoo of a crescent moon over his face with the eyes and mouth of the snarling crescent moon being his own mouth and eye walked towards Garcia.

"Here's your money back." The man handed Garcia the handful of cash that were taken from him, surprised that the man can speak in Spanish. Garcia looked hesitantly at the man, but the man showed a kind smile on his face despite his rather intimidating appearance.

"Go on." The man beckoned, and Garcia finally took the cash from the man's palm.

"Thank you." Garcia thanked the man, but the man shook his head.

"Just protecting our own from those _Gringos_. Taking money from a boy..." The man then spit on one of the white men, causing the one being spat upon cringe. The other group of men clad in black and whites came over and they looked upon the child with surprised eyes.

" _Tiburon_ , that kid's as old as my own _hermano!_ " One of the men exclaimed, a man in a black bandana.

"Yeah, he's as old as Isador...and a kid from the _patrias_." The bald man with the tattoo pointed out.

"San Salvador?" Another man in a wifebeater said with surprise. The man squatted before Garcia, with kind brown eyes looking at the little boy. The little boy expressed his fear of these men with his body gesture, but then the bald man started speaking once more but in a language that Garcia had not heard in a long time.

" _Niño, ¿estás aquí solo en Oakland?_ " The bald man asked if Garcia is alone in Oakland, and Garcia shook his head.

" _No, tengo un hermano. Un hermanito._ " Garcia informed that he had his little brother with him.

" _¿Dónde está tu hermano? ¿ Dónde tu padre y tu madre?"_ The man asked of the little boy's family.

" _Mamá y papá se han ido. Solo quedamos mi hermano y yo."_ Garcia told the man of the fate of his parents and that his brother is his only relative left with a bitter and pained tone. The other men looked at each other uncomfortably before looking upon the bald man.

" _¿Por la policía o por las pandillas?_ " The bald man asked, his eyes frowning in empathy.

" _La Sombre Negra le disparó a mi papá. Mi madre asesinada por Mara Dieciocho."_ Garcia informed, knowing that he had lost both parents to the violence between the gangs and the police. Or to be exact 18th Street and the government death squad killed his mother and father respectively.

The bald man brought the boy closer and hugged him. Garcia was taken by surprise, not because someone hugged him, but because someone showed his his first act of kindness in this land. The boy is unable to hold it in anymore and Garcia broke out crying, surrounded by very threatening men who had showed him kindness and justice in this cruel world.

* * *

[Ichiyo Restaurant, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 1.50pm]

The hooded man finally reached the end of the passage and found himself facing against a wooden door with a slit. He swear that if he heard someone asking him for a password, he will kick down the door. A pair of brown eyes is visible through the slit,and the cloudy gray eyes of the man soon met those brown eyes. Both individuals stared at each other for a moment, and is not liking every single moment that was spend unspoken.

"Password."

The hooded man immediately snapped his leg in a forward kick and with an unsurpassed strength not expected from the slim figure, the door was blasted back and it shattered despite it being made out of steel. The man is soon met with several individuals aiming a rectangular rifle-like weapon with an orange glow from the exposed parts of the weapon.

"Is this how you treat your guest?" The man barked, causing the men aiming their weapons against him balked back.

"Sorry about that." The hooded man turned around to find a slender Asian woman with short and messy golden blonde hair with five braided locks running down her back stepping up from the shadows.

"You did not give me any password." The man answered derisively.

"Indeed, Mister Gutierrez." The woman said unapologetically.

The man watched as the blonde Asian woman walked towards a round table with two chairs, and took her seat and both individuals started talking. The hooded man looked at the empty chair, and seeing that they will be discussing their business in this place he pulled the chair back and sat on the chair. The Latino puts the duffle bag on the table gently, causing some of the woman's henchmen to focus their attention on the bag. However, the woman's eyes are focused on the hooded man.

"So...what's wrong this time?" The Hispanic man asked, deciding to do away with the pleasantries.

"Some of your boys are stealing the earnings from the candy. The others are not pleased." The calm voice of the woman bellied the threat of her words as she crossed her barely-covered long, slender legs.

"Is that all?" The hooded man pushed the duffel bag on the table to the woman, surprising some of the men pointing their guns at him. The woman looked at the duffel bag for a moment before turning her attention towards the hooded man.

"Is that the profits that was stolen?" The woman asked.

"Look inside." The hooded man beckoned the woman to open the a wave of an arm, the blonde Asian woman called upon one of her subordinates to attend to the bag. The henchmen walked up to the bag and slowly unzipped the bag. The eyes of the henchman and the woman opened wide as they realized what is in the bag. The henchman immediately looked away while covering his mouth, while the woman turned her attention back towards the hooded man.

"It is a small matter, and it happens all the time." The hooded man pulled back his hood, showing the man's Hispanic features. The man's cold cloudy Hispanic eyes is now watching the woman's every move and the tables are turned.

* * *

[Oakland, California, Eight Years Ago]

"Please...please."

Garcia is holding a gun towards the head of a person who had decided to try and steal some of the profits of _Los Noches,_ and one of the cardinal rules of the gang is that no one steals from the gang. However, Garcia is having second doubts as he saw the man pleading for his life. Garcia wondered if this is how his parents must looked like from the eyes of their executioner, and having such a power to determine a person's fate is particularly exhilarating. At the same time, Garcia's heart pounded in fear of what he was about to do.

" _¿Que estas esperando?_?" The young boy turned his head around to see a bald man with a stylized moon tattooed on his face putting his hand on Garcia's shoulders.

"I...I..." Garcia stuttered, not knowing how to explain himself.

" _Nos había robado, y esto significa menos para todos nosotros."_ The man known as Tiburon reasoned to Garcia, informing that Garcia will get less if this man was left to life.

Garcia thought of his brother, and how Rodrigo needed a new pair of shoes to replace the broken ones. Garcia was torn between sparing the man or allowing his brother a semblance of having a normal life in Oakland. The gun started to tremble as Garcia's mind fought for what is right. Garcia closed his eyes, as he did not want to see the man's face anymore. The sobbing sound of the man became louder and louder, and Garcia felt a pull on his pants, and that action alone startled Garcia.

 _BLAM!_

Garcia sensed that several drops of warm liquid fell on his face, and the grip of the man loosened up. Despite knowing what is before him, Garcia is unable to help himself from opening his eyes. Garcia immediately started vomiting on the spot and he dropped the pistol on the ground, his gray cloudy eyes filled with water. The bald man helped Garcia to stand up and patted him on the shoulder for a job well done.

That is how Garcia got his first kill, and the man was killed for a pair of new Nike shoes for his brother.

* * *

[Ichiyo Restaurant, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 2.02pm ]

"Since we are both here, I want to talk about another matter. A little birdie told me that soldiers frequent a bar called the Bar Geisha in Little Tokyo." The gangster decided to use the situation to his advantage.

"What about it?" The woman asked, not liking how the conversation is moving about.

"That little birdie also told me that it is apparently a black ops safehouse for TOCTSeF to keep people of high value before they are brought out for further...processing."

"How did you find out about this secret safehouse?"

"As I said, I got a little birdie that tells me things. Perhaps you should get a birdie too." The man mocked the woman.

"So...how do we go from here?" The gangster asked, knowing well that this situation is a dire situation that will cause a lot of trouble, especially for the blonde Asian woman sitting across him.

"What are you planning to do here." The woman's displeasure is apparent in her tone.

"Well for one, a total of twenty-four _sicarios_ are in Little Tokyo already. Secondly, they took a well-beloved senior member, _Tiburon_ in custody during their operation. This man that they captured is like a father to all of us. No, he _is_ family. They are housing him under the basement of the bar. Those secret black ops thing." The tanned man answered calmly, but his voice is stern and unyielding. The woman's face hardened at the information that was revealed to her.

* * *

[Oakland, California, Six Years Ago]

Garcia Gutierrez had risen up the ranks of _Los Noches_ to become _Tiburon_ 's right hand man, both for his acumen for illicit business and also his utter ruthlessness in doing the gang's bidding. Despite his infamy, he had kept his other side of life a secret from his brother. He had lied to his brother that he had a good job, and indeed had made it a habit to leave his home early in the morning to keep the illusion. This is also the reason why Garcia sported no tattoos on his body, which some of the members of _Los_ _Noches_ considered a blasphemous act. However, Garcia had received the blessings of his leader to not sport the tattoo. It also served a practical purpose of allowing Garcia to maneuver around without being associated with the gang.

Garcia had also gotten himself a decent home, away from the gang-ridden area of Oakland and in a much more peaceful and safer neighborhood. His little brother is little no more, and is now as old as Garcia when he first make the journey from El Salvador to America. With the new American government wanting to grant people like his little brother permanent residency with the DACA Act, it all but ensured that Rodrigo be in the line to become an American citizen. As for Garcia himself, he had lost his chance, and if it will give his brother a better future, he will become stateless for his brother's sake.

"This is a really nice home, brother!" Rodrigo said with a smile on his face.

"Yes it is, way better than the pig sty we used to live in."

"Seriously, you really struck it out if you can get a home like this!" Rodrigo observed the empty suburban home. It is a rather simple home, with white walls and brown carpets. But for the Gutierrez, it is like a palace. And a palace it shall be, Garcia said to himself. Not even his gangbangers will be allowed in here unless he allows it. Which he will never let them, all to keep the illusion to Rodrigo that his brother Garcia is an upright honest businessman. On cue, Garcia's phone rang, and he immediately excused himself while his brother nodded.

"Yo, Garcia homie! Dónde estás?" The voice of the leader of _Los Noches_ is present from the other side of the line asking where Garcia is.

"Con mi hermano. ¿Que pasa?" Garcia asked, wondering what his leader wanted.

" _El envío viene y te necesito aquí._ " Garcia breathed a sigh of consternation, for when he is required to be present when the 'shipment' arrive, it must be a deal that can go wrong at any moment.

"Okay, I'll be there." Garcia knew that he can not refuse.

"Heya Rodrigo, I gotta go. "

"Work?"

"Yeah."

"Go get the bacon, bro." Rodrigo encouraged his brother in English, and Garcia smiled.

The two brothers had tried to speak English to each other while they are in America, but even at times their use of the language is a little odd to other native speakers. Garcia hugged his brother, and both Gutierrez knew that there are some things that expressed itself through their actions. Garcia separated himself from his brother, and he waved goodbye to his brother. Rodrigo waved back, knowing that his brother is the hardest worker that he know.

Once Garcia is a significant distance away from his brother, he took out a dark scarf and wrapped it around his face, covering the bottom half of his face. This is soon followed by another black bandanna, and the young man tied it over his face. Knowing that his face is covered and his identity hidden, Garcia is now able to do his work as _Los Noches_ ' second in command.

* * *

[Ichiyo Restaurant, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 2.02pm]

"You get your men out from my turf." The woman answered, her voice veiling a threat.

"My homies will not take no for an answer, and I can not stop them. And I will not stop them. All that I ask is your blessing for them to get him out from that safehouse." The woman did not take kindly to the man's challenge and her skin is also turning into a bright shade of scarlett.

Both the Asian woman and the tanned man stared at each other, none willing to yield to the demand of the other. The uneasy situation is rubbing on the woman's henchmen and all of the henchmen are unsure how this situation will unfold. The situation is so tense that it appeared that the color is fading away from their surroundings, turning it monochrome.

The woman stood up and slammed her arms on the table, causing the table to disappear. A few seconds later, the table reappeared in an upside down position slamming down beside the man splintering into several pieces. The show of force did not even faze the man as he sat down without even flinching.

"Let me put this on, for me to bring the point across." The Hispanic man informed the woman as he unzipped his hoodie and took out a particular object from within his hoodie. The man slowly brought up the object and placed it upon his face. A click ensured that the object is fastened upon his face, and the other henchmen watched in horror as they recognized who the person sitting before their as he looked at them from behind an iconic bat-like mask.

* * *

[Oakland, California, Four Years Ago]

"RODRIGO! RODRIGO!"

Garcia had just received news that his brother was hit by a stray bullet fired from a police's gun during a shootout between the police and Mara Salvatrucha members in one of the neighborhoods in Oakland while hanging out with his friends. After hearing the news, Garcia immediately burst through the hospital entrance where his brother was sent to while screaming his name. He stormed towards the receptionist and the receptionist saw the eyes of an enraged and frightened man looking back at him, and the man immediately searched through the registry. But the man soon realized that he had started looking without even asking the young man who he is looking for.

"Rodrigo Gutierrez." Garcia informed the receptionist, allowing the receptionist to do his job.

It took the receptionist a few minutes to inform where the patient is located, and Garcia immediately bolted off towards the ward where his brother is located. Or to be exact, the operating theater where his brother is being operated in. Garcia arrived at the operating theater only to see a light showing that the operation is in session. Garcia immediately collapsed on his knees, and he cusp his hand in a prayer.

" _No, no mi hermano..._ " Garcia started crying, and he wondered how fate had decided to be so cruel to him.

 _Of course not._

Garcia heard the voice once more. The voice that first pushed him into this dark life of crime and violence. This time, Garcia felt two odd sensation clamping down on his shoulders. Garcia looked to the left and right to see two lobster-like pincers holding on his shoulders in a vice-like grip. Garcia is very afraid, for this hallucination is far too real for it to be just a mere figment of his hallucination. The two pincers released Garcia, and he saw a figure passing by him only to turn around and face him.

The figure is an androgynous being entirely in red, with the darkest of hair in a widow's peak and a pointed goatee. A pink puff of fur covering the collar of the being and a matching pink frilly skirt surrounded the hip of the ridiculous being before Garcia. The long slender figure of the being is exaggerated by the particularly high black boots it sported on.

"What...what are you?" Garcia asked, causing the figure before him to answer his question.

" _I am what I say I am. And I say that I am the only chance your brother will have in surviving his injuries._ " The figure's voice is sickeningly sweet, but at the same time equally dark. The voice of both a man and a woman speak at the same time, and that unnerved Garcia.

"And how can you even do that?" Garcia wondered, and he is greeted by a cackle.

" _In some cultures, I am a god. In some other cultures, I am a demon._ _A friend in need is a friend indeed. Haven't you heard of the saying before?_ "

"And yet you are not a friend." Garcia is not trusting this ethereal being one single bit.

" _Oh, that is not something you should say to a friend._ " The red-skinned demon puts both its claws on its chest in a mockery of having its feelings hurt.

"If you have friends." Garcia said while gritting his teeth.

" _Fair enough, I got none._ " The demon's change of tone and shrug further disturbs Garcia.

"So what do you want from me?" Garcia asked the mysterious being that is now playing with his emotions. The demon disappeared from Garcia's sight, only to reappear with both its claws resting on Garcia's shoulders.

" _What I want is what you want; your brother to live._ " The demon cooed, causing a chill to run down Garcia's spine.

"You're _El Diablo_ , aren't you? What do I have to give for my brother to live?" Garcia pieced the logic together,and the mysterious figure smiled, never answering the man.

" _A name. A name that you'll use under my service. Once that is given, your wish is my command."_ The demonic being smiled slyly.

Garcia thought deeply and the pressure started building within him. Time is not on his side, and the demon can smell his desperation and his desires. His mind blanked out safe for a single image in his mind of a hero of justice that is not what the people want but is the hero that the people need. A dark knight that strike terror to evildoers and prowl the dark alleys to serve a particular brand of justice. The irony is not lost on Garcia, for he is exactly the person this dark knight will hunt down, but he is the hero that he needed now.

" _Ah... You have chosen a name."_ Garcia felt the weight on his shoulders disappeared before he is face to face with the ethereal being once more. However, Garcia noticed something is now within the grasp of the being's claws. Garcia soon realized that it is a white furry creature of some sort and he watched as it opened up its leathery wings. The creature soon uncurl itself and a deafening shriek came from the creature's throat.

"Is that a-"

" _Very interesting. Very well then, your wish is my command-"_

* * *

[Ichiyo Restaurant, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 2.08pm]

"Murcielago, you really want to risk everything for this person?" The blue-eyed woman snarled as the man looked up to shoot a menacing pair of gray eyes through the bat-like war mask towards the woman.

"You know what will happen if my guys decide to be rowdy, _Tigressa._ Red Candy plus very angry people is a bad combination." The man known as Murcielago pointed out the consequence that could, no, _will_ happen if his demands are not met.

"You wouldn't dare." The woman known as Tigress challenged the Hispanic gangster.

"Los Noches in Townsville alone number thirteen thousand members and nationwide I lost count after one hundred thousand members. If keeping the peace between my gangs and the rest of America means sneaking in, killing these _gringos_ in order to get my second-in-command out, it is worth my while. We Los Noches take our family seriously." The woman sat in silence, and closed her eyes as she folded her arms around her.

"You and your crazy family." The woman will not budge, and Murcielago decided that he will have to use the other card he had up his sleeve.

"Let me put it from a different view _Tigressa._.. _El Diablo_ knew the base of those _Gringos_ , and it will not help you if you are seen to be sheltering these _gringos_. _El Diablo_ would prefer this over one third of the nation being on fire right now. Choose wisely." Murcielago pointed out the consequences of what will happen if he is denied. The woman opened her eyes, and her eyes glowed a bright aquamarine.

"Do what you want."

" _Mucha Gracias_." The Hispanic gangster thanked the Asian Lunatic for her consent and he got up from the chair and walked out of the room. The man detached his mask as he walked out, knowing that Murcielago's job is done for the day.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 2.07pm]

[Oakland, California, Three year ago]

Garcia watched as he saw Rodrigo leaving a house with two middle-aged couple waving at the boy. A year had passed since that fateful night, but Rodrigo will never know of the night where he almost died. In fact, Rodrigo will never know what happened during the last seventeen years of his life with his brother. In return for his brother's life, Garcia had sacrificed Rodrigo's memories of Garcia and his existence to Rodrigo. But that is also for the better, as Rodrigo is now a full-fledged American citizen and Garcia a full-fledged member of the American Underworld. and is protected from a dark and cruel life if he were to live with Garcia. Indeed,time had passed since that fateful day and Garcia had taken over the _Los Noches_ and made it into a multinational criminal organization that rivalled nations in terms of strength and financial power.

" _So sad._ " The cacophonous voice of an ethereally sinister figure touched upon the ears of the Hispanic gangster, and Garcia knew who is now by his side.

"Him." Garcia had known the figure that made this painful choice happen by name now. The demon looked upon the young Rodrigo meeting up with his friends, and looked upon Garcia.

" _Consider it a mercy that I allow you to visit your brother from time to time._ " Him pointed out.

"For that I am grateful. Still...I will not forgive you for what you've taken from me." Garcia spat out his hatred of the demon beside him. Him is clearly not fazed by Garcia's quiet anger.

" _Indeed, such is the fate of those that sold their soul to the devil._ _Come ,we've got work to do._ " Him answered as both the demon and Garcia were enveloped in a reddish-pink fog.

* * *

[Oakland, California, 6.15pm]

It had been a three year since he visited his brother, and Garcia watched from across the road as his brother entered into the home of the two couple that had taken him into their home. If there is one thing good about being a lieutenant of a demon, it is having the ability to appear almost instantaneously at any spot in the world. He watched with longing eyes as his brother got out from the house to throw the trash, and Garcia longed to have his brother in his arms once more. Alas, his brother is living today precisely because he had made the sacrifice that he need to keep his brother safe.

"Hello there!" Garcia turned around to see that his brother is waving back at him.

" _Hola amigo!"_ Garcia greeted back, holding back the emotions welling up within him.

"Nice evening huh?" The boy smiled at Garcia.

"Yes, yes indeed." Garcia gave a smile, disguising the pain within his heart to have his brother having no clue of who he is.

"Anyway,have a nice evening Mister." The boy waved before turning towards his home.

"Have a nice evening too, kid." Garcia said, holding back his body from rushing over to hug his brother.

The young boy known as Rodrigo waved once more before heading off to his home once more. Garcia watched as the boy opened the door to his home and closed the door behind him. Garcia pulled up his hood and walked away from the house, knowing well that what is lost can never be found anymore. The man known to himself as Garcia Gutierrez, and the world as Murcielago, shed a tear as he faded away into a reddish pink fog.


	78. Chapter 78: Another Nightly Talk

Chapter 78: Another Nightly Talk

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _The winds of a slowly arriving winter is blowing strong, and the whistling winds sounded like a wail of a banshee_ _. For most of the citizens, it is something of a relief that they are not out in the punishing elements._ _However in one particular household, a young sand-blonde teenage boy is looking outside his window with his cobalt blue eyes, looking particularly annoyed that he is not outside his home._

 _Let us see what is up with our dumb-_

 _*Boomer staring at the direction of the narrator, not pleased at what the was about to say*_

 _Sorry Boomer, I didn't meant to._ _Please don't hurt me._

 _*Boomer shrugged and looked up towards the sky*_

 _Ahem...As I was saying before, let us see what is up with our dear Rowdyruff Boy._

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.30pm]

Boomer is bored out of his mind sitting in his room and the internet had nothing on in particular that would warrant him to surf on the internet. There are only so much videos and stuff he can immerse himself into before he got bored. The only question he had about going out is where he can go when everything is closed. As he watched the snowstorm raged on from his window, he wondered what else could make his day more unbearable.

 _Knock! Knock!_

"It's unlocked. Come in." Boomer called out to whoever it is knocking his door. The door to his room opened up and he saw his charcoal-haired brother walking into his room with nothing else but a track pants with camouflaged pattern.

"Yo Boomer, did you see my phone?" The jade green eyes of the half-naked teenager is looking around Boomer's room.

"How should I know Butch? Have you checked downstairs?" Boomer voiced his annoyance.

"Just thought that I should ask." Butch answered back while rolling his eyes before closing the door. Boomer's ears picked up the sound of his brother's footsteps going down the stairs.

 _Just like Butch to not know where his things are located_ , Boomer thought to himself. But before Boomer can even settle himself, the sound of the door knocking is heard once more.

 _Knock! Knock_!

"Doors is unlocked." Boomer sighed.

The door opened once more and this time a low braided ponytail teenage boy dressed in a black turtleneck with black pajama pants with glowing crimson tips entered the room. Boomer's cobalt eyes met with the teenage boy's glowing crimson iris,the glow further enhanced by the pitch-black sclera of the teenager.

"Boomer, did you see Butch?"

"Brick, he was just looking for his phone a few moments ago and he went down to check if it's there. You've just missed him."

"Right..." Brick closed the door and the sound of his red-haired brother descending down the stairs is heard.

"Seriously...if there is one more-" Boomer rolled his eyes as the door to his room is opened once more.

"Boomer, do you want to have some supper?" The gray-eyed woman asked the Rowdyruff Boy. Boomer noticed that she is wearing a particularly simple white t-shirt and dark red sweat pants.

"No." Boomer's mood is apparent in his voice, and Lilith noticed the mood of the young boy.

"Alright, if you want anything...just tell me alright?"

"Yeah sure."Boomer replied. Lilith politely excused herself before closing the door to Boomer's room.

"Screw it. I'm getting out from here." Boomer walked up to his wardrobe and opened it and as he was looking around to see what he should wear for his trip, he froze like a deer looking at an approaching headlights.

 _Where the hell am I supposed to go to?_

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.00pm]

Blossom is doing some practice exercises from her study materials and she is the only Powerpuff Girl in their room. The other girls are watching Netflix downstairs and she preferred it that way. These past few days had been a godsend,for Blossom is particularly fatigued from the ordeals she had to face for the past few months. It may only be just a three months,but they are particularly stressful for her. Having nothing happening is amazing for her self-recovery,but there are some things that had made her attempts to psychological recovery much harder.

For one, Blossom alone knew the truth of what happened to Renée and what Him had done with the boys to make them into pawns in its plan. Secondly, Blossom had shared Bunny to Butch, even though she had made a pact with her sisters to never tell anyone else about Bunny. Thirdly, ever since that incident she is now looking at Butch differently. Her mind is a little messy thanks to these thoughts and she honestly wished something would knock some sense into her to keep it all straight.

 _Knock! Knock!_

Blossom heard the sound of knocking over shook her head and immediately dismissed the sound, seeing that it could be just her mind playing tricks on herself. After all, Blossom wondered how could anyone be knocking on her window as she lived on the second floor.

"Yo! Bookworm! Mind opening the window?" A barely audible voice called out to Blossom, with a tone that is sounds like a young boy barely out of his teens.

Blossom instinctively turned towards the source of the voice and saw a figure dressed entirely in black with the bottom part of the person's face covered by a mask, looking at her with cobalt blue eyes. Blossom was about to engage in defensive measures until she noticed the flame-like patterns at the edge of the hood that covered the head of the figure and also the unique skull and crossbone logo of the Rowdyruff Boys emblazoned on the mask.

Blossom walked towards the window and opened the large circular window, causing a large gust of wind to blow into the bedroom. Blossom opened the window for as long as the figure took to enter into the bedroom before she closed the window once more. As she turned to face her unexpected visitor, Blossom wondered why Boomer had given her a visit at this time of the night. She clearly did not expect that a boy had just entered in her room and she reasoned that there is always a first for everything in life.

"Phew!" Boomer pulled back the hood covering his head and the mask covering his face, revealing his sand-blonde hair and androgynous facial features. The way in which he combs his hair back is surprisingly feminine to Blossom. As he took off his coat Blossom pointed towards a coat hangar stand as Boomer took off his coat and seeing where she pointed at, Boomer hung his coat on the hanger.

 _Those boys sure love their turtlenecks_ , Blossom noted to herself as she noticed Boomer's dark blue turtleneck. Blossom watched Boomer with her rose-colored eyes as he sat on her study chair before he leans forward and rest his elbows on his lap, his hands hanging limp from his elbows. Blossom, annoyed that her sweet studying spot was taken by the Rowdyruff Boy,crossed her arm and stood before Boomer.

"Boomer, what are you doing here?" Blossom asked politely, but there is a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm bored, so I decided to visit you." Boomer informed Blossom

"No one is that bored to brave through that kind of windstorm to visit someone." Blossom's face showed her disbelief, and Boomer shrugged.

"Well, I just did." Boomer grinned while scrubbing his head and letting some of the excess snow that was stuck in his hair to drop on the floor.

"So...do you want anything to drink?" Blossom showed her hospitality despite Boomer being an uninvited guest. Showing one's hospitality goes a long way to being a virtuous person, Blossom thought.

"Hot chocolate please." Boomer said innocently.

Blossom did not respond and she got up from her bed and walked towards the door. Boomer observed Blossom as she opened the door and popped her head out from the door and scanned her surroundings. Blossom walked out from the room and gently closing the door behind her, leaving Boomer alone in the room. It soon dawned on Boomer that is now in a girl's room and the situation soon turned rather awkward for him. To make it worse, Boomer noticed that he is not in the room of a girl but a room of _three_ girls. Boomer got up from the seat and walked towards the center of the room and realized that the rooms are divided into three equally sized 'territories'.

Boomer turned back to where he was seated a while ago, and he spotted the prim and proper manner in which everything is arranged. Boomer chuckled as he noticed how the section reflected the nature of the commander and leader of the Powerpuff Girls. The presence of a multitude of books on racks beside the study table showed Blossom's studious and intelligent aspect. The myriad of trophies and awards from her academic achievements activities showed Boomer of her academic prowess, but also in a certain way it showed Blossom's hubris and vanity. This particular nature of Blossom had not changed much, and Brick often used this to bring Blossom down a peg.

Boomer's dark-blue eyes soon focused on the neighboring section and the child-like and adorable nature of the decorations revealed who owned the particular section of the room. The presence of various stuffed dolls littered around the bed and corners of the room showed Boomer that his blue counterpart had never really grown even after all these years and the flowery patters on her pillows and blanket only served to show her particular girlish nature. The presence of some Japanese graphic novels on the racks beside Bubbles' study table along with the presence of a synthesizer beside her bed along with guitars, violins, and even a saxophone revealed to Boomer on her love for pop culture and music.

"Then the last one will be..." Boomer turned around and his cobalt blue eyes widen with surprise. Boomer can't help himself but to intrude into the zone and look around.

If Boomer had not known better, he would had assumed that this part of the room belonged to a guy. He saw several posters of what appeared to be martial artists pasted on the wall alongside posters of several rock and metal bands. Boomer recognized some of the bands, but some of the other bands eluded him. Boomer noticed how messy it is and he chuckled, for the room really looked like Butch's room. Boomer also saw some sporting equipment like a lacrosse stick, boxing gloves and what looked like a basketball jersey on the floor. Boomer's mind immediately tried to imagine Buttercup with a basketball jersey and he find the image particularly pleasing.

Boomer pulled the chair beside Buttercup's table and sat on it, and he is taken by surprise once more as he noticed several cookbooks stacked on Buttercup's study table and books on children's development hastily hidden amidst the cooking books. Boomer chuckled once more as he took one of the books and started to flip through the book. Boomer is particularly pleased as he realized that the book he picked up is a cookbook on how to prepare Sicilian food.

"If Buttercup's here, she'll kick your butt." Boomer snapped around to see the fiery copper-haired girl closing the door behind her with a cup in her hand.

"Oh! I-I-I...um...ur..." Boomer immediately got up from the chair and he was about to move back to Blossom's chair when she passed him the hot chocolate. The aroma of the cacao beans and milk penetrated Boomer's nose, and that split second is all it took for Blossom to take a seat on her own chair.

"It's weird seeing her side of the room as compared to ours right?" Blossom started the conversation, and Boomer instinctively took a seat on Buttercup's chair once more. Blossom turned her chair around and faced Boomer, knowing well that Boomer is experiencing what she had experienced when she first entered into his room.

"Yeah...you guys are so different from each other...surprised that you girls can even tolerate each other." Boomer looked around the room once more as he took a sip of the hot chocolate, amazed by how each Powerpuff Girl had decorated their part of the room in such a drastic way.

 _Huh, this is one mean hot chocolate_ , Boomer thought to himself as his tongue tasted the earthy, roasted texture of the bitter chocolate along with the creamy, full-bodied milk. The bittersweet balance of the drink is unlike anything he had ever tasted before, and the drink is such that it won his heart.

"Blossom, you sure make one hell of a good hot chocolate." Boomer complimented the red-haired girl. He half-jokingly thought that Blossom is litteral wife-material to make this hot chocolate.

"I'd like to take credit but Buttercup made that hot chocolate." Boomer immediately choked when Blossom revealed the maker of his drink. Blossom giggled as Boomer tried to stop coughing,and at the same time regaining his dignity.

"Buttercup...made...this?!" Boomer pointed towards the drink, as he realized that he had just called Buttercup wife-material thanks to this hot chocolate.

"Yeah,she's the best cook in the house." Blossom said as a matter of fact.

 _Oh_ _yeah, I saw her cook before,_ Boomer remembered that he had tasted her cooking in his dreams,but he attributed the taste to something within the dream.

"It is odd how she picked up cooking actually." Blossom leaned back on her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"Sounds like a real long story,and I got the time." Boomer moved the chair closer to Blossom as his interest in the story grew.

"Well, it happened when..." Blossom paused and looked at the door. Boomer on the other hand knew exactly what is going on,and he got up and walked towards Blossom.

"I'll hide in this wardrobe while Buttercup's around." The sand-blonde boy puts the cup of hot chocolate on Blossom's table before moving towards the coat hangar and take his coat.

"Hold on you-" Blossom wanted to say something before Boomer opened the door to the wardrobe and hid himself in the wardrobe. Just as the door to the wardrobe closes, the door to the Powerpuff Girls' room opened up.

"Huh...where is that thing anyway?" A dark-haired girl with green highlights in her hair entered the room wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with a insignia of guns wrapped by the vines of roses and matching black sweat pants.

"Buttercup,what's up?" Blossom voiced her surprise.

"Just looking for something of mine. Don't mind me." Buttercup said as she started scrounging around in search of an item that Blossom is clueless about.

"Maybe it's downstairs."Blossom suggested and swallowed as she looked at Buttercup searching her room with unease.

"Maybe it is in my wardrobe." Buttercup shrugged before moving on towards the wardrobe next to Blossom's bed. Blossom got up from her chair, but she is not quick enough to stop her sister from opening the wardrobe.

 _Oh no_ _Buttercup, don't open the-,_ Blossom watched in horror as her sister opened the wardrobe door.

* * *

 _Oh shit,this is not Blossom's wardrobe._

Boomer turned pale as he realized that the wardrobe he hand name just entered into looked nothing like what Blossom would wear. The sporty shirts, sweatpants, halterbacks and various boyish clothes revealed the nature of their owner and Boomer cursed inside his make it worse, his sensitive nose is picking up on the unique scent of the lime green-eyed Powerpuff Girl. Being trapped in a confined space with the smell only serve to make Boomer particularly started to have an inkling of how Blossom must have felt when she is hidden in his wardrobe.

"Huh...where is that thing anyway?" Boomer heard the familiar voice of the husky Powerpuff Girl and decided to wear his coat at the same time as he heard the sound of ruffling cloth and sounds of items being moved around. Boomer is perhaps the most proficient in concealing his tracks befitting his role as the Rowdyruff Boys' scout, but even then having to hide in a wardrobe and have nowhere else to go is an almost impossible challenge.

"Buttercup,what's up?" The gentle and clearer voice of Buttercup's well- mannered mannered sister is heard, and he sensed a tinge of uncertainty in the otherwise strong and proud character.

"Just looking for something of mine. Don't mind me." Buttercup said politely as Boomer heard Buttercup's footsteps moving closer towards the wardrobe. Boomer muttered in his mind that Buttercup will not open the wardrobe as the footsteps drew closer to him.

 _Please don't check the wardrobe, please don't check the wardrobe, please don't check the wardrobe_

"Maybe it is in my wardrobe."

 _Son of a-_

Boomer had to do something drastic, and he had to do it fast. Boomer had just the tool for the job.

* * *

Blossom is mentally prepared to see Buttercup ripping Boomer apart once he is spotted, but she is not mentally prepared for what comes next.

"Hm...let's see here..." Buttercup is now looking inside the wardrobe and Blossom did not see the presence of the Rowdyruff Boy at all. Blossom kept her shock in silence as she walked up towards the wardrobe. True to what she is seeing with her eyes, Boomer is no longer in the wardrobe. Meanwhile Buttercup is still looking inside the wardrobe for the item she wanted to find.

"So...need any help?" Blossom asked as she looked upwards to see if the Rowdyruff Boy is hiding above the wardrobe, but she saw no one.

"Nah, I'm good Blossom. Looks like it's not here either."

"What are you looking for anyway Buttercup?"

"I'm looking for my blankie actually. You know, the light green one."

"You still kept that?" Blossom raised an eyebrow as she faced her sister.

"Yeah, I still do. It does make me a little more confident from time to time, and it is a warm blanket for a cold night like this." Buttercup bend down a little to dig through her belongings in order to find what she is looking for.

"Huh...I-" Blossom soon noticed a subtle distortion floating above Buttercup's shoulders from the corner of her eye and she subtly turned her head around to see a man-shaped distortion in the air, similar to a heat haze landing right behind Buttercup. Blossom is visibly impressed by Boomer once more as she discovered his ability. Buttercup got up as she noticed her sister's sudden silence and noticed Blossom looking at the direction of Buttercup's corner of the room. To her delight, Buttercup noticed the green blanket jutting out from one of her mixed martial arts gear.

"You've found it Blossom, nice!" Buttercup gave Blossom a pat on her shoulder and moved towards the direction of her blanket. Unbeknownst to her, she is able to bump into Boomer.

 _Oh no_ , Blossom frantically try to figure out how to stall her sister and looked around for something to use.

Fortunately, Blossom's eyes noticed a baseball beside her, and she picked up the ball and started calculating in her mind on how to make an 'accident' as 'naturally' as possible. Imaginary figures soon started to flow around her and diagrams of triangulation formed before her. Blossom soon found her answer and she rolled ithe ball with a particular twist of her wrist on the ground. The baseball soon started to roll in a rather impossible curve, more akin to a triangle, and it soon stopped right where Buttercup is landing her foot on the ground.

"HOLY SH-" Buttercup stepped on the ball and she slipped backwards, but the dark-haired girl managed to levitate just inches from the ground.

"Buttercup!" Blossom feigned concern and got closer to her sister. Buttercup levitated high and soon noticed a baseball on the floor.

"Damn baseball." Buttercup cursed.

"You should really clean up your room y'know." Blossom advised, despite knowing well that she is the architect of Buttercup's accident.

"Yeah...you're right." Buttercup relented and gave a sigh.

However, Blossom's attention is no longer on Buttercup.

Blossom noticed that Boomer is now hovering above them, and despite the light warping around him in such a manner that the surface behind him are visible through him, Blossom can see him pointing towards the corner of the room where Buttercup is looking at. Blossom immediately sprang into action and walked towards the mess, and after a few moments she saw the blanket. Blossom pulled the blanket out before returning to her sister.

"Here you go." Blossom offered her sister what she is looking for, and Buttercup took the blanket.

"Thanks. Anyway, sorry to bother ya." Buttercup apologized before she hovered towards the door.

Blossom watched as Buttercup opened the door and closed the door behind her. Once Buttercup had exited the room, Blossom immediately turned her attention towards the near-invisible Rowdyruff Boy. A sound of fingers snapping is heard and Blossom felt a sudden discharge in the air as she saw Boomer materializing before her eyes with a grin on his face.

"Never knew that you're such a devious person Blossom." Boomer hovered down before finally touching down on the floor with his feet.

"Never knew you could turn invisible." Blossom replied back.

"Comes with the-" Boomer went silent and Blossom wondered why the talkative Rowdyruff Boy turned silent. The Rowdyruff Boy slowly cloaked himself invisible and the door to their room opened up to show Bubbles entering into the room. Bubbles is wearing a baby blue one-piece night gown and her golden platinum blonde hair is let loose to flow freely on her shoulders.

 _Wow...she's cute_ , Boomer thought as he saw Bubbles.

"Oh hi Bubbles, what's up?" Blossom asked her sister.

"Just coming up here to get one of my _manga_. Won't take long." Bubbles walked past Blossom and heads towards her desk. Blossom watched as her sister took her time looking for her graphic novel while keeping an eye out for-

 _Where is Boomer now?_

Blossom's eyes started to scan around the room to find the invisible Rowdyruff Boy, only to realize that he is invisible in the first place. Blossom turned her vision to the infrared spectrum and she spotted Boomer hovering beside Bubbles. Boomer appeared to be fascinated by the choices of Japanese graphic novels that the blonde Powerpuff Girl possessed in her collection, but Blossom is not able to warn either one of the blue-hued superhumans of their actions.

"Aha! Got it!" Bubbles exclaimed as she pulled out a graphic novel with the design of a particularly androgynous character with blonde hair and blue eyes dressed in what appeared to be a red-hued Arabic clothing and a red turban that is far too large for his head.

 _Shoukoku no Altair_ , Boomer read the title in his mind as he hovered towards Blossom's side.

"Okay, you got what you're looking for. Now can I go back on doing my homework?" Blossom implored her sister to leave the room. Bubbles looked around the room for a second, and she smiled innocently at her sister.

"Okie dokie!" Bubbles said joyfully and winked at Blossom before she hovered out from the room. The door soon closes once more and Blossom breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright that should be-" Blossom's sentence was cut off by the sudden intrusion of a square-jawed man in a blue pajamas with white stripes.

"Blossom, have you completed your homewor-"

Professor Utonium is answered by a stare that froze his blood far colder than the weather outside the Utonium Residence. Professor Utonium voiced out a silent 'Oh' and sheepishly closed the door. Blossom sighed while shaking her head, and Boomer can sense her frustration emanating from her body. Blossom walked towards her study table and pulled the chair closer to her before leaning back on the chair. Boomer is not sure if it is time for him to leave until Blossom voiced out her intent.

"You can stay, but don't do anything stupid while I'm studying." Blossom warned Boomer as she turned her chair around to face her study table.

"Okay." Boomer hovered towards Blossom and took the hot chocolate on Blossom's study table before finally taking a seat on Buttercup's chair. Boomer took out his hoodie and hung it at the back of the chair before he sipped on the amazing hot chocolate.

* * *

Time passed slowly as Boomer watched Blossom study, the silence punctuated by moments where Blossom flipped the pages of her textbooks and the sound of a scribbling pen on a notebook. Boomer watched silently and admired Blossom's focus and drive as she studied, for he can see her great determination and discipline in action before his eyes. There is also something else that Boomer noticed as Blossom continued on with her studies; Blossom is truly enjoying her time studying.

"You really do love studying huh?" Boomer asked Blossom innocently, breaking the silence.

"I study because that is what makes me human." Blossom lean back up and her rose-colored eyes are piercing and resolute.

"Human?"

"For starters, I rarely got time for myself. Everyone's always looking up to me or asking me for advice. Being the responsible one, things tend to get piled on me."

"That sucks." Boomer empathized with her as he can only imagine how annoying it is to be courted all the time with responsibility.

"Then there's the part of being a superheroine. Everyday, there will always be fighting crime and the forces of evil and that is very tiring. Sometimes I just want to be normal and being challenged in a way. That's why I like doing homework; it keeps me focused and that is very relaxing and nice. Things have a particular rule and yet there is always some variation."

"But...aren't the stuff we're studying...boring and dull for you? I mean you're a genius and all..." Boomer asked, trying to understand why she is willing to do work that would otherwise be solved within seconds by someone of Blossom's caliber.

"On the contrary, it is nice to have something far simpler to solve at times. Sometimes the world needs to be simpler you know?" Blossom said with a tinge of sadness in her voice as she scribbled her note on the paper.

This is a voice filled with a great burden and it does not belong to such a young woman, and Boomer is familiar with Blossom's tone. It is almost similar to Brick's own voice, and the chains of commanding surrounding Blossom are obvious for Boomer to see. A person that needs to be firm and resolute in the face of an unforgiving and ungrateful world. Yet, Brick and Blossom are two entirely different leaders with different issues. Where Brick is haunted by the demons within himself, Blossom is tormented by the demons without. But the thing about Blossom is that she is far too proud to admit that there is a problem of having to adhere to so many people's expectations, since she is often considered as the element of 'everything nice'.

Looks like he'll have to start somewhere.

"What's the most annoying thing that the city folks of Townsville ever did to you?" Blossom froze as she heard Boomer's question.

"Come again?" Blossom asked as she turned around to face him.

"Well, I mean...you can never love these bunch of people all the time right? Sounds like they're a pain in the ass to be honest." Boomer's comment drew a chuckle from Blossom, and Boomer knew that he is on the right track.

"Yes, they can be a pain in the butt." Blossom agreed.

"So...What's the most annoying thing they've ever done? I'm all ears." Boomer assured Blossom once he noticed her initial hesitation.

"Well, there was this one time where Townsville had grown so reliant on us that they are essentially calling our help for every single thing. So we decided to leave them to their own devices. That in hindsight is one of the worst ideas we've ever came up with."

"Go on." Boomer encouraged Blossom, and soon Blossom started to speak more openly to Boomer.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.00pm]

Boomer had never seen Blossom being so relaxed before around anyone and seeing her willing to show that side of herself to him is a privilege. Boomer is surprised on how adorable and dorky the commander and leader of the Powerpuff Girls truly is. In turn, Blossom is surprised by how Boomer is a surprisingly good listener and had given some particularly good advice for her situation. It is also refreshing to also get an opinion from the opposite sex, for Blossom's usual confidants are Robin and her sisters and they are all girls.

 _"_ Anyway Cherry, your sisters are coming up. I'll need to leave." Boomer informed Blossom.

"Sorry, what did you call me?" Blossom raised her eyebrow as she realized that she had just received a new nickname.

"Oh...um...I never had a nickname with you before...and um...you have pink eyes and...you have a nice personality...so...um...yeah." Boomer wanted to given Blossom his reason but he realized that he is not even sure why he called her 'Cherry'. Blossom smiled as she stood up and walked towards the window. Both Blossom and Boomer noticed that the snowstorm had stopped during the time they talked to each other.

"You know Boomer, that's a really sweet one. Usually the monsters, creeps and crooks slap the bad ones on me." Blossom assured Boomer with a surprisingly sweet smile as she opened the window.

"Well glad to be the crook that gave you a sweet one." Boomer joked with Blossom as he wore his coat.

"You're an ex-crook." Blossom reiterated, causing Boomer to chuckle.

"Heh, at least someone thinks I'm an ex-crook. Anyway, we should hang out more." Boomer suggested to Blossom as he started to hover towards the window.

"Yeah, we should. But not in someone's room." Blossom informed Boomer, and Boomer chuckled.

"You started it first. Anyway, good night." Boomer placed the cup on Blossom's table before he flew out from the room in a bolt of cobalt blue lightning. Blossom shook her head as she close the window. Just as Blossom closed the window shut, the door to the bedroom opened and both Bubbles and Buttercup entered in.

"Man...that show is intense!" Buttercup uttered out loud as she floated towards her corner of the room.

"It is really intense." Bubbles agreed with her sister as she too hovered back to her side of the room.

"Alright, looks like it is time for us to get to bed." Blossom commented as she turn off the lamp on her table. Just as Blossom is hovering towards the switches to turn off the light, Bubbles hovered close to her sister.

"I would suggest that both Boomer and yourself should hang out at the tea house between 82nd Street and Montgomery Street." Bubbles whispered to Blossom as she heads to her bed. Blossom immediately turned around with a shocked expression, but Bubbles replied by winking to her sister.


	79. Chapter 79: A Night In Walmart

Chapter 79: A Night in Walmart

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Riddle me this; what is the best, or for the matter, worst way in which this city heralds the coming of winter?_ _By having a stupidly cold night that fool people into believing that is is winter!_

 _Sorry, bad joke on my part._

 _Anyway..._

 _The citizens of Townsville is staying in for today due to the cold weather. From the good,law-abiding folks to the dregs of the underworld,no one is interested to even go out in this particularly strong autumn winds blowing over Townsville. But this is precisely why it is a good time for the_ _Utonium Household as they can relax and enjoy the break from the realities of life and just enjoy the company of family. That and school is closed due to the bad weather._

 _Let's look into the Utonium's home and see what they are up to._

* * *

[Utonium Household, Suburban Townsville, 6.30pm]

"The President of the United States of America had called for a national emergency on the fight against organized crime, and the bill is passed in Congress with bipartisan support. However, as winter closed in, the lull in the overt criminal activities of the group known as the Lunatics had caused alarm among experts in the-"

"Is there anything we can watch that is not depressing?" Buttercup groaned as she turned off the television. The dark-haired girl is sitting down on the floor, dressed in a white t-shirt with a lemon printed on the shirt and long lime green sweatpants that matched her lime-green eyes.

"Well,there's always Netflix. We can always watch stand-up comedies." Buttercup looked up to see a golden platinum blonde girl with shoulder-length hair let loose and resting on the back of her light blue shirt that matched the color of her eyes. The teenager is now sitting cross-legged on the sofa while taking a sip of hot chocolate.

"You've got a point there Bubbs. Kevin Hart or Fluffy?" Buttercup asked her blonde sister. However before her blonde sister can answer, another voice cut into the conversation.

"Perhaps we can watch a documentary." Buttercup turned her head to the left and saw a slender young woman with a fiery knee-length copper hair in a white shirt with rose-checkered long sleeves and matching rose-checkered long pants. The young woman noticed with her rose-colored eyes that her sisters are looking at her with a rather deadpan look.

"Are you serious Blossom?" Buttercup asked as if the idea of watching a documentary is the most incredulous thing in the world.

"Well, she is far too serious for her own good. Can't blame her." Bubbles reasoned, and Blossom is visibly not pleased.

"Documentaries can be fun too you know." Blossom crossed her arm as she answered them. Bubbles and Buttercup can see that she is also being crossed.

"Hm...let's see. How about Hasan Minhaj? He's educational and he's funny." The girls turned towards the source of voice and they saw a square-jawed man dressed in a rather tacky striped sweater with red, white, and green with a forest green pants. The girls all winced at the clothing choice of their father.

"Professor...that's bad. So bad." Buttercup's expression contorted with disapproval.

"Girls, we can agree to disagree and-"

"We can't possible let anyone see you in that!" Bubbles pointed at the professor's outfit like it is an abomination.

Professor Utonium turned towards his only daughter that can see things reasonably, but instead he was greeted by the sight of Blossom looking away. Professor Utonium rolled his eyes as he realized that he is living with three overly dramatic teenage superheroines. They may be his darling daughters, but sometimes he had wished that they could just say their opinions in a nicer way. But being their father, he knew how he can have the last laugh.

"Well, I wanted to go out and get our groceries for tonight and let you girls rest at home, but since you don't want anyone to see me wearing this...I believe that you girls will be going out instead. And no buts, since we will not have anything for the rest of the week." Professor Utonium grinned as the three Powerpuff Girls were stunned by what he did to them.

* * *

[Walmart, Suburban Townsville, 7.00pm]

"This sucks." Buttercup voiced her displeasure as she felt the cold winds blowing on her face. The Powerpuff Girl is dressed in a dark grey jacket, over a green and white striped telsyanka. Buttercup had opted for the hood of the jacket to be draped over her head while having a checkered shemagh scarf wrapped around her neck. To complete her look,Buttercup opted for a jet-black black trousers and matching boots.

"How I wished I didn't say that line." Bubbles said miserably. Despite the blowing winds, the girls are able to hear each other as they speak. Bubbles is clad in a cozy light blue coat over an off-white sweater, with light beige pants and light brown boots. A baby blue winter cap covered her head and her hair, while a ice-blue scarf wrapped around her neck to keep her warm.

"Well girls,we did fall into it." Blossom 's choice of clothing reflected her pragmatic approach to her physiology. Blossom hated flying in cold weathers because if often had bad effects on her long hair. That is also the reason why she is wearing a light pink knee-length trench coat that acts as a protective layer for her hair when she is in flight. She had also tied her hair in a long braid and secured it with a network of ribbons order to not let her hair run loose in the blistering cold winds. With her off-white sweater and scarf, black pants and dark brown leather boots,she is dressed in both a pragmatic and also fashionable manner.

"Well, let's just get the groceries done and fly back as soon as possible. There's the Walmart." Buttercup pointed towards the large building and the Powerpuff Girls started descending. Their landing at the entrance of the Walmart is dull and uneventful event, and they soon made their way into the hypermarket. The girls simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief as the warmth of the interior is a pleasant sensation after a flight through the blistering cold.

"I like the warmth in this place." Bubbles voiced out her relief.

"So...what the list again?" Buttercup asked as Blossom took out the grocery list.

"Well let's see here...we'll need some cereal, breads, veggies and...Yikes!" Blossom was focused so much on the list that she failed to see a person in front of her and bumped into the person.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that and-" Blossom stopped once the person that she bumped into turned towards her.

"Pinkie?"

"Butch?"

Butch is clad in an olive green military-styled jacket with light brown fur on the rims of the hood and flowing camo pattern with blood brown-like streams and patches of olive green over a khaki background and a khaki-colored combat boots. Butch's partially unzipped jacket revealed a pure black turtleneck which matched well with his overall outfit (oddly enough).

"Bloss are you-oh, it's you." Buttercup noticed the presence of the particularly tall Rowdyruff Boy.

"Nice shirt you got there." Butch complimented Buttercup, which caught the green-eyed Powerpuff Girl by surprise.

"Thanks. Nice getup you have there." Buttercup returned the compliment, and Butch acknowledged her compliments by giving her a small smile.

"What are you doing here Butch?" Bubbles asked the green-eyed Rowdyruff Boy, only for her to be greeted with a tone that best resembled a passive-aggressive response.

"Here with the rest of the family. They're inside doing the shopping, and I decided to just hang around."

Every since the dream world incident, Butch had been more amicable to the Powerpuff Girls, but his base personality of being a combative person had expressed itself subconsciously as he interacted with the Powerpuff Girls; verbally with Blossom, emotionally with Bubbles and physically with Buttercup. The girls had decided that it will take time for Butch to interact with them normally but so far it has been the best it has ever been between Butch and the Powerpuff Girls.

"Anyway, we're off doing our groceries. See ya around." Buttercup waved at Butch before walking past him, followed shortly by Blossom. Just as Bubbles was about to follow suit, she was stopped in her tracks by Butch's voice.

"Cutie, I need to talk to you. Why don't we do it over coffee over there?" Butch gestured at the cafe with the pointing of his head, and Bubbles looked at her sisters as they turned back to see Butch and Bubbles looking back at them.

"Need to borrow your sis for a moment. Don't worry, I ain't gonna do anything bad. Just wanted to talk." Butch spoke to the other two Powerpuff Girls.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at each other for a moment before they faced their golden-haired sister once more. Bubbles nodded, reassuring her sisters that it will be alright. Seeing that Bubbles is comfortable with the arrangement, both Blossom and Buttercup nodded back before moving on towards the shopping aisles. Bubbles turned her attention towards Butch once more, and Butch gave Bubbles a shrug. Butch walked ahead towards the cafe and Bubbles followed closely behind.

"What do you want?" Butch asked, and Bubbles was slightly taken aback by his rather rough manner of asking her what she wants to drink.

"A latte is much appreciated."

"Alright, take a seat. I'll get the coffee." Butch beckoned her to take a seat before he moved towards the counter.

Bubbles took a seat as she watched Butch making the orders. Alone among the Powerpuff Girls, Bubbles find it very hard to communicate with Butch as they had nothing in common at all. Not to mention that for some inexplicable reason, she is the only one that Butch dislike the most. Blossom may bicker with Butch the most, but Butch at least enjoyed the moments that he had while he bickered with the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl. Buttercup on the other hand had earned Butch's respect and the feeling is mutual enough that they had perhaps the best sort of relationship among the same-colored pairing of the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys. Bubbles watched as Butch took the coffee on a tray and started walking towards her, and it is odd to see that he had bought her coffee despite his dislike of her.

"Here you go." Butch took the cappuccino and put the drink in front of Bubbles. Bubbles noticed that the Rowdyruff Boy had taken a chamomile tea instead. Butch had also gotten a chocolate brownie and he pushed it towards Bubbles.

"Thanks, and how much is-"

"It's okay, it's on me." Butch responded as he took a seat and the conversation stopped right there and then.

Bubbles watched on as Butch took the bag and moved it up and down, allowing the tea to infuse itself with the hot water. Bubbles took her cup of coffee up and noticed that the latte has an art of a fern on it. Bubbles blew lightly on the surface of the latte before she took a sip. An awkward silence soon descended on the two superhumans and they both continued on sipping on their beverage.

"You know Bubbles, I hated what you did." Butch finally spoke and Bubbles saw that the jade-green eyes are now staring at her.

"Huh?" Bubbles did not even expect the line of accusation that Butch threw at her. Butch continued on after seeing Bubbles' perplexed expression.

"No, let me start from the beginning. At the time, I thought that my brothers are turning weak by being friendly with you girls and I hated that. I had no one but my brothers, and seeing them leaving me made me more bitter. Then you hopped in and kissed my brother." Bubbles blushed as she discovered that there are even more spectators to that particular incident.

"I was pissed...no, I was _enraged_. Him saw that moment of weakness, and I was trapped in my own nightmares." Butch took a deep breath before he lets out a long sigh. Bubbles watched in silence as she listened to what Butch had to say. Something in Bubbles suggested that she continued on listening.

"Pulled everyone in my issues...and...yeah...I need to say I'm sorry." Bubbles was taken aback by Butch's apology, as he appeared to not be a person that apologized easily.

"It's okay...you're not aware of what you did." Bubbles assured him, but Butch shook his head.

"No...I allowed it to happen. Could have tried resisting it, but I allowed my hate for your actions, my hate for my brothers' ability to move on, and my hate over myself to take over me. But if it weren't for you girls, I will be the end of everyone I cared about." Butch chuckled, but Bubbles knew that he is still hurting inside.

"No...we didn't get your brothers out. You did." Bubbles answered Butch, and Butch raised an eyebrow.

"No, I don't think so." Butch replied, but Butch saw Bubbles shaking her head.

"We may help, but the choice has always been yours. If you chose otherwise, it will be a different story altogether. It's gonna be a long walk down the road, but at least you have started the first steps." Bubbles smiled and her smile had a soothing effect on Butch's mind.

"Heh...I guess I did." Butch gave a thin smile before taking a sip of tea.

"Also I think it helps that you are comfortable enough with Blossom for you to accept her help." Bubbles' comment caused Butch to choke on his tea. It took a while for Butch to stop coughing, and Bubbles is giggling at Butch's misfortune.

"Wait, hold on a sec. I _do not_ like her." Butch said hoarsely, not pleased at Bubbles giggling at him choking on the tea.

"I never said you liked her, I just said that you are comfortable with her. Anyway, Blossom's a little stiff when it comes to the opposite sex, so you're doing a good job of loosening her up." Bubbles gave a particularly mischievous smirk, and Butch had no defenses against Bubbles. Butch had fallen into the pig-tailed Powerpuff Girl's verbal trap, and he cursed himself over his limited vocabulary.

"Outwitted by the blonde...this sucks." Bubbles did not take any offense to Butch's insult. Instead, she took a sip of her latte and looked at him with her zircon-blue eyes.

"Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." Bubbles replied with a wink.

"Still, whatever you're doing...Brick's more tolerable now thanks to you. Keep up the good work." Bubbles raised her eyebrow at Butch's comment, and she was about to say something when she noticed that Butch's eyes are genuinely grateful and devoid of any dislike of her. Butch's consent put a genuine smile on Bubbles' face, and she took another sip of coffee.

"No problem, glad to help."

"Still, I think your a bitch in sheep's clothing. So don't think I-."

"You're." Bubbles corrected Butch.

"Hate your ass right now."

"Likewise." Bubbles gave Butch a rather sweet and disarming smile, but Butch knew that it was laced with something else. But at least they both are on the same page in terms of how they felt about each other and also Brick.

* * *

[Walmart, Suburban Townsville, 7.15pm]

"Let's see...I'll need to get some liver for the guys."

A young teenage boy wearing a dark red shirt over a black turtleneck looked at his list of things to buy at the hypermarket as he ventured into the meat department of the hypermarket. Hanging on his arm is a folded black coat, that matched the color of his pants and shoes. Brick looked left and right and his braided carnelian hair moved along with the motions of his head.

"How much is too much though?" Brick asked himself as he looked around the sea of meats. It is never an easy task to shop for meats when it comes to the Rowdyruff Boys, for their consumption of meats are much higher than the average person. Fortunately, their past lives as mercenaries and Brick's investment efforts had allowed the boys to sustain their lifestyles comfortably.

 _Wait...isn't that?_

Amidst the sea of red meats, he noticed a particular red-haired girl in a off-white long-sleeved shirt with a folded pink trench coat on one of her arms staring at the offals section. Brick had never seen Blossom braided her hair before, and the sight is a particularly pleasing sight. At the same time, he found it particularly odd, as it is very similar to how he braided his hair and Blossom almost looked like him. Of course, given their similar origins it is not a surprise that the boys came out the same as the girls. Indeed, it is fair to say that the boys took after the girls.

Something in Brick sparked him to just sneak up on the red-haired Powerpuff Girl and see what her response will be. Brick hovered slowly towards Blossom, and as he edged closer he is surprised by how easy he crept up on her. A Powerpuff Girl should have superhuman senses and would have heard him a mile away, but yet that is not the case. Brick stopped just inches away from Blossom.

 _Wow...she's utterly defenseless,_ Brick commented in his mind as he pondered on what he wanted to do. Brick had never managed to sneak up to Blossom when they were kids, and this particular situation is a very interesting for Brick. A thought popped in his mind, and a devilish smile crept up on his face. Buttercup did advice him to not think too much and let it be.

 _Well...,_ Brick took out his phone and started to record the video of what is about to happen next.

"BRAINS!" Brick roared and pushed her lightly, causing Blossom to scream and jumped towards the trays of meat. Brick immediately broke out in a laughter as the red-headed Powerpuff Girl got out from the meat aisle and turned around to face the Rowdyruff Boy with a face reddened with both anger and embarrassment.

"That's...just...awesome...hahahahahaha!" Brick continued on guffawing to his heart content as the Powerpuff Girl stared at him.

Blossom watched Brick laughing for a moment before she noticed that she had no recollection of when Brick last laughed his heart out. Her last memory of Brick laughing hysterically is when they had their final fight when they were eight years old. Ever since the boys returned to their lives she had see Brick as a particularly dour and brooding character. That almost extinguished the anger she had at him, for she wondered what he had gone through for him to lose his sense of humor. Still that is no reason for her to forgive him for his noticed that Blossom is visibly pissed at him, and he started to bolt from her knowing that she will give chase. True to his prediction, Blossom started chasing after him. Brick knew that his actions will end up with him being in trouble, but the trouble's worth the priceless expression on Blossom's face.

"Come back here!" Blossom cried out as she chased after the red-haired teenage boy.

"So worth it!" Brick yelled out while laughing.

* * *

[Walmart, Suburban Townsville, 7.20pm]

"Get back here you red-haired devil!"

"Not if you catch me first you pink-eyed hamster!"

Lilith and Boomer heard a particularly noisy commotion going on at the meat department as they were looking around in the seafood department. Boomer shrugged as he focused his attention on the slabs of salmon meat.

"What the heck is that?"

"Meh...Brick decided to pull a prank on Blossom and now Blossom is chasing after him."

"You know this how?" Lilith asked, only for Boomer to point to his ears.

"Ah." Lilith recalled that Boomer's senses are perhaps the most sensitive among his brothers and he is able to pick up on the most subtle things. This is also why Boomer tend to be the one that does the groceries,as he is able to discern the freshness of a product on a whole different level than most living beings.

However despite Boomer's superior senses Boomer's sense did not pick up on a presence of a particular light green-eyed girl with dark hair appearing before Lilith and Boomer with a shopping cart filled with groceries.

"Heya Miss Morningstar." Boomer's eyes trailed towards the direction of the Powerpuff Girl and he is pleasantly surprised by her presence in the hypermarket.

"Hello Buttercup, it is nice to see you here. Shopping for groceries?" Lilith asked the Powerpuff Girl. The jet-black haired girl nodded her head before she replied.

"Yeah, here with my sisters. But it seems that my sisters are preoccupied with Boomer's brothers." Buttercup shrugged as another wave of yelling was heard.

"Sounds like they are a bunch of 8-year olds." Boomer pointed out, causing Buttercup to shrug.

"When Blossom let loose, she really put no stops on it." Buttercup gave a shake of her head while smiling.

"Yeah and-Are you looking for sardines?" Boomer asked Buttercup.

"Yeah...but...how?" Buttercup wondered how he knew about what she is shopping for.

"Smelled the ingredients that you had so far and looked like you are going to make the same bunch of dishes that you made while we are in the dream world." Boomer reminded Buttercup of the meal that was prepared in her time in his dream world,and she looked away, not wanting to show Boomer her expression.

Buttercup and Boomer looked away and a rather awkward silence soon grew between them. It has been quite a while since they had interacted with each other and both had instinctively gave each other some space. The memory of being trapped in the dream world is still fresh in their minds, and both were shaken from their experience. Buttercup in particular was shaken due to being trapped for far 'longer' than her sisters in the dream world and had essentially survived alone for what appeared to be almost a year in Boomer's dreams. However, the reason why Buttercup did not speak to Boomer is not because she hated him for her time in his dreams; Buttercup did not speak to Boomer because she is reluctant to admit to herself that she was weak without her sisters. Lastly, Boomer had admitted to her that he saw her as an unstable factor in his life.

That made Buttercup unsure of what she had to do with Boomer.

In turn Boomer had felt a great amount of guilt as well for subjecting her to this cruel and unusual punishment, and he wanted to apologize to her. However, Boomer had to reluctantly admit that he did not have the courage to express his apologies to Buttercup. Boomer is also rather uncomfortable that he had admitted to Buttercup while they were in the dream world that he saw her as something else. More than a friend, but at the same time he is not ready to know what is that step. He had admitted to her that Buttercup made him uncomfortable in a way that defies his understanding of the world.

That made Boomer unsure of what he had to do with Buttercup.

"Ahem...Boomer, Why don't you help Buttercup find her sardines? I will go and get the vegetables alright?" Boomer wanted to say something to Lilith, but he was a few seconds too late as Lilith gave Boomer a thumbs up before excusing herself to the vegetable section.

"Huh...just a little surprised about how willing she is to leave us alone. If it is the professor, he will not leave me alone with any boy and he would be staring daggers at us right about now. " Buttercup scratched her head as her body expression showed her difficulty in continuing the conversation.

"Guess everyone's different huh?" Boomer said rather nervously, knowing well that he had no idea what he needs to say in this situation. Boomer watched the peridot-eyed Powerpuff Girl for any cues to continue on with the conversation, while mimicking Buttercup's head-scratching by instinct.

"For a second there, I thought she was trying to pair us up or something, but I guess she's just being really nice." Buttercup chuckled nervously.

"Ship us? Naw, you're thinking too much!" Boomer laughed nervously as well.

That is of course a lie.

Ever since their dream world experience, Lilith had asked the boys on how they felt about the girls in private. Lilith had told them that thanks to Professor Utonium's invention, she had managed to see how they interacted with the Powerpuff Girls and she saw something particularly interesting between the boys and girls. No one actually said anything about what they truly thought of the Powerpuff Girls,but somehow it had given Lilith a particular interested in their interactions. It did not matter what the pairings are,or whether they had any interest with each other; Lilith wanted to match them somehow.

 _Everyone needs to start somewhere_ , Boomer remembered what Lilith said when she talked to the boys about having relationships.

"So...if you don't mind...could you help me with the sardines?" Buttercup asked with a small smile and mustering the courage to ask Boomer, which made Boomer a little brighter inside.

"Sure...but in return I would like to try out that Sicilian pasta that you'll make." Boomer grinned as he extended his arm in a handshake, catching Buttercup off-guard for a moment before she reconstitute herself.

"Alright...that's a deal." Buttercup graciously extended her hand and shake the Rowdyruff Boy's hand.

From behind one of the vegetable aisle, Lilith pumped a fist as she watched Boomer and Buttercup.

* * *

[Walmart, Suburban Townsville, 8.30pm]

Two figures entered into the Walmart; a large, burly man and a slender, petite woman. The man is clad in a long dark grey trench coat with a matching dark gray fedora and face mask.. In comparison, the slender woman is wearing a dark brown coat that matched the color of her long, waist-length braided hair with a black beret covering her head. A matching black scarf covered the bottom half of her face while her eyes are covered by aviator sunglasses.

"So. What are we suppose to get here?" The man spoke with a particularly thick accent, which was further exacerbated by the mask he is wearing.

"It is nice to be warm no?" The woman spoke a beautifully accented voice, her accent having an elegant and poise element to it.

"No point being here if nothing to do." The man answered curtly.

"Not even for a hot cup of tea?" The woman suggested. The man stood in silence for a moment and seeing that there is no particular answer from the man, the woman walked towards the cafe. The large man followed suit.

As they entered the cafe, the two individuals noticed the presence of two particular individuals sitting in the cafe enjoying their drink. One of them is a young charcoal-haired teenage boy with a dark green hairband with jade-green eyes clad in a black turtleneck with a rather distinctively patterned camouflaged pants, while the other is a young straw golden pigtailed teenage girl wearing an off-white sweater and light beige pants.

"Are those-?" The man was about to point towards the two individuals before the woman elbowed the man at the hip.

"Do not point. Do not engage. Do not make a scene." The woman instructed the man, and the man nodded. Both individuals made it towards the counter and they were about to place their order when a loud screaming distracted the individuals and the cashier. The two individuals saw two blurs of red rolling in front of the cafe, and as they watched the blurs became blurs no more.

"GOTCHA!" A young slender teenage girl with braided rich,fiery copper red hair sitting on a boy with a similarly braided crimson red ombre-haired boy wearing a dark red shirt over a black turtleneck while pulling his arm back in a submission hold.

"Alright, alright babe, you got me." The young red-haired boy answered her, expressing no fear in his voice.

"Don't you call me babe!" The young woman barked back, causing the young boy to laugh confidently.

"Brick? What the hell?" The jet-black teenager stood up to his full height and walked towards the red-haired individuals, with the blonde female following shortly behind him. The man and the woman watched as the teenagers started to converse with each other.

"Oh heya Butch..." The red-haired boy called out to the black-haired boy.

"Blossom! What in heaven's name just happened?" The blonde girl asked, her inquiry directed towards the red-haired girl.

"This idiot scared me and pushed me into the offals aisle!" The copper-haired girl answered angrily.

"And it is so worth it!" The red-haired boy appear to be unrepentant.

"Did you take a video of that happening?" The jade-eyed boy asked.

"Butch!" The girl with the long braided hair is clearly not pleased by the series of events unfolding.

"Whoa! What the hell?" A young androgynous voice expressed its surprise and the brunette woman turned towards the direction of the voice, only to see a sand-blonde teenage boy entering into the scene with a black licorice short-haired girl with neon green highlights. Before long the individuals started to engage in a very animated conversation between them.

"Those Powerpuff Girls sure know how to make a scene." The cashier interrupted the attention of the man and woman with a shrug.

"Apparently so." The burly man answered, expressing his displeasure at the scene.

"Anyway, what would you like for today sir?"

"I take Assam tea and..." The man turned his head towards the woman to ascertain her drink of choice.

"I'll take the Cappucino." The brunette answered.

As the beverages are being made, the woman with the dark brown hair watched the three teenage boys interacting with the teenage girls and noticed that they are particularly animated around the girls. The woman watched as the sand-blonde teenage boy conversed with the peridot-eyed girl and she noticed how they are both laughing at the video that the red-haired boy showed them from his phone. The red-haired girl stared angrily at them while the straw-blonde girl shook her head. The boy with the green hairband said something to the red-haired girl causing her to bicker with the boy. The brunette observed with great interest that despite their vitriolic relationship, the copper-haired girl and the dark-haired boy are apparently closer than it appear. The smile on their face says it all, as it is both bright and genuine.

"Got drink. Time to go." The gruff voice snapped the slender woman's attention away from the teenagers. The woman saw that the man is holding their beverages and one of his hands is held closer to her. The woman took the cup of coffee from his hand and they soon made their way towards the exit. The burly man soon exited the building, leaving the woman all alone. She looked back and took her sunglasses off, revealing her sky-blue eyes. The brown-haired woman pulled down her scarf in order to take a sip of her coffee, revealing a cross-marked scar on one of her cheeks. Once she took a sip of her coffee, she revealed a small smile.

" _Bonne chance, à vous dieu vous bénisse._ " The woman whispered under her breath before turning around and walked out from the hypermarket.


	80. Chapter 80: No Nuts, No Glory

Chapter 80: No Nuts, No Glory

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _The children and teenagers of Townsville are forced once again to school! Even though martial law is in order, but live will still have to go on in this city._

 _Let us take a look at the eminent high school in Townsville, Townsville High! Otherwise known as the highschool with that can boast that they got six superhumans as its students!_

 _Look at the soldiers stationed in front of the school alongside the M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley AFVs parked outside,and look how they tried to put up a brave front! Thought to be fair, I believe that they will be steamrolled by any of the crooks under the Lunatics in this town. The fact is also not lost on the students of Townsville High as they walked past the soldiers._

 _But one of those superhuman student is not attending school today._

 _Who is this student you ask?_

 _Butch._

 _Why is he not attending school?_

 _Well..._

* * *

[The Night Before, Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville,10.00pm]

"Five bucks say that you can't take a fully powered kick to the nuts and be alright." Brick challenged his dark-haired brother.

"Five bucks say that I can take a hit to the nuts and be alright!" Butch did not take kindly to being challenged, and spread his legs.

"This, I _have_ to watch." Boomer turned away from the television and his cobalt blue eyes are watching both his brothers.

Brick has a tendency to challenge anyone to a bet if he wanted to entertain himself, and this time it is no different. Butch, in his infinite 'wisdom', tend to not back down from a challenge. This situation creates a situation where they will inevitably try to see who's nuts is bigger than the other. The challenge may be different, but there is always one outcome from the bet; someone loses. For Boomer, this one is way too obvious. Boomer watched as Brick stood up and did a few practice swings, stopping short of hitting Butch's family jewels.

"Wait...hold up. We need to do this outside. You might fly off to the moon." Brick reasoned.

"That or end up going through the earth to go to the moon in your case." Butch mocked his red-haired brother.

So before long, all three Rowdyruff Boys are now outside the house and Boomer leaned on the wall as he watched his two brothers. Even though they have grown up, but deep down they are just plain stupid little boys with god-like powers.

"Ready?"

"My body's ready. Fire away."

Brick swung his foot backwards as he leaned forward, his head almost reaching his knees while his leg is almost vertical. Boomer noticed that there is a tinge of uncertainty in his blackk-haired brother's eyes as the leg started to pick up speed. Boomer decided that this is honestly the stupidest thing that Butch ever done, and Brick's gonna enjoy every moment of it.

And for that matter, Boomer will enjoy this too. He'll pay five bucks to Brick for this.

But Brick and Boomer are met with an upset as Brick's kick landed with a resounding boom. Butch did not even flinch as the kick met its mark. Brick's jaw opened in shock as he pulled back his leg and Butch patted his brother on the shoulder. Butch then outstretched one arm with his palms facing up in a gesture to inform Brick to pay up. Brick frowned, and he reached for his pocket and slapped the money on Butch's palm. Butch started to walk away from his brother, but Brick decided to give another swing to Butch's balls.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 3.00pm]

And that is how I got my ass stuck at home.

I, Butch, the Baron of Berserk is home alone having to heal me balls from a nut punch. A nut kick actually, but whatever. Same results alright?

Honestly this sucks balls, as I don't even have the energy to even see porn and jerk off. May have won the cash, but that second blow is a real low blow. My balls can only survive one hit by a kick like that, but not twice. Wanted to use my powers, but Brick would had smelled it from a mile away. So I did the best thing I could, take it like a man. But a man can only take so much before he collapse on one knee. Right now, I'm just gonna bite the bullet and get through this shit. Maybe some Netflix will help out in this shitty situation. Seriously, it ain't cool having your balls kicked like that.

I wanted to open my laptop and I realized that all the bloody snacks and stuff are all downstairs.

God damn it.

A man's gotta walk when a man's gotta walk.

So with much pain and annoyance, I walked down the stairs. Walking down the stairs is a bitch, but it sure is better than seeing Netflix on my laptop and then realize that I need some snacks or drinks and crawl my ass up and down. Seriously, Brick's a real sore loser. That second kick doesn't count and he knows it. If I get the chance, I'm gonna kick his balls so hard that it comes out his throat.

One step at a time Butch.

One step at a time Butch.

Seriously, _one_ step at a time.

Seriously, one _fucking_ step at a time.

Dear god, how many fucking steps are there on this damn staircase?

Oh dear god, when will this end?

 _Oh dear god!_

 _OH DEAR GOD!_

Finally! Got my ass down. Now to move to the damn sofa. It was then I noticed that I had always taken the distance for granted, and the distance between the sofa and the damn staircase feels like it was a few hundred fucking miles.

 _Fuck me._

Looks like I got to man up, and take it all like a man. A man with a very bruised set of balls. _Hurting_ set of bruised balls. I swear to God, my day will not get any worse than this. If I have to go to the fucking door for some reason before I go to the sofa I will make sure that whatever it is that-

 _Ding Dong!_

What the fuck? Who the hell's visiting at this hour? Lilith's at work, Boomer's in some stupid singing club. Brick uses the damn window almost all the time, so he will never use the door, let alone ring the damn door. Whoever it is, that person ringing the doorbell is sure making my life a bitching pain in the ass. I took my sweet ass and move it to the door, but I swear to god it felt like forever. And those aching balls!

I saw through the peephole and seriously, I didn't expect this particular visitor to come today. Or ever for that note. There's no mistaking this piece of work. Her black short undercut hair with those green highlights, and those sharp green eyes. That soft angular jaw, full lips, that restive bitch face. That well- muscled but amazing neck. That lean and mean smoking body outline in that dark green hoodie. Those toned legs in those sweatpants. And she got a sling bag that emphasized her tits.

Ah yes, Butterbutt.

Actually she's called Buttercup, but I always call her Butterbutt. My lifelong rival, and a worthy one at that. She's the only one for a long time that can give me the thrill that I look for in a fight, and the only one that can kick my ass before that spiky ass Lunatic came over and impale me with his damn spikes. And now that she's all grown up, she turned out to be one hell of a looker too. Butterbutt has that edgy look that makes her particularly fierce and proud, and she has that overall striking, imposing, rugged but surprisingly soft feminine facial features soften her look and make her particularly good looking.

Seriously, I can see why Boomer's hangs out with her from time to time. One of the guys and yet one of the girl and at the same time cooler than both. And I swear that Boomer got the hots for her or at least has something going down with her. Speaking about going down...Hold on a second. I looked down to check on an important matter before I opened the door. Very important matter.

Alright, important matter checked; thank god I'm wearing my track pants right now. Or pants for that matter.

Time to open that door.

I put my hands on the door handle and when I turned it and pulled on the door, the breeze from the outside air blew for a moment and man, it is cold as hell! My unexpected guest's eyes are now upon me and her resting bitch face had a reaction that best resemble surprise, shock and a whole lot of "WTF?!". I bet it is because I ain't wearing any shirt and just wearing my track pants. It is not every day that people get to see my sexy body in all its glory.

"What the hell?"

"Was about to say the same thing to you. What are you doing here Butterbutt?"

"Heard from your brothers that you're home because of trying to win a dumb bet." Butterbutt crossed her arms, and somehow that emphasized her little perky tits a little more. Honestly, Butterbutt sure know how to take care of herself in the physical department.

"In my defense, the second blow was a cheap shot."

"Right. The teachers also asked me to check up on you. Since Blossom and Bubbles are busy with club stuff, I'm requested to pass your homework and stuff instead." Buttercup turned to her bag and scrounged it a little before she took out a few papers and stuff. Took it with my arm, and I decided to look at it.

Ah shit.

It's math.

My mortal enemy.

"Math." I said, not being pleased that the homework is math.

"Yeah. Math. Live with it." Buttercup said, but I swear that there is a tint of dark joy when she said that. Butterbutt really do like seeing me in pain. As if my balls ain't hurting enough already.

"Okay... But I don't even know today's lesson. No point giving me-"

"I'll be teaching you instead."

"You? Teaching me? Ha! THAT'S A GOOD ONE!" I seriously laughed real hard when Butterbutt said that she will be teaching me until I saw Butterbutt's face. She is not amused by what I did, and then I realized that she mean it. For some reason, that made me feel like a real jerkass. Usually I am, but this time round, I felt bad being the jerkass.

"Oh shit... You're for real?" I would assume that I gave the most stupid look she had ever seen as she rolled her eyes.

"Are you gonna stand there all day? I for one am feeling kinda cold." Buttercup snarked, and honestly the cold winds are really making me feeling real cold too.

"Alright, come on in Butterbutt." I agreed with her suggestion.

I let her in and she went on to sit on the couch, while I moved one small pace at the time towards the sofa. Butterbutt's eyes looked at me with much amusement, and she even snorted once. I gave her a glare, but she is not a timid one like Bubbles and she chuckled once more. That's weird and this is the first time I seen her snort in amusement. I wanted to be mad, but seriously I'm too much in pain to care about this shit. Finally reached the damn sofa, and time for me to sit.

Oh god, this really sucks.

Hurts like shit.

Really hurts like shit.

"Oh god, this is just pure gold." Buttercup finally laughed out loud and I don't like being laughed at.

"What?" I asked back, not liking her mocking laugh.

"Reminds me of the times I kicked your ass when we were kids." Butterbutt mentioned with a smile on her face, and a rather smug one too. Honestly, if I can I will punch that smug smile off her face. A pretty face on a girl does not mean that she does not deserve a smack to the face if she's a real bitch. But to my surprise, Butterbutt got up and walked towards the kitchen. I looked back and she opened the fridge and took out the orange juice and proceed to look for two glasses before she walked back. She puts the glasses on the table and started to pour the juice into the glasses, before she handed me one of the glass.

"Here." Butterbutt offered me the glass. In my mind, I should not take that glass.

"I don't bite Butch, take the glass." Buttercup assured me, and honestly I'm real thirsty, so I reluctantly took the glass off her hands.

"Thanks I guess."

"No prob." Buttercup replied as she takes a seat on the couch.

You know, this is the first time Butterbutt did something nice for a change. Never remembered a time where she treated me nicely. To be fair, I never treated her nicely to begin with. Whenever we meet, we kinda just get ourselves into a fight, and just bash each other's brains out. But this time, there is no fight and there is nothing to fight about. I watched as she took out her books and stationary case and realized how gentle she is with her stuff.

"Surprised to see me being gentle with my stuff huh?"

"Did you just read my mind?" I was shocked. Is this how she always kicked my ass?

"Nope, that is now how I kick your ass. Besides, I can't bring it in me to kick a rival that is down for the count." Butterbutt answered what is in my mind and I am honestly afraid. Am I that predictable?

"And yes, you are that predictable Butch. You're good in fighting, but otherwise you're just simple." Buttercup answered without even looking at me as she opened her books and notes.

"Stop doing that, it's real creepy!" It really is. The reply I got is a chuckle, and it is a rather adorable one.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsvile, 5.00pm]

"So to solve this particular equation of 2(x5)-7=3(x-2), you'll need to multiple the numbers outside the bracket to get 2x10-7=3x-6."

Butterbutt is seriously tutoring me right now. I had decided to climb up the stairs to get myself dressed in a black t-shirt and got my ass down a few hours ago as it dawned to me that she is really teaching me the classes I missed. Right now, she is teaching me algebra. Seriously, I started to wonder if the pain I am feeling down my crotch is forcing me to find every possible outlet for something nice and pleasurable. For crying out loud, Butterbutt is a physically hot rival, but why is she showing me sides of her that I never knew existed?

For one, her voice is really soft and real smoky as she is explaining things, and somehow that sounds real hot.

Secondly, she's actually smart.

Maybe it is because she had a sister that a world-class genius and a father that is a world-class genius and scientist, but Butterbutt's explanation for the math problems is rather easy to digest. Unlike those damn teacher's lessons, her way is much simpler and to the point.

"Right now that will give you 2x-3=3x-6. Move all the numbers without the x on one side and the rest on the other side. When you move it to the other side values get..." Honesty there is a point where I kinda trailed off, but I will admit that it is nice having a girl teaching you stuff.

Especially one as special as Butterbutt.

Plain honest with you guys? I think she is often outshined by her other sisters when it comes to the brains department. I mean, it is hard to fight against your sisters when you have Pinkie being Pinkie with all her brains and stuff, and Bubbles with the ability to speak every damn language in the world. Seasoned with with some giftsin the performing arts and other artsy stuff and you get some serious talent.

What a waste.

People will never really see this side of her. For everyone else, Butterbutt like sports and in particular she likes martial arts and combat sports. Gives her the impression that she ain't smart and itching for a fight. Her edgy looks kinda added to the image, and honestly I also saw her in that light too. Well, I kinda knew she's smart but that is because she fights smart. Never knew she is also somewhat book smart too. Just not genius level smart bookwise.

Me on the other hand...only good for fighting and nothing else. Seriously how I wish I got half her brain. Maybe that is why she edges me out a little on the scorecard on kicking each other's asses.

"And that is how you get x=9." Butterbutt finished explaining the problem, and I will be honest, I don't get half of it. But half is way better than knowing nothing.

I think.

"Right." I tried my best 'I know what you are talking about' impression, but it seems that I am failing on that real fast when Butterbutt is utterly silent.

"You're not listening aren't you?" Buttercup rested her elbow on the table and stared at me with a frown.

"I mean... I'm supposed to lump all the numbers on one side and all the alphabets on one side right?" I spoke my mind and wondered if it is good enough, and honestly that is how I understood that damn stupid question.

"Eh... Fair enough. But not all the time. Seriously I had never seen a person this bad in algebra before. Haven't you learned algebra at all?" Butterbutt asked before she realized something.

"Not really, Butterbutt." I answered and Butterbutt's lime green eyes soften and she shook her head.

"Sorry... Forgotten that you're..." Butterbutt trailed off as she tried to find the right words.

"I'm what?" I knew what she wanted to say, but I asked on anyway.

"You never really went to school."

"That's right." Butterbutt struggled for a while after I said that, but she decided to say it anyway.

"Amazed that you can even write and stuff." Butterbutt's voice had that feel of feeling bad, and I will not let her feel bad for this. Nah, I ain't even mad.

"Meh, Mojo Jojo drilled the reading thing to us when we are kids. We kinda have to if we wanna understand what he's saying. Homeschooling is a thing I guess. But algebra? The monkey tried to teach us physics when we are seven. I can do simple math, but math ain't my strong suit. Brick is better at that kind of thing, but overall we kinda don't like math thanks to Mojo."

"Jesus... Physics at seven? That's a bitch to swallow in." Butterbutt shakes her head, and I kinda appreciate that.

"Yeah... But our interests lie in things that is more... Abstract. Brick like to read up on philosophy, psychology and politics. Boomer likes music. As for me...I don't have anything in particular except fighting I guess." I shrugged, knowing that I really never thought about it before.

"Kinda get you there. Fighting feels honest. You can just be what you are when you fight." Butterbutt said with a thin smile.

"Yeah it does and-"

"But you can't fight all the time Butch. You will just damage yourself way too much." Butterbutt's eyes are a little sad as they looked at me. That is new; Buttercup never looked at me in this way before. Her hands soon rest on my shoulder and my heartbeat started increasing for no apparent reason.

" I can see it in your eyes Butch. You've fought far too long and you lost sight of who you are. Almost as if you're just punishing yourself. Your fists been telling me this much when we had sparred twice. You'll need to find something other fighting to get back your balance." Buttercup patted my shoulder and somehow I felt that the advice carries weight.

I don't know what to say in this situation and I really never thought about it before. What will I do without fighting? How will I go about finding what I want? When will I-

 _Slap!_

"That hurts you Amazon!" Buttercup's slap on my back is a real strong and I can feel the burning sensation on my back. It hurt almost as much as my bruised balls.

Almost.

"Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today's a gift. That is why they call it the present." I looked at Buttercup when she said that and honestly that is deep and profound. Also it doesn't sound like what Buttercup would usually say.

"Sounds like a damn fortune cookie, Buttercup." I jested.

"A monk once told me that in order for me to gain inner peace." Buttercup shrugged,but I can see it in her eyes that she had some fond memories about that monk she talked about.

"Right." Not gonna prod in, and honestly I don't care. However, she is right in one thing; I will just have to just enjoy this moment right now. It is not every day that your rival is helping you to be a better person to kick her ass. And it is not every day that I can get a rather hot chick to tutor me.

"Nice of you to think that I'm hot. And I'm giving you a fighting chance so that you can be more of a challenge." Buttercup said with a smirk. A sudden warm flush warms up my face and just stare at her intently.

GOD DAMN IT WOMAN, STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!

"Alright, alright. Your facial expressions are just too easy to read outside of fights." Buttercup chuckled once more, and seriously those raspy chuckles is winning me over.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 6.00pm]

"Well, that's that I guess."

It's already 6 o'clock in the evening and Buttercup got to go home. With much difficulty, I managed to show her to the door and are now talking to each other while I hold the door open. Buttercup's perpetual frown softened considerably as she adjusted her sling bag around her shoulders and across her body. Once that is done, Buttercup turned her attention to me once more.

"Yeap, that's that." Buttercup answered.

"You know, this is real nice. Kinda like it actually." I am being really honest here, as I never liked studying and I never figured that it can be this relaxing.

"Heh, glad that you like it." Buttercup said with a sense of accomplishment in her voice.

"Alright, see ya when I see ya Butterbutt."

"Yeap. See ya." Buttercup said goodbye before she burst off in a lime green streak of light. I watched as the streak of light courses through the sky and once the light is gone, I closed the door.

I started to give a little thought about what Buttercup had said to me. The part where she said I need to find something else other than fighting. I decided to take out my phone and look into my contact list. Seeing the contact that I am looking for, I dial the number and waited for a few moments before a voice appeared on the other side of the line. Honestly I didn't expect this to work, but now that I'm here I might as well go for it.

"Hello?" A proud and yet refined feminine voice answered my call.

"Yo, Butch here."

"Butch?" The voice is surprised that I had made the call, and I kinda understand why. I had never called this number despite keying the number into my phone a while back. I'm not surprised if the other person had not saved my number or even knew my phone number.

"Yeah...um...are you available during the weekends?" I asked.

"Why?" The voice asked, her voice not really sure what I am trying to lead to.

"I...ur...I...wanna talk." I wonder if it is a good enough reason in the first place.

"Talk? Talk about what?" Well, lookie here. I think I'm in court.

"Well...stuff. Is there a need for a reason to be talking to each other?" I asked gently, knowing that it ain't worth it to make this bad.

"No...there is no reason why we would talk to each other." That is a good point. Well... that's a good try on my part, and honestly I'm expecting this outcome anyway.

"I guess...that's a no huh? It's okay I-" Before I can even finish my sentence, I was interrupted.

"Let's meet up at Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse around three o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday. Is that alright with you Butch?" The feminine voice asked, and somehow something in my brightened up. Not sure what it is, but it did make my mood better.

"Sure thing. See ya there later Pinkie."

"See you, Butch." The voice replied before I ended the call.

* * *

[Utonium Household, Suburban Townsville, 6.15pm]

Blossom looked at her phone once more, and she wondered why she agreed to meet up with Butch. Butch had never called her before, let alone ask her to meet up. Blossom is also surprised that she had suggested a spot in her most favorite teahouse for their meetup despite them not having the most friendliest relationships. Still, Blossom found herself having an unique bond with the Rowdyruff Boy ever since she know the truth of what happened to Butch and the Lunatic known as Fennec. Blossom sharing with Butch about Bunny's lost had bonded them in a way that is not clear to her. She, the most brainiest of the Powerpuff Girls, is utterly clueless on what will happen next between Butch and herself.

"What's wrong Blossom?" Blossom turned around to see Bubbles' concerned expression.

"Oh...um...just got a call to hang out with a friend." Blossom smiled it off, hoping to not worry her whitish-blonde sister and keeping Butch's identity from her sister.

"Is it a guy?" Bubbles nudged Blossom in the elbow while winking.

"Yes. Yes it is." Blossom replied, not realizing that she had just inadvertently lit a fuse. It is only a few seconds later that Blossom's eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

"REALLY! BLOSSOM FINALLY GOT A DATE!" Bubbles squealed, and Blossom realized that it is too late for her to reason her way out of it.

"Heya guys, I'm back. What's going on?" Blossom turned around to see her other sister had returned home.

"BUTTERCUP YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED! BLOSSOM'S GOT A DATE! BLOSSOM'S GOT A DATE!" Bubbles squealed once more, causing both Blossom and Buttercup to cover their ears.

"Whoa...really? That _is_ news." Buttercup raised an eyebrow.

"Shitbiscuits." Blossom cursed, knowing that this will be the talk of the household for days to come if she is lucky and the talk of Townsville at worst.


	81. Chapter 81: Through Rose-Colored Eyes

Chapter 81: Through Rose-Colored Eyes

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It is the middle of the night in Townsville, and it appear that a certain Powerpuff Girl is struggling to sleep in the Utonium Residence. As she toss and turn, her mind is bombarded by her anxieties and concerns._

 _The Powerpuff Girl finally got up from her bed and as she combed her fiery copper-red hair back, she rested her face in her palm. Her miserable state is very plain for everyone to see and honestly I believe that she is thinking way too much about this. But this is Blossom we are talking about here, and she always overthink some things way too much.  
_

 _Let us watch her, and honestly this is really tiring to see her not being able to sleep._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 1.40am]

I, Blossom Utonium, seriously can't sleep tonight.

I, Blossom Utonium, am losing my mind over this matter in my mind.

I, Blossom Utonium, the commander and leader of the Powerpuff Girls, among the smartest beings on Earth, is now not sure of what to do and had no idea how to go about this.

I, Blossom Utonium, had agreed to meet up with Butch. No, it is not a date, it is a talk. Yet, what I suggested does sound like I was the one who suggested a date.

I, Blossom Utonium, wondered did I agree to meet up with Butch? To make it worse, I suggested a day, time and place to meet with him. Why did I even do that?

To make matters worse, I inadvertently blurted out about this date when Bubbles asked me after the call with Butch. Buttercup also found out about this since Bubbles told her about it. The only consolidation that I have over this whole thing is that Bubbles and Buttercup had no idea that I will be meeting up with Butch on this Saturday. Other than the times where we banter with each other and that time in the dream world, I have never really spoken with Butch.

What do I talk about?

What will he talk abou?

What do we talk about?

What will happen after that?

What the heck! I can't believe I let him get into my heart like this!

Head!

Into my head like this!

I meant head, not heart!

That is what I meant to say!

I definitely didn't mean heart!

Wait, I mean head!

Gah, that stupid bonehead is going to pay for this!

* * *

[The Next Day, Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 8.00am]

"Blossom dear, what happened to you?"

"Oh my goodness Blossom, you look like a panda!" Bubbles exclaimed in shock.

I guess my sleepless night must have shown on my face as my father asked me with a great amount of concern. Professor Utonium is technically not related to me by blood, but he did create me. To be exact he is more like my creator than a biological father, but for me it is one and the same. I sat down on the dining table and I saw Bubbles taking on a bowl of cereal while Buttercup is just having a banana.

"Guess she is a little restless over something I guess." Buttercup curtly responded, and I shot a glare at Buttercup. Buttercup shrugged before continuing on with her second Cavendish. Buttercup in particular appear to not be sniffing around this particular date, and she is honestly really good in sniffing out secrets. Fortunately for me, Buttercup had always kept to herself if it is not going to affect her in any way. Thus I am glad that she exercised her inquisitiveness to herself.

"Well Blossom, you shouldn't think too much about something. It just tend to get worse." Professor Utonium advised before he took a sip of coffee while reading the tablet.

"Well, she ought to be restless. She's hopeless when it comes to those kinds of things." Bubbles whispered to Buttercup and I gulped. Bubbles just know the state of people's hearts so to speak so it is never easy to lie to her. To add further, she is also really good in influencing people to do it her way. A real psychological master, I will give Bubbles that.

"Anyway girls..." I tried my best to divert the topic away as Bubbles' emotional intelligence along with Buttercup almost supernatural intuition could potentially pry information that I do not want to divulge out of me. I am neither as secretive nor as psychologically astute, and I really got nothing going for me if they pushed on their advantage. So far, it had appeared that they had not pushed on the identity of my date to be.

That, or they knew who it is but decided to not speak out about it.

Honestly, I really can't enjoy my breakfast if all I am going to do is to think about that musclebrain.

Time to eat Blossom, time to eat. Don't let him ruin the most important meal of the day for you.

Seriously, don't let him ruin your day, Blossom.

* * *

[Townsville High, Downtown Townsville, 10.15am]

School.

A haven for me.

To be exact, I like school for its artificial environment. It is the only place in the world so far that allow me to truly feel at ease for this place is shielded from the harsh realities of the world. Some may call the school a jungle, but I personally call it a temple. It is just particularly peaceful for me, as things can go on a different stride than a world filled with conflict and hate. A place of learning, and a place of peace. Nothing can take that feeling away.

Only thing that kind of makes it unbearable for me right now is that this is Physical Education. This is the only class where I feel vulnerable and that the world is boring its sights on me. For some inexplicable reason, no matter what I do, the boys will always look at me. The boys always stared at me like a pack of ravenous wolves, and I honestly wonder why they all do that. I am in no way as sexy as Bubbles with her bombshell body, nor do I have that amazing ass and toned body like Buttercup. All I got are some long arms and legs, and long hair. That and my rose-colored eyes and copper hair. But I swear, that is about it.

"Bloss, you really need to stop doing that." I turned around to see a pair of ocean blue eyes looking back at me.

"Stop doing what exactly, Robin?" I asked.

"That pouty lips thing whenever you feel uneasy. That's a real killer for the boys." The brunette with the dark brown hair warned.

Robin Snyder had been friends with us for almost my whole life and if there is anyone that knew us Powerpuff Girls inside out, it will be her. I appreciate her role as my closest friend and if it were not for her, I will not be as anchored to school life as I am right now. Robin is one of the rocks that hold me down amidst the tide of uncertainty and she is also my voice of humanity when things failed to make sense to me.

Like now.

"Guys like pouty lips?"

"Bloss, you seriously need to be more aware about yourself you know." Robin sighed.

"Aware about what?"

"Never mind." Robin rolled her eyes, appearing to give up explaining to me what I failed to understand. Robin often did that with me, and this is one of those things that I find a little annoying. However, I was soon distracted by a figure entering class while the teacher is explaining away on the particular physical routine that we are suppose to do in this class.

"Young man, you are late!"

"Right." The husky tenor voice of the tall and well-build Rowdyruff Boy said nonchalantly.

His particularly imposing presence is felt as he walked past the teacher and take a seat among the boys. His hair is as dark as the darkest night, and his hair contrast well with his warm ivory skin. His particularly warm and vivid jadeite eyes is as piercing as it is tranquil, like a lush forest standing still. His angular and pronounced facial features along with his particularly well-build and balanced musculature only served to make him the focus of the other girl's attention. In many ways, his presence graced the rest of the girls like he is an angel descending down from the heavens to preach the gospel with his appearance.

"That's one nice cookie." Robin sounded particularly thirsty as she looked at Butch, and it is way too obvious that she got the hots for Butch. I decided not to answer her as I watched Butch interacting with the other guys. It was then that his jade eyes met mine, and to my surprise he looked rather surprised that I am looking at him.

"What?" I asked back, a little annoyed that he looked at me in such a way. However to my surprise, he nervously turned his attention away from me.

"Butch's not fighting with you. That's new." This behavior is not lost on Robin, and I nodded.

"Yeah, it is."

It is a lie.

I am perhaps one of a very few select people that knew Butch had a much more fragile side.

I will be very honest and say that I learned this in the most antagonistic way possible. From the very beginning, Butch had meddled and taken the steps to proactively engage with me and messed around with me. I honestly thought that he was an idiot, and I hated him for it. But that saying, I have always felt that Butch is a little too artificial for me, as it felt like that machismo that he have is a mask.

However that all changed on the day he saw that pendant that Renèe, or otherwise known as Fennec, gave to me. Something else came up in his mind and something messed with his mind for him to snap and break down in front of my eyes. It was then that I really see the real Butch, and there was something particular worrying about a figure like Butch; when a person as tough and cocky as Butch break down, it is heartbreaking. I did what my heart told me to; console him and let him regain his footing.

I am honestly very sorry that I dragged up such a difficult memory out of Butch.

However, that is also the first of a few episodes where I witnessed another side of Butch; an emotionally imperfect, damaged, traumatized sensitive soul at odds with the tough, cocky and almost physically perfect front. The mask that Butch wore peeled away and showed me Butch for who he is. Yet, something in me also say that there is also something that felt odd about it all.

Surely someone who knows him will know that he is damaged right?

* * *

[Townsville High Cafeteria, Townsville High, 12.06pm]

"Say what? "

Buttercup looked at me with her peridot-colored eyes as if I was asking her to resurrect the dead. I can't blame her, for I had never had any interest in Butch in any way possible. However, Buttercup is the only one among us that knew Butch best. Butch and Buttercup are rivals since the first time they met, and their hypercompetitive nature only serve to further bring out the best and worst of each other. For that, they had done countless hours of studying each other to kick each other's asses (or at least that holds true for Buttercup).

"I'll repeat myself; What do you think about him?"

"Why Bloss?"

"Well, you kicked each other's asses so often that you knew each other like the back of each other's hands. Or at least that is what I'm led to believe."

"True, but you never asked me this question before. It will be hella funny if he's your mysterious date on this Saturday."

 **AH CRAP. RED ALERT. RED ALERT. SHE IS ON TO ME. SHE IS ON TO ME! SHE IS ON TO ME!**

"I would love to see you freak out if you...Wait...Blossom...Hold on...he is? HE IS?!" Buttercup realized how freaked out I am and she immediately slammed her hand on the table. Her action caused the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria to stop for a moment and all eyes are upon us. I need to salvage the situation and fast.

"THANKS BUTTERCUP FOR SMASHING THE BUG ON THE TABLE!" Not the best thing I can pull up from my sleeves, but it did the trick. Everyone else turned away and things went back to normal. At least for everyone else.

"Blossom, what the hell? Are you serious?"

"He called me on Tuesday and asked if I can talk, and I was a little curious, and a little suspicious, and he kinda wanted to hang up because I was suspicious, but then I kinda suggested that we meet up and then somehow...we are going to meet up." I did my best impression of summarizing the whole thing, but it came out more awkward than I thought it is.

"Urgh..." Buttercup faceplanted and I knew I messed up.

"I didn't mea-"

"That bonehead...didn't expect that line from him." Buttercup planted another hand to her face, and her two hands are covering her face. She combed her hands over her black, raven hair with neon green highlights and took a deep breath.

"Wait...what?" I lost my sister right there. It seems that Buttercup noticed my confusion and she rested a hand on my shoulder, as if to apologize.

"Look Bloss, I told Butch that he needed something else other than fighting or he'll lose himself. That and also to live in the moment."

"What does that got to do with me?" I am now very worried about what she is trying to lead to.

"Looks like you're the first thing he thought of in the moment as the thing that he needs other than fighting."

"Wait...WHAT?!"

"I've got no idea why he chose you, but looks like you're the thing that he needs now."

"Need me for what?" Somehow, that felt particularly scary for me and I slowly felt the goosebumps behind my neck rising up.

"And I will give you one advice." Buttercup looked at me with a very concerned look.

"What?" I am now seriously panicking as she came closer to me. Just as her lips reached my ear, she whispered.

"Use protection, you guys flirt too hard." I immediately felt a rush of blood on my cheeks and I immediately slapped Buttercup's hand away from me. Buttercup's serious expression started to contort into a cheeky smile, and Buttercup started guffawing at my expense.

"BUTTERCUP!" I yelled, and unfortunately that caused everyone's attention to be focused on me turning me even redder.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, 4.00pm]

I am not going back when my mind is this clouded. Most of all, I can't believe what my sister just said to me.

My head is just filled with anger as I replayed the words that Buttercup said to me back and back again in my mind. 'Use protection, you guys flirt too hard', she says. To even suggest such a vulgar suggestion, I expected better from my sister. At the same time, that line is exactly what Buttercup would say to mess around with my mind. Buttercup know that I will think about this for hours if not days, and that irked me so bad in more ways than one. For one, I will not let him touch my body in that way at all, and he better stay away if he is going to do that.

I am a Powerpuff Girl and I can kick ass if I want to!

He may be a hunk, but he will not take away my chastity without a fight!

"Wait, did I just called him a hunk?" I planted my face in my palm as I realized I was taken in by the moment and blurted out the word in my thoughts.

To even suggest such a thing!

Such crudeness!

Such-

 _Bump!_

I knocked myself into something hard and I believe that I bumped into someone. To not even check my surroundings, such stupidity on my part. I will need to apologize to whoever it is that I just bumped into.

"I'm sorry, I was just-"

I started to look up and I noticed that I am staring at an olive green view and as I looked up, I recognized the well-muscled body of the person I bumped into. A pair of nephrite eyes looked at me with a raised eyebrow. The person's night-black hair is slicked back in a dark forest green hairband, giving a particularly trendy and yet refined appearance. The person is wearing an olive green turtleneck and a black leather jacket, and with an oddly matching camouflaged khaki cargo pants with blood-like vine patterns.

"Pinkie?"

Great, the last person I wanted to bump into.

"Oh it's you Butch." My annoyance showed through my voice.

"What's that irritating face for." Butch raised his voice, annoyed that I spoke to him in such a tone. I believe I had struck a nerve.

"What are you doing here?"

"Is it a crime to walk on the streets? In that case, arrest me Powderpuff Girl." Butch shot back.

"God, do you have to take everything as a provocation?" I turned away from him, knowing that this is going nowhere.

"You're in no position to talk Blossom. Your tone is real bitchy you know that?" Butch's comment stung me, and I knew that he was right. But no way will I say sorry to him. It is because of his call that he made my life for the past few days a really irritating experience.

"I don't have time to play along with this." I was expecting him to bite back at me. Instead I got an entirely different response.

"You just do whatever you want don't you. Saying that my personality's bad, my spirit's bad. You had no idea what you think of me from your high and mighty throne." Butch's tone sounds really hurt from what I did, and the way he delivered his words hurt me. Butch turned away and is now walking away from me.

Honestly, I wanted to walk away from him too and just let my head cool down. But my body thought otherwise. My arm stretched out and before I even knew it, I grabbed him by the wrist. I was expecting the same reaction that I gave Butch to be reciprocated, but to my surprise he stood there and allow his wrist to be grabbed by my hand and not move from the spot. I swallowed hard, knowing that I am a real piece of work.

I had inadvertently become overly conscious of Butch, and this had led me to me saying mean things to him. I need to make amends.

"Hey." I called out to Butch, but he did not answer me.

"Do you hear me?" I asked, but once again he did not answer me. I find him ignoring me even more irritating than when he was bickering with me.

"Look at me already." I voiced out my annoyance, but yet he did not respond to me. This is surprisingly very frustrating.

"I give up." I voiced out my frustration, but he stood there without a single sound being uttered.

"Tell me." I asked. No response.

"Tell me what you want." I asked once more, but Butch is as silent as a rock.

"And what if I tell you Blossom. What will happen then? Can you give it to me?"

Butch finally answered, and for some inexplicable reason a corner of my heart is particularly relieved that he had answered me. Yet he did have a point, what will I do if he told me what he wants? I stood there silently as I let go of his wrist. Butch turned around and two very sad green eyes are now staring into my soul. I bit my lips, knowing well how uncomfortable I am with this situation. I know that I was the one that caused this particular exchange to happen the way it is, but this situation happened only because Butch called me to talk.

No.

I am an idiot.

I know what he wants.

The question is; can I give it to him?

"No, of course not. Not for now at least. But you're smart, you'll be able to help me this Saturday." Butch gave me a sad smile and before long he walked past me.

"That saying, if you were offering yourself to me, I would not hesitate to partake off you." That comment from the Rowdyruff Boy gave me goosebumps and I immediately turned around. However, all I saw is a streak of dark green lightning streaking across the dark grey skies of Townsville. The cracking sound of thunder soon accompanied the cracking sound of the Rowdyruff Boy's flight.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.00pm]

As I lay down on my bed, I seriously wonder what it is that made me act the way I did with Butch. I am torn between these two conflicting sides within myself, and I don't even know what I seek to understand from this. What is Butch to me? Why am I in such a state with him?

"Thinking about Butch?" I heard Buttercup's voice and I am always amazed by her intuition.

"Yeah...he's a pain in the ass." I admitted. Before long I noticed something sitting on my bed, and as I got up I saw the night light reflecting off a pair of lime-green eyes. I adjusted myself to sit on my bed cross-legged. She is dressed in a black shirt with black track pants, and if it were not for her eyes and her warm porcelain skin, she would blend right into the darkness.

"Butch is a real pain in the ass, but at least he is honest Blossom."

"Honest?"

"He is what he is. He has nothing up his sleeves, and he expect the same from people. That's the answer I'm supposed to give to you this afternoon."

"Sounds like you're complimenting him."

"I've learned to respect Butch over the years, and unlike you and Brick we kinda enjoyed our fight. He's a real slugger, and he'll slug with you if you want to slug with him. That's his style. In that sense, he is very fun to be with. Well, at least that is how it is until I met him again after all these years." Buttercup sighed.

"What do you mean by that?" I decided to stretch my legs a little before resting my chin on my knees and hugging my legs in a somewhat upright fetal position.

"Well, when we first sparred after all these years I felt that he had not enjoyed himself in ages. He had not relaxed in ages, and his fight with me gave him peace of mind. There is something in him that wants to speak out, but if he can only do so by fighting he's gonna break. There is also that part that he felt that taking punishment like he deserved it. That's not right at all. Not like the Butch I know before." Buttercup appears to be worried for her rival, and this is a new sight for me.

"Yeah...he's been through a lot. Losing a loved one before his eyes, only to have to face the person as an enemy." I pointed out, causing my sister's eyebrow to frown.

"He had a loved one?"

"It is one of the Lunatics. The one called Fennec. I think you've seen her before. It's the lady with the brown braided hair with a cross-shaped scar on her face." I described Fennec to her, and Buttercup's eyes widened up as a hint of recognition flashed in her eyes.

"Ah...that lady that appeared at the orphanage. Now I know why Boomer said she's trouble."

"She is to them like how Bunny is to us." I pointed out and Buttercup shot a glare at me.

"Bunny's did not turn against us." Buttercup said sternly, keeping her voice down and it sounded more like a growl.

"I was saying that Fennec is like Bunny to them. She is not the same as Bunny." I pointed out as I rolled my eyes. Seriously Buttercup really can't take an analogue comparison of Fennec's role to the boys.

"She is not the same as Bunny." Buttercup's ice-cold voice reaffirmed her position for both of us to understand; Bunny's memory is sacred and should never be tainted. I decided to move on and not delve further with Bunny.

"Butch loved her as a man and her loss turned him mad. Turned him into the state that he is right now, a person with a hole in his heart that he is unable to close."

"So...you know what he wants?" Buttercup asked, her hands embracing her body. Her light lime green eyes is now staring at me and it pierced into my soul, seeking for an answer.

For me, I already knew what he wanted. But what he asked is something I can not give to him unless I felt about him in such a manner and vice versa. It is something base, primal and warm, and it is as much a wish as it is a necessity for humanity to have. For a person as damaged as Butch, it will take a long time for him to rekindle such a thing within himself. But even he is doubtful to the idea that this flame can be rekindled, and he had turned to someone to try and rationally find out. It is a walk down an uncharted path when a flawed emotional being such as Butch to seek out a flawed rational being such as myself to help him out.

"Not sure...but he is now asking me to help him out." I answered, knowing that I can only answer my sister in such a manner. Honestly, I really wonder if I can help him out, if at all. Yet, something in me is telling me that I will not only be able to help him out, but I will be able to heal him and set him on a road to recovery. Buttercup looked at me for a moment, and I wondered what she had to say about this situation. Buttercup soon sighed before she got out from my bed and turning her head towards me. As her eyes met mine, there is a sense of something that needs to be done, and somehow Buttercup's eyes looked a little worried and it understood something at the same time.

"Well, looks like you're gonna make his life a little more exciting from here on out. And I think he will make your's a little more exciting too." Buttercup said before she walked back to her own bed. The words echoed in my mind in more ways than one, and now I wondered what will be in stall for me. I honestly hope that it will all be for the better.

"And Blossom, when it is too exciting...please use protection." In response, I threw my pillow at Buttercup, hitting her squarely in the face with such force that she fell down.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.30pm]

At the same time that Buttercup is advising her sister, a man reflects back on a single memory from a long and dreary day.

Butch regretted it so much he wished he could die.

"I need a time machine to go back and kill myself." Butch groaned.

A moment of shame.

When Butch suddenly came across Blossom in Downtown Townsville, he was unable to handle the sudden pressure! The incredible stress had caused him to say all sorts of mortifying things. And once the moment had passed, Butch realized what he had done would leaving him screaming in agony in his pillow.

A moment of shame that will forever be engraved in his memory.

"Did I just say I would partake of her?"

Blossom had imprinted herself in his mind and Butch had not expected her to drive him crazy like this. Buttercup drove him mad, but not in this way. Buttercup drove him mad with the drive to defeat her, but with Blossom he was driven mad by what he should do with her. Something about Blossom frustrates Butch, and at the same time it also soothes him.

Butch is not known to be a person of complex thoughts and having such conflicted thoughts in his mind drove him to be overly conscious of her. When Blossom grabbed him and asked him what he wanted, his mind went on overdrive and his thoughts went up high in a spinning confusion. However no one is able to view themselves objectively especially when riding this kind of high, and that in turn made them do particularly brash actions without any sense of awareness. The fact that Butch slipped in the spur of the moment only made it worse and he wondered how he will be able to face her on Saturday.

Butch seriously had never felt this way before, and this Powerpuff Girl will drive him up the wall in more ways than one.


	82. Chapter 82: Scars

Chapter 82: Scars

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It is getting chillier by the day and the pier in particular is now much more foggier than usual due to the cold weather. The ships docking by the piers are anchored on the piers, while the warehouses stood silently as the winds blew. However, there is no stopping some people from going out to do their daily activity like jogging and..._

 _Wait._

 _Wait a second._

 _Who the heck jogs in such a cold weather in the night? And that is the only person jogging right here at the pier...who in the name of all that is holy is jogging in this chilly, cold weath-_

 _Oh! The hooded figure is just Buttercup on one of her footwork jog. That figures, as she is disciplined enough for her martial skills and get herself in shape. Even though she ain't a morning person, but if it is the day she had set out for her roadwork, she will stick to it like a pitbull biting on some-_

 _*Buttercup shot a glare at the Narrator*_

 _Sorry, I shouldn't call you a pitbull._

 _*Buttercup nodded her head and continued on her morning jog*_

 _Anyway, now that we have Buttercup in the pier, let's see what happens next. When there is a Powerpuff Girl in the scene, there is bound to be a chapter afoot._

* * *

[Townsville Pier, Townsville, 8.30pm]

Buttercup had finished her roadwork for the day and she proceed to shadowfight at the docks of the pier. Alone among her sisters, Buttercup is the one most concerned about her physical condition and she often go through a great extent to keep herself fit. She alone is the one who had devised the Antidote-X regime with Professor Utonium in order to bring herself to the next level, and that regime had become the basis for any extreme training regiment for the Powerpuff Girl if needed be. It even became the basis for the training at the Patterson Air Force Base when her sisters are subjected to the particular regiment. Buttercup is not using the Antidote-X regiment for today and instead opted for a much more traditional roadwork exercise. Due to her superhuman nature, it takes her a significantly longer time for her to feel the burn and today's roadwork is a proof of why she often takes her sweet time doing her roadwork.

Buttercup's shadowfighting at the pier, if you can call it shadowboxing, is almost ghost-like as her arms are moving much faster than the human eye can see. Each sonic crack of her punch is audible all over the pier and Buttercup practiced all her striking moves. Straights, jabs, hooks, uppercuts, elbow strikes, blocks. Everything in her arsenal is a way in which to knock out her opponents, and she need all the help she can get. She is definitely at the top of her game, and she can and will bring things down if she wanted to.

But then the thought of her lying down helplessly as a group of men trying to strip her naked flashed in her mind. Buttercup stopped with her punch snapping right in front of her. The sensation of hands feeling her body is painfully clear in her mind, and the image of several shadow-like figures looking down upon her as she was fondled is fresh in her mind. That image destroyed the tough image she had in her mind of her vulnerabilities, and she panted as her heart raced as the memory resurfaced of that moment. Buttercup tried to shake it off, but it only came back with a vengeance. The twisting feeling of helplessness and anxiety is slowly breaking her down. Her breathing became shorter and she is slowly losing grip of her own mind.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 12.30pm]

"Son of a- BOOMER!" Butch cried out as Boomer deftly took the last piece of toast on the table.

"Not my fault you're slow!" The sand blonde teenager mocked his dark-haired brother.

"Seriously, can't you guys just eat silently?" Brick sighed.

The three boys are having their lunch in their home, consisting of a full plate of toasts, a plate of bacon, a plate of eggs and a plate of sausages. To be exact, it is more akin to a very late breakfast, as the boys had just woken up a hour or so ago. However, the Rowdyruff Boys being the Rowdyruff Boys, mealtime is a rather rowdy affair. Brick silently helped himself to his meal, seeing that Butch and Boomer tend to make it a competition to eat their meal.

"Fine..." Butch and Boomer obeyed their brother and toned down their commotion. As Butch reached out to the last sausage on the plate, a quick stab of a fork intercepted Butch's own, and Butch turned his attention towards the wielder of the fork. Butch popped a vein as his red-haired brother puts the whole sausage in his mouth, before walking away from the dining table.

"Son of a-BRICK!" Butch called out to his brother, but it fell on deaf ears. Butch immediately got up and walked furiously towards his brother and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"HEY ASSHAT, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Butch called out to his brother. The red-haired teenager turned around and Butch is immediately drenched in sweat, and his body started to tremble.

"What." Brick answered, his voice as cold as winter. Butch realized that he had just pissed his brother somehow, and he sensed danger.

Butch immediately let go of his brother's shoulder, and Brick walked towards the back door and exit the home. Brick immediately disappeared in a flash of crimson red lightning. Butch knew well that if his brother's voice came out cold, it is always best to leave him alone less he get his ass whooped. Butch had seen his brother bringing down divisions of men without even blinking an eye, and that had earned his brother various epithets such as Master of Crushing, Duke of Destruction, The Crimson Terror, The Carnelian Avenger and Blood-eyed Demon among many others.

"Aren't you gonna chase after him?" Boomer asked his green-eyed brother. Butch looked at the streak of crimson lightning blazing through Townsville's skies, and his mind wondered if he should follow his brother.

"Nah, I've got something to do later." Butch decided against it.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, 4.45pm]

Brick stood by on a roof of a skyscraper, his heart pounding harder with every moment as he looked down on the city.

The Rowdyruff Boys are created to be aggressively militant, sharing an innate enjoyment for conflict and fighting, choosing violence over peace. The Rowdyruff Boys are also typically very aggressive and hard-headed, and also have a tendency to let their emotions get the better of them when roused in stimulating situations. At times it manifested itself as an explosive temper and at times it manifested itself as arrogance over their capabilities, leading them to allow enemies to gain advantages in battle just for addition, as a result of their surprisingly haphazard method of creation, they are fundamentally more unstable chemically than the Powerpuff Girls.

All these factors contributed to their particular instabilities, and their particular biology is always a headache for Brick, especially when he is in a bad mood. Among the brothers, Brick had the best control of his emotions. However, when Brick lose control of his emotions, he tend to be the most explosive among his brothers. But what will trigger this explosive behavior is always lost on Brick. It can be over something minute as someone looking at him the wrong way, or something big like the situation in the Dream World.

"This is one of those days." Brick uttered to himself.

Ever since their foray into the dream world, Brick has been a little unhinged, and whatever it is that Him took out from his chest is making all his body functions running a little off. It is a minor experience, but his minor annoyances had piled up to something far larger. Brick felt that his body is not what it once was, and he needs to find some way to resolve the issue. However, this off-focus physical annoyance is also compounded by his sudden flashes of uneasiness and helplessness.

"You always choose the most difficult places for us to meet up." A female voice commented from behind Brick, and he turned around to see a handsome Hispanic woman with dark, raven shoulder-length hair with a tint of purple and hazel brown eyes waving at him. The woman exudes an air of carefreeness but at the same time a surprisingly charismatic persona despite her simple attire of a dark midnight purple shirt and dark grey pants.

"Long time no see." Brick smiled, and the woman covered her mouth.

"Wow, you smiled." The woman is rather surprised by Brick's expression and Brick can not fault her for that. It is always a dire situation whenever Brick had dealt with the woman, and during those times he was more or less an asset for the American government's black operations. Her role and his role in the murky swamp of intrigue and plausible deniability brought them together from time to time. Birds of a feather flock together so to speak.

"It's been a while since I've seen a familiar face from 'those' days." Brick candidly spoke.

"Yeah, and you're a little different now." The woman commented.

"Yeah, but you haven't changed a single bit Carmen Ninety-Nine."

Carmen Ninety-Nine.

A mysterious and self-sufficient mercenary, she's known for gathering needed information, but also charging quite the hefty penny. The 'Ninety-Nine' in her name is the size of her bust, in centimeters as well as the number of gadgets she hides on her body – thus, Carmen Ninety-Nine – but her birth name is Carolyn Mendoza. Rumors say that she is a triple-agent for the Americans, Russians and the Chinese, and honestly Brick did not doubt it. In fact, Carmen could be an agent for almost every major spy agency in the world and he would not be surprised. Her skills is such that she can get any information that she wants.

This is why Carmen Ninety-Nine is his most reliable and most accurate information broker. In this world, information is king, and Carmen Ninety-Nine is a kingmaker.

"I am what I am, and there is no other way to go around it." The woman shrugged.

"So, what have you got for me this time?"

"For one, there will be action tonight." Brick's eyes opened up, and his shoulders tensed.

"Action?"

"A few days ago, an operation was done by American government to get a person named _Tiburon_ , and he's the right-hand man for the Los Noches gang. Seems that they do not take too kindly to his capture and is planning a raid on a CIA safehouse to get him out. To be honest, I think Los Noches decided to let their man be captured in order to bait in the CIA spooks for them to get their hands on." The woman took out a cigarette and gently bit on the cigarette as she took out her lighter.

"Any idea where it is?" Brick asked.

"No idea, but given this situation, I warrant that it is around Little Tokyo."

"That's a real confident prediction." Brick is surprised by her deduction.

"Please, where have I ever predicted anything?" Carmen said, slightly offended by Brick's comment.

"True."

"But I would say that the action in Little Tokyo will be small as compared to whatever I've gotten." Brick raised his eyebrow as the woman lighted up her cigarette.

"And that would be?"

"Alpha's in Townsville." The color immediately drained from Brick's face and the information took a puff. Brick knew the name, and that only complicate the situation further. Alpha, or to use its official name Directorate "A" of the FSB Special Purpose Center, is part spy network, part counter-terrorism team, part general-purpose commando squad — and entirely terrifying. No one in their right mind messes with them, not even superhumans.

"The Chinese are also in Townsville now, with their operatives from the Ministry of State Security. The French DGSE have sent someone over too." The color flushed out further from Brick's already pale face, and it seem that the information broker is enjoying herself.

"How'd you know about this?" Brick asked.

"So far, everyone's infiltrating into the elements of Townsville's TOCTSeF's forces to get more information. The Russians are also trying to get inside the Medved Bratva, while the Chinese are doing the same thing with the White Tiger Triad. Looks like your little fight over in Townsville is bigger than anyone thought possible." Carmen ignored Brick's question and took another puff, blowing the smoke up in the air.

 _This is real bad_ , Brick frowned. With Russia, China and France in the picture, their squabble in Townsville had taken center stage on the international arena.

"I would suggest that you prepare yourself for the worse to come. You know how ruthless the Russians and the Chinese are when it comes to their objectives. The French at least can be reasoned with." The information broker advised, and Brick take note.

"What about the movement on the other side?"

"They are busy alright. They got guns, they got tanks, they got drugs, they got almost everything. But their hold on information is much better than any government intelligence and counterintelligence agencies I have seen before. They're very sophisticated and they only let out information that they want people to see. There are secretive things, and then there are _secrets_. They want to show their strength, but they are keeping their cards close at hand."

"This is an entirely new kind of organized crime group." Brick responded. Brick knew that Him will make sure that anything and everything will be according to its plan and no one else. Brick finds the information provided is a show of superiority of Him to those that knew where to look, and it is infuriating to know that Him is taunting Brick.

"But there is one thing I've gotten; the materials that they are getting for one of their operations is utterly bizarre. I am seeing what looked like an advanced physics scientific research facility. It feels like they are making a hadron collider, but I have no idea what they are trying to do." The hazel-eyed woman looked at Brick, wanting to know if he had any clue on what is going on.

"No idea, Carmen. You're the information broker, not me." Brick shrugged, and if he knew anything about it, he is now showing any signs to the information broker.

"That's right, I'm the information broker."

"Thanks and really appreciate what you've got." Brick handed the woman a rather fat envelope and the woman reached out for the envelope. The woman took the envelope and opened it, taking a look inside the envelope before taking out a stack of cash and passing it back to Brick.

"You're one of my best paying customers. For that, I'm giving you a discount." The woman winked once more, and Brick can not help but to smile.

"Thanks, Carmen."

"Besides, you will need this to get your pretty girlfriend a nice pair of sexy lingerie." Carmen nudged the Rowdyruff Boy in the arm, causing the cinnabar-eyed teenager to blush as red as his eyes.

Brick looked at the woman with eyes filled with shock, surprise, embarrassment and confusion as she walked away, waving back at him.

* * *

[Townsville Pier, Townsville, 8.30pm]

Brick is flying over the pier, and his mind is now filled with even more darker thoughts than before.

The presence of Russian, Chinese and French forces in Townsville will complicate a lot of things for Brick to work from the shadows, and the growing strength of the Lunatics and their particular spending on making something unusual had Brick thinking of two things and two things alone; Operation Pantheon and the Trinisphere.

Brick is particularly livid about the present state of affairs as he felt things are escaping his control. Brick is helpless to do anything about it, but there are worse issues clawing at his mind. Him's manipulation of the boys as prisons for the girls had broken a level of security within Brick's mind, and had made him more restless and anxious. Whatever Him did to trap them in the Rowdyruff Boys' dreams for as long as they did, it must had forwarded one or more plans concocted by Him despite its apparent failure. Soon enough, dark memories started to surface, and Brick can feel its influences cutting his soul little by little and with each cut. These cuts are all demons that made Brick insecure, and one of his demons is now speaking to him knowing what Brick truly wanted at that exact moment.

 _You're looking for a way to vent out, but you're not getting one._

"Apparently so, Break." Brick replied to the sentient subconscious within his mind. Ever since their particular 'adventure' in the dream world, the being known as Break is now able to converse with him without needing to dive into the inner sanctum that the being call home. Break, or otherwise known as the manifestation of Brick's Tyrant Gene and darkness within, has been something of a new power that Brick had gained during his time in Townsville. Even now, there is so much things that Break can do, and Brick had only scratched the surface. So far, Brick had categorized his powers as akin to a sentient darkness.

 _Tough luck trying to pick a fight like you are used to. Ain't gonna be good for you to even flick one of the Townsville people._

"Yeah." Brick admitted that Break is being wise, for there is repercussions for him if he decided to pick a fight. But he honestly wondered if there is a place where he can vent out to his heart's content without any repercussions. Right now, Brick had decided to hang out by the pier until his particular biology cooled down.

 _Well you can always go and find Buttercup and see what happens._

"You make it sound so easy Break."

 _It is that easy. Look._

Brick's eyes trailed across the pier and he noticed Buttercup standing by the pier with her arms wrapped around her. Brick is surprised to see Buttercup here of all places, and he walked up to the Powerpuff Girl. As Brick drew closer, the trembling of the Powerpuff Girl's body is as clear as day for the Rowdyruff Boy. Brick wondered if she is feeling cold, and he took off his maroon jacket in preparation to let Buttercup have it to warm herself.

As they say, it is always nice to inform people of your arrival. Or that is what Brick thought as he closed in on the Powerpuff Girl.

"Buttercup?" The boyish voice of the Rowdyruff Boy startled the dark-haired Powerpuff Girl as she let out the most adorable yelp. However the situation turned critical as Buttercup swung her fist immediately towards Brick's for Brick, Buttercup's fist landed squarely on his jaw and he spun in the air for a few seconds before slamming down on the ground with a crack.

Buttercup watched for a few moment before realizing what she had done, and her mind soon registered the identity of the red-haired teenager lying on the ground without moving a muscle. Buttercup gasped as she rushed towards Brick and sat beside the sprawling redhead. His long hair is splayed out like tentacles or rivers, and his limbs bending in weird angles.

"Oh shit." Buttercup cursed as she turned Brick around, and to her horror two pitch black eyes met her own. The pitch black eyes soon rolled down to reveal a pair of glowing crimson sclera. Buttercup's relieved expression soon changed to guilt as Brick immediately slapped Buttercup's hand away before getting up in a flash. Buttercup knew that Brick is pissed as he looked at her with red sclera that are now just burning orbs.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?! " Brick rubs his left cheek, soothing the painful punch he had just received from the Powerpuff Girl. Brick's fierce expression and harsh words made Buttercup jerked her hand away from him and her face showed a flash of surprise before her expression darkened. He soon sensed that something is amiss as Buttercup slouched and averted her lime-green eyes away from him. Something about Buttercup felt off today, Brick thought. The fire in his eyes dimmed and his expression softened, wondering what is going on with Buttercup.

Buttercup did not answer him and she got up, only to walk towards the edge of the pier. Buttercup had decided to sit on the side of the pier and Brick followed suit and sit just a feet away from her. Brick is surprised that she did not say anything snarky towards him and also allowed him to sit beside her. Both teenagers are now sitting at the side of the pier, their legs dangling and pointing towards the water below. Both individuals sat in silence for a while, and Brick decided to leave it that way.

Brick's bad mood had changed from being briefly challenged by his brother moments ago to his present unease over Buttercup's uncharacteristic behavior. He wanted to say something to the Powerpuff Girl, but realized once more that they do not have much in common. The two times he had interacted with her always ended up in some kind of situation where emotions are laid bare. The first time, Buttercup let Brick know how he felt about Bubbles. The second time, Buttercup cried on his chest. Now this will be the third time, and what is in stall for Brick this time?

"Why are you here?" Buttercup's feminine rasp raised an eyebrow from the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Same can be asked of you."

"I asked you first, Mary Jane Watson." Buttercup poked fun at Brick, and Brick clearly did not appreciate it.

"I'm angry. You?"

"I'm working out."

"More like you're worked out over something." Brick took his chance to take a good look at Buttercup, and noticed that she is dressed in a black tracksuit with two green lines running down her sleeves and pants. Brick looked at the handsome young woman with the kind of refined beauty and attractiveness that requires poise, dignity, and strength of mind and character.

Things that often come with age.

That sense of beautiful strength is contrasted by her bright neon green highlights, jet-black undercut hair and young lime-green eyes. However, there is something missing from the usually boisterous Powerpuff Girl. Brick pieced together the cues and found his answer.

"What are you looking at?" Buttercup did not take too kindly to Brick's continued observation.

"You're surprisingly good looking, I'll give you that." Brick admitted.

"Hah! And you're...you're..." Buttercup's attempt to mock Brick trailed off as she realized that someone just complimented her looks.

"That and you have an amazing butt." Brick gave Buttercup with an overbearing smirk.

"Screw you." Buttercup flipped her middle finger, and Brick rolled his eyes.

"That's gotta be real hot." Brick winked.

"Urgh." Buttercup groaned before looking away.

The silence dropped on the two individuals once more, and Brick noticed that Buttercup is surprisingly quiet if she wanted to. Brick is used to such treatments from his brothers, and he decided to wait. The green Powerpuff Girl behaves most similarly to his green-eyed brother, and they both shared very similar dispositions. Brick can wait, as today's Saturday and he had nothing better else to do.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

"You know Buttercup..." Brick decided that he will not wait for the entire day. Ten seconds is long enough.

"What?" Buttercup replied with an annoyed tone.

"You need help." Brick voiced out his concern.

"Help? Me? HAH!" Buttercup tried to shrug it off, but she is not fooling the carnelian-haired teenager.

"I'm not the one trembling from anxiety." Brick decided that a certain amount of bluntness is required in this situation. Buttercup went silent at the piercing comment, and knew that Brick had seen through her like a mirror.

"That obvious huh?" Buttercup lied down on the pier and looked up to the sky, her peridot eyes narrowing and her husky voice resigned.

"'If I would warrant a guess...is it because of that incident? The one at the Ghetto?" Brick turned around from the edge of the pier and sat cross-legged facing Buttercup. Buttercup is silent once more, and Brick knew that he had hit the issue in the bullseye. Buttercup's lips started to quiver, but she is doing her best to not express her distress.

"I'm afraid. Ever since...they tried to...I...I can feel their hands touching me... Touching my legs...My hands...my..." Buttercup stopped, and Brick knew what Buttercup is trying to say.

"Life always hit you with all these cheap shots. And nothing's gonna hit as hard as life." Brick said with a much more subdued but gentler voice.

"Like you're one to say." Buttercup said derisively.

"Buttercup...can I show you something?" Brick's red eyes are much more muted than before, and there is a sincerity that Buttercup find hard to refuse.

Buttercup nodded her head in approval, and yet she did not know what she had just agreed to. To her surprise, Brick started peeling off the outer layer of his clothing, first his black turtleneck and followed by a dark maroon tank-top, showing off his surprisingly lean body. Brick threw his black turtleneck down on the ground beside him. Brick peeled off the his tank-top and his half-naked body is now scanned and took note that Brick's muscles are not as well-defined as Butch nor is he that lightly build as Boomer. However, something else immediately turned her attention away; the severe scars littering across his body.

 _Arms, shoulders, chest, torso, just filled with scars_ , Buttercup clearly had never seen so much scars and what surprised her even more is that Brick had these scars in the first place. The healing factors of Chemical X-based beings will not allow any scars to appear on their bodies to begin with unless-

"Only my face and my hands are not touched, if that is what you're thinking about." Brick pointed out as he stretched his leg and folded one side of his pants, revealing even more scars on his legs.

"What the...how the?" Buttercup is stunned to see even more scars on the Rowdyruff Boy's body. Brick sneezed before he decided to wear back the dark maroon tank-top.

"Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais." Brick answered curtly.

"Sounds Spanish."

"Portuguese. Stands for Special Police Operations Battalion. The toughest and most brutal police unit in Brazil, more like a special forces death squad than anything else. The boys and I were bodyguards for the leaders of a Brazilian criminal organization at one time. Those bastards took me to custody, and with some Antidote X and some darkly creative minds, they went to work."

"What about-"

"I'm the only idiot that got captured. Ironic isn't it? Usually I'm the one that tried to keep my brothers in line for them to not end up in stupid situations, and yet I'm the one that got the short end of the straw. It may only be a few hours, but it is enough for me to instill the fear in me. My brothers along with some of the criminals managed to storm the place where I was held and got me out." Brick's dark chuckle is hollow and painful, and Buttercup dare not imagine the torture that Brick went through.

"But...you would have healed the wounds...why are the scars still on you?" Buttercup asked.

"They coated every single torture implement with Antidote X. And injected me with Antidote X for good measure. That's why my skin never healed the scars that was done to me." Buttercup winced as Brick showed the gesture of a slice on his bicep.

"Urgh...nasty. When did it all happened?"

"About two years ago. The events may be different, but we have experienced the same thing. We were rudely reminded that we are not gods among men. You're still a girl that horny men can have fun with if they choose to do so, and I'm just a stupid little boy that adult can whip my ass if they choose to do so." Brick pointed out, and he touched the large gashing scar on his chest.

Buttercup got up and looked at Brick in the eye, and for the first time in her life she is now seeing Brick at his most vulnerable. Gone was the sinister and menacing Rowdyruff Boy, and instead a quiet young man haunted by his experiences. As compared to her, Brick had experienced so much things in his life that it should have aged him considerably. Or perhaps, it did. The world had made him the unapproachable, menacing person he is today. Buttercup decided that she will need to return the favor he had done for her on that fateful starry night. Buttercup leaned forward and hugged the carnelian-haired teenager, surprising the young man.

"I may not be the one that you want right now...but I am the person that you need right now." Buttercup uttered, and the line is not lost on Brick. It is the exact same line he had used to console Buttercup.

"I'm supposed to be the one helping you out, and here you are...hugging me instead." Brick said weakly, but at the same time his voice expressed his appreciation of the hug.

"No Brick...thanks to you, I know that I'm not alone." Buttercup uttered, her voice soft and fragile. Brick immediately felt Buttercup's embrace to be much stronger and tighter than before, and Brick understood her clearly. Brick allowed Buttercup to hug him tightly and he reciprocated by patting Buttercup on the shoulders.


	83. Chapter 83: A Toast

Chapter 83: A Toast

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Once again we are back in Chinatown, where it had become a particularly favorite spot for things to happen between the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys!_

 _Speaking about that, today's drama revolves around Butch and Blossom!_

 _Our beautiful but nerdy scarlette and our handsome but jocky brunette are gonna meet up in Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse for tea for what Butch calls a talk while Blossom calls a not-date! Anyone with a cell in their brain knows that there is a sort of tension between the two, and this time round it will be no different! Not to mention that they are now bonding in a way that they are not aware about._

 _And lookie here! Butch is wearing something a little smarter this time round, and he is rather dashing mind you! Did I spy with my very eyes a black coat, a collared off-white shirt and a dark emerald tie?_

 _And no camo pants!?_

 _This is gonna be real interesting!_

* * *

[Soong's Dim Sum Teahouse, Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 3.30pm]

"She is taking her sweet ass time coming here." Butch said as he looked out to the lively streets of Chinatown.

Butch had been sitting in the teahouse for the past two hours, and he wondered why the hell did he decided to go to the damn teahouse so early. Butch had arrive to a date early, and this is something he had never done before. It had dawned on Butch that this is technically a date, and Blossom had agreed to his offer. Butch may flirt with girls and play around with some girls in dates around the world, but this is the first time he had felt nervous when it comes to meeting a girl.

"What the hell's wrong with me? I'm the one who asked for this in the first place!" Butch hissed to himself, and some of the patrons are staring at the teenage boy talking to himself.

Butch clearly had no idea why he is doing the things he's doing, and the fact that he is wearing a surprisingly formal attire dawned on him. Butch clearly did not intend for it to be so, but any idiot with an eighth of a brain can interpret it as an attempt to impress someone. Butch clearly felt a little out of his element here, as usually he is very comfortable in speaking to most women.

But Blossom is not most women.

To be fair Blossom is not yet truly a woman, but she does have the poise of a refined, well-taught woman. He had met older women less refined than Blossom, and she is definitely much more animated. Just like her hair, Blossom can be best described as a fiercely fiery intelligent soul, and he is honestly intimidated by her. As compared to how she interacted with Brick, Blossom's interaction with Butch is much simpler. No, for wanting of better note, he is _insignificant_ in Blossom's mind. The only reason why she took notice of him is because he decided to goad her and enforce some of her prejudices of him, and then threw a curved ball around and surprised her. Still, their interaction is only skin-deep as they never truly known each other.

Butch was incensed that he was the first to break, and he showed Blossom his weak side. It did not help that Butch is the one that was the catalyst for all of them to be trapped in the nightmare of his past. But that incident came with something of a surprise for him, as Blossom revealed something he had never knew. For that, Butch wanted to talk to Blossom and get some pointers for his situation.

 _Cling!_

A ringing chime announced the arrival of a customer in the teahouse, and Butch's jade green eyes recognized the customer that had just entered into the teahouse. Her fiery red-copper hair flowed with the young, slender woman's elegance and poise and he wondered if this is his mind playing tricks on him. The curling dark hhina pink ribbons running down the back of her knee-length hair made for a stark contrast with her hair, and her rose-colored eyes soon met with Butch's own eyes. The young woman walked closer to him, and Butch's eyes soon started digesting the clothing the woman is wearing. The young woman is wearing a black full-body mini dress with white collars, topped with a dark china pink beret. Slung across her shoulders is a matching dark china pink handbag, and a silver necklace with an amaranthine pink sun caged inside a pendant is hanging visibly around her neck.

 _Wow...she's cute_?, Butch bit his lips. Butch did not expect her to dress in such a manner, and in a way he is also relieved that he did not overdress for the occasion.

"Sorry for being late Butch." The woman sat in front of the Rowdyruff Boy.

"No worries Pinkie, I kinda did call you out suddenly." Butch chuckled nervously.

"Bubbles decided to dress me up before I came over to meet you." Blossom laughed nervously as she curled her hair.

"Yeah, you look real pretty." Butch slipped, and Blossom smiled nervously. It is clear to Butch that she is rarely complemented for her looks, and it is a surprise for Blossom is model material.

"And you and the suit... Never thought I will see you in one." Blossom pointed out and it is now Butch's turn to feel uncomfortable.

"Stuff's being washed so I make do." Butch made up a white lie and hoped Blossom took it at face value. It took him two days to get his looks right, and honestly he was fortunate as almost ninety percent of his wardrobe is military-inspired if not military-specific.

"Fair enough. When you need to do laundry, you need to do laundry." Blossom agreed, and Butch is glad that he dodged a bullet. Or at least Blossom decided to let that go.

"Anyway... Ur... I don't really know what to order here. Anything good here?" Butch said as he took out his forest green hairband, only to reset it on his head once more.

"Sure, I'll get us something to eat and drink." Blossom raised her hand and a waitress soon came over to take Blossom's orders.

Butch watched Blossom as she spoke in some foreign language to the waitress, and Butch is surprised at how fluent she spoke the language. The intonation, expression and gesture almost fooled Butch that Blossom is a truly native speaker. It is also at this moment that Butch noticed a few things he had not bothered to notice about Blossom.

He had often thought of Blossom as a prissy person, but now she appear to be much more humble and down-to-earth. Her mannerism is much more relaxed than the times he had seen her, and this came out as a surprise. However, Butch's observation soon focused on Blossom's more physical attributes, and he observed how delicate her facial features are, for she appear almost doll-like from certain angles. Her jawline is particularly delicate and her fair complexion only enhanced her womanly semblance. Her body is as graceful as a sculpture of a goddess, and her skin is as clear like porcelain. From each of her strands of hair to each individual nail, she looked like someone out of a work of art. Butch can only stare dumbfoundedly at this person whom he know was not human, but possessed beauty before perfection.

"Is there something on my face?" Blossom's voice cuts through Butch's observation.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Butch answered, and he wondered how did he even have the galls to place his fist on her face once upon a time ago.

"Right... Anyway... How are you doing now? Didn't really have a chance to talk to you at all since...you know..." Blossom trailed off, but Butch understood her well.

"Coping. I need to start somewhere right?" Butch lets out a surprisingly charming smile, and Blossom liked his smile.

Still, Blossom can sense that there is still a cloud of vulnerability that he is unable to hide. Blossom is kind enough to let him take his time composing what he wanted to say. However, Butch did not continue the conversation and silence soon descended and both Blossom and Butch sat awkwardly amidst the busy teahouse. Blossom wanted to talk but wondered what will be the best thing to say in this situation.

"Here's your dishes." The waitress interrupted the brief silence, and Butch's eyes lit up as he saw the small little bite-sized dishes are placed before them.

Butch's eyes looked at the dishes and he noticed a few steamed buns, a few shrimp dumplings with thin and translucent pleated skin with a smooth texture, a few more yellow cylindrical dumplings with an orange crab roe in the center, and a few steamed rice noodle roll stuffed with prawns. Blossom smiled as she saw Butch's child-like excitement, and she wished that she can be excited easily from such a simple display. Blossom stared at her teacup as the waitress poured them their cups of tea, wondering what she should say to Butch. However, Blossom decided on a different course of action and took a pair of chopsticks and handed it over to Butch. Butch noticed the two chopsticks and turned his attention to her.

"Shall we?" Blossom soon noticed that Butch is looking at the pair of chopsticks with a sense of apprehension that she had never seen a person being handed a pair of chopsticks will have.

"Excuse me miss, but can I get like a fork or something? Not good with those things." Butch pointed out, and the waitress nodded. The waitress soon excused herself, leaving Butch and Blossom alone.

"Didn't know you can't use them."

"Not that I can't use them, but I will use it like a fork." Butch made a stabbing motion and Blossom chuckled.

Butch felt a little embarrassed for a moment and his initial instinct is to lash out at the thing that made him uncomfortable. However, Butch held his tongue and he know she meant no harm. The waitress soon returned with the fork and spoon, and placed it beside Butch. Butch watched as Blossom dexterously picked up one of the white translucent dumplings with her chopsticks and placed it on Butch's plate.

"Thanks." Butch said awkwardly. He is not used to saying thank you for people passing him food, and his brothers tend to not bother with such formalities as they took their own food whenever possible.

"No problem." Blossom tilted her head and smiled before helping herself to a steamed bun.

"So...you like Chinese food huh?" Butch asked as Blossom took a bite. Blossom pulled the steaming bun away from her mouth, showing the barbecued pork stuffings within the bun. Blossom chewed on her food a little and swallowed before she replied to Butch.

"Yeah, always liked Chinese food, particularly Cantonese cuisine." Blossom said before she took on another bite of the steamed bun.

"I see." Butch is struggling to find a topic to latch on to, and his intention to talk to Blossom is going really bad (At least in his mind) as it feels like she is a much better conversationalist than Butch.

"What's your favourite food? Or for that matter, what's your favourite cuisine?" Blossom asked Butch.

"If anything, I will say _Durian._ " Butch pointed out, surprising Blossom.

A large and spiky fruit with a hard outer shell with custard-like flesh and large seeds, it is famously (or more accurately infamously) known for its pungent smell, Blossom had not expected for Butch to mention the fruit as his favourite thing to eat. For that matter, most Westerners will not be fond of the fruit as it is an acquired taste for Southeast Asians. But this opened the opportunity for Blossom to inquire further on how Butch acquired this particular taste for the 'King of Fruits', as it is known in its native region.

"That smelly fruit?" Blossom asked.

"Hey, once you go through the smell, the sweet tangerine-like texture of the flesh is sublime. There's so many types, and a lot of them are real good." Butch commented, and Blossom saw the Rowdyruff Boy wiping the side of his mouth as if wiping off his saliva.

"How did you even like the fruit in the first place?" Blossom asked, amused that he is showing such a gesture.

"Well, funny you should ask that. I got that taste from a job I got while I was with the Indonesians. They adored that fruit, and if they get the chance and it is in season, they will feast on it." Butch chuckled.

Blossom recognized the name, for Indonesia is a Southeast Asian nation made up of thousands of volcanic islands, known for beaches, volcanoes, Komodo dragons and jungles sheltering elephants, orangutans and tigers. It soon dawned to her that the Rowdyruff Boys had been to places for their particularly shady businesses, and perhaps if she asked nicely she would tell him what he had done.

"What were you doing there?" Butch is not expecting her to ask him a question that he never really thought too much about.

"Well, let me get the abridged version up of what I was doing in Indonesia. I was hired to do some work with their special forces guys in one of their wayward provinces for a few months. They don't like me, I don't like them. They challenged me, I accepted. I won their stupid fixed game,they still treat me like the douche they are. Rebels ambushed the base, I saved their sorry little asses. I got smug, and got my ass in trouble. Those guys saved my sorry little ass, and we earned each other's respect. We became best of friends, and I got a lifetime supply of their special forces uniform."

"You mean those camo pants have this vertical,weird vine-like stripes that you always seem to sport them on at all times?" Blossom asked as her arms moved around trying her best to draw vines with her fingertips.

"Yep. Well, the pants, and in general the whole outfit, are unique to the Indonesian special forces called Kopassus. Real nutbusters. They are the ones that I have to deal with and they are not to be messed around with. I mean, they're the one saving my sorry little ass when I was surrounded by those damn rebels."

"Really?" Blossom raised an eyebrow and Blossom is more inclined to not believe in Butch, as it sounded a little far fetched for normal humans to be able to support superhumans, let alone saving them.

"You have to see them to believe it, Pinkie. Too bad they can't speak a single word of English to vouch for me." Butch shrugged.

"If they can't speak English, how did you speak to them?" Blossom asked, knowing that Butch is not the most linguistically proficient person she know.

"I had to learn their language." Butch said nonchalantly, causing Blossom to choke a little.

"Yeah right." Blossom doubted Butch's claim.

" _Pinkie, saya bercakap benar. Jadi janganlah kata saya penipu_." Butch said back to Blossom in a dialect that sounds like a staccato train of short syllables uttered in a rapid way,but with fewer nasal sounds and no tones. If Blossom didn't know any better, Butch sounded just like a native speaker in both intonation and pronunciation. Blossom is visibly impressed, and she never knew him for someone that is into noted in her mind that Butch is a little brighter than she thought he would be.

"I'm impressed." Blossom acknowledged Butch's linguistic skills and at the same time providing what is her version of an apology.

"Other than Indonesian, and to a lesser degree, Malay, I generally suck at any other language. Boomer's usually the one that's good with languages." Butch shrugged, downplaying his mastery of Indonesian.

Once more, Butch and Blossom went silent and both decided that they should concentrate on the food before them. This went on for a while, and both appear reluctant to address the elephant in the room. Blossom wondered what exactly did Butch want to talk to her about, and she know that Butch wanted to have some small talk with her. If anything, Butch is a particularly blunt person and the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy's sudden change of tact made Blossom particularly wary. Butch, on the other hand, is wondering why he is unable to speak up. He had always been a forthright person, and his reluctance to speak about what he had asked Blossom to meet him for is frustrating him. Something is holding him back, and he wondered what it is exactly.

 _Be a man Butch, just man up and get to the point._

Butch decided that he will have to bite the bullet and just go for it. Butch observed Blossom using her chopsticks to pick up one of the steamed rice rolls, and decided that this will be the moment. Blossom took the piece of rice roll and brought it to her mouth, and Butch interrupted her before it reached her mouth.

"Blossom." Blossom took notice that Butch had just called her by name, and lowered her chopsticks down.

"Yes?" Blossom watched as Butch rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward to look at her with his jade-green eyes.

Blossom's eyes are now drawn into the vivid jade eyes of the Rowdyruff Boy, and Blossom felt like she had just entered into a deep and vast forest. Blossom wondered if she will be trapped within his eyes and that caused her heart to start pounding from a slow and steady beat to something stronger and more intense. Her breathing started to become shorter, and she felt a little warm and flustered as the seconds felt like aeons.

It was also an unfortunate moment for Blossom to finally took notice of Butch's particular facial features.

Butch's face is more akin to an unpolished block of stone if one is to compare him to his brothers, who are more chiselled and refined. However, his face has something that ignites something deep and unspeakable inside anyone who looks at him. Butch's facial features is almost abstract in its angles, and his face charms through blunt 's face has a look of a face that spent so much time being pushed, forcefully, into the ground. Put differently, his face looks like it's primed for a fight; like it can and will be busted. A broad and wide-brimmed forehead, a slightly wider and flatter nose, a laboring and yet ultimately disenfranchised look that showed his strength and yet hollowness. A monument of a blunted and broken person that tells of a story of small wins and larger losses, seemingly without end.

And Blossom can not, for the live of her, look away.

"So...um...I did call you out to talk... And um... I... um..." Butch struggled to get his point across, and he stumbled as he figured out his words.

"Yes?" Blossom asked, uncertain of what Butch is about to ask of her.

"How'd you manage to keep it all together Pinkie?" The pair of green eyes took on a darker shade as Butch finally found the words within him to ask her what he wanted to talk about.

"What do you mean?"Blossom swallowed hard, and puts down the piece of steamed rice roll on her plate before resting the chopsticks shortly after.

"I mean...you're always getting stuff thrown at you and...how do I put it...you also had your fair share of losses. Like Bunny." Butch immediately noticed Blossom's shoulder tensing at the mention of the name.

Butch cursed inwardly on his insensitivity and he wished that he be hit in the face by something big and hard to knock some sense into him. Blossom's rose eyes darkened for a moment to a shade of a dark red rose. Butch is now worried that he triggered something in her and he wondered what he could have done to say it better. But Butch had never been the most sensitive nor the most gentle when it comes to interpersonal interactions, and he often ignites people's prejudices and sorrows more than camaraderie and bonding. But what else can Butch do but to go forward?

"So...I...um..." Butch stumbled on his words, as his mind is blank on how to proceed further.

"Nothing hits as hard as life, and anyone that says otherwise is a fool." Blossom did not look away,a pair of rose-colored eyes that have seen a fair share of darkness and hopelessness staring back at Butch.

"You know, before we were celebrated as heroes...we were treated as monsters."

"Wait...you girls?" Butch is unable to hide his shock and surprise, as he had only ever seen the Powerpuff Girls as the perfect little heroines they are.

"Bubbles, Buttercup, myself. Only the professor treated us as anything other than a monster. We were shunned, we were treated as you boys once were. We didn't know any better, and we didn't know why either. But we became the hope that Townsville needed, and they accepted us. Somewhat . Even now, there are people who think we are freaks and should not exist." Blossom shrugged darkly, and Butch decided listen on.

"Then...there is Bunny. She is the sister we know we had, but one we can't mourn openly. To think that people immortalized her as an urban legend only stings us more. If you don't be nice, the severely hunchbacked monster with the wart eye will come and kidnap you to be handed over to the crooks. The Hunchback of Townsville, they called her. They don't know her, and yet they slapped that label on her only because she misunderstood what is the difference between good and bad. For that she was painted as evil." Blossom bit her lip, and Butch felt that he had opened up something dark within Blossom.

"Sometimes we wonder, why do we want to save the world? The world is an ungrateful bunch and they deserved to die like the worms they are." Blossom's rose-colored eyes turned more crimson and Butch took notice. Butch had never seen Blossom in such a state before and this is not the Blossom he knew. Instead, this is a Blossom he knew h nothing about.

"I thought the world will change, but I was wrong. If if we defeated the monsters, creeps and crooks, the world's filled with them." Blossom's eyes are now pure crimson, and Butch is now seeing a semblance of his brother in Blossom. The darkness that emanated from Blossom is particularly disconcerting as Blossom is meant to be the opposite of what his brother symbolize. Yet, at this moment, Blossom is just like his brother, or worse.

"Yet, no matter how many problems it has, the world is so full of beauty too. It's worth protecting. It's worth fighting for. For that, we do what we do. It is not about how hard you got hit, but it is how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." The crimson in Blossom's eyes disappeared, only to be replaced with a particularly radiant rose color.

"That's deep Pinkie. Sounds like a creed. A fighting creed." Butch answered, inspired by Blossom's resilience and strength in adversity.

"It is, knucklehead." Butch recognized Blossom's antagonism, but this one is a much more playful one and lacks her usual sharpness. Blossom gave a weak smile as she combed part of her fringes backwards. Butch took up the cup of tea and raise it up before Blossom, catching her by surprise.

"I'll drink to that." Blossom is a little stunned by Butch's toast, but Butch gave her a warm smile to encourage her. Blossom had never seen Butch smiled in such a manner before, and that made her smile as well.

"For Bunny." Butch raised the cup of tea a little higher in a toast.

"For Renèe." Blossom picked up her cup of tea and toasted her cup of tea.

"For what we are fighting for." Both teenagers said in unison before they took the cup of tea like a shot of liquor.

However, both teenagers soon felt the searing heat burning their tongue and their throat, and both started choking on their tea at the same time. Butch and Blossom looked at each other with teary eyes and burnt tongue, before both realized how foolish they were. Their eyes met for a moment, rose reflecting on jade green and vice versa. Butch and Blossom started snorting before breaking out in heartfelt guffaw.

This is the first time that they had laughed together.


	84. Chapter 84: Blue-Eyed Bunny Trap

Chapter 84:Blue-Eyed Bunny Trap

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Little Tokyo, the cultural and economic heart of the Asian enclaves in Townsville!_

 _It is also the geek cultural center of Townsville and main shopping district for video games,anime, manga, graphic novels, comics and computer goods. Icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area, and numerous maid cafes found throughout the district mixed with various Japanese restaurants, bars and hip clothing stores showcasing the latest fashions._

 _And our resident adorably cute Powerpuff Girl appears to be walking within the particular part of Little Tokyo with two shopping bags in each hand._

 _Let us see what our little sunshine is up to shall we?_

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 4.30pm]

Bubbles is in a particularly good mood as she walked down the streets of Little Tokyo. The latest installments of Japanese comics and light novels she had been following had their latest release and she had bought them all. Bubbles is fond of reading comics and watching cartoons, especially Japanese ones. She do read American comics as well, but something about the Japanese ones always draws her back.

To make it all better, Blossom and Buttercup are out for the day and she got the time all to herself. Buttercup came back for a moment during the afternoon after her jog only to go out again to some place, while Blossom is on a date with a guy. Bubbles had dressed Blossom up in a cute pink beret and a black mini dress with a white collar in order for Blossom to showcase her cuteness, and she hoped that the guy got a special treat of seeing Blossom dressed up nicely.

Bubbles in comparison is dressed in a light blue one piece dress with a white blouse draped over her. The simple but cutesy combination of clothing is complemented by black pantyhose and matching black boots. Her doll-like face with sky-blue eyes and near white blonde hair enhanced her youthful beauty, and combined with her curvy body turned heads around as she passed by the streets. It also helps that the Powerpuff Girls are world-famous, and no person will not be able to recognize the joy and laughter of the Powerpuff Girls.

"I can't wait to read on all these loot!" Bubbles' elation is plain for all to see, and people are infected by this joyous mood.

"But first..."Bubbles looked up to a building with a sign of a stylized rabbit with a bow tie holding a cup.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 5.00pm]

Boomer had decided to enter into Little Tokyo today, seeing that all his brothers are missing today for some reason. Butch is surprisingly dressed in something without camo patterns, and that gave the indication that he is on a date of sorts. Who the hell in their right mind agreed to a date with his bone-headed brother is anyone's guess, but Boomer hoped that Butch did not do anything stupid and that he had protection. Brick in contrast has been out of the house since this morning and seeing his bad mood, it is best to leave his brother alone. For Brick, Boomer hoped that he did not do anything stupid either but he is less concerned about his carnelian-haired brother as much as his ebony-haired brother.

That and also Lilith is out working today, and thus there is no dinner at home for the Rowdyruff Boy.

"So...what is a lone Rowdyruff Boy's gonna do in this place?" Boomer asked himself.

Boomer looked up only to see a stylized signage of a rabbit with a bow tie holding a cup of coffee with the words _Lapin Noir_ printed underneath the rabbit. Seeing that there is no harm in getting a cup of coffee while thinking about what he should do in Little Tokyo, Boomer decided to enter into the cafe. To his surprise and pleasure, he had stumbled into something he did not expect to cafe is almost unremarkable if it were not for what the waitresses are wearing; a strapless black merry widow corset teddy with a very short white frilly skirt around their waist and a fluffy cottontail, a white collar with a black bow tie and white cuff with cuff links, black sheer to waist pantyhose and matching black high-heel shoes and bunny ears completing the outfit. The waitresses are either sitting on the back of the chair without sitting to close to the patrons or are gracefully leaning backwards while bending at the knees with the left knee lifted and tucked behind the right leg while serving the drinks to their patrons. To make it all more surreal, the waitresses are all very pleasing to the eyes.

"Huh." Boomer is pleased by what he saw, and he is immediately reminded of Mojo Jojo's virtual simulation of the Powerpuff Girls in bunny suits.

"Welcome back, young master!" The waitresses greeted Boomer, and Boomer pinched his cheek to see if he is dreaming and he is pleased when he felt pain on his cheek.

A waitress soon appeared before Boomer with legs together, back arched and hips tucked under and Boomer can't help but to notice that the waist-length brunette waitress with ocean blue eyes and surprisingly slim but well-proportionate figure is a familiar face.

"Boomer?"

"Wait...I know you... You're always around the Powerpuff Girls... Pigeon's the name right?" Boomer's insensitive comment earned him a smack in the arm. Boomer eased the pain on his arm by rubbing on it, surprised by the apparent sharpness of the normal girl's slap.

"Robin. Robin's the name." The young woman is clearly not pleased that Boomer had no idea what her name is.

"Right, I knew that. Just testing."

"No, you don't." Robin said coldly, and her ice-cold stare made Boomer shiver.

"What the hell is this place?" Boomer decided to divert the topic and looked around, seeing some rather fine sights that will excite any man. Especially the pink-haired waitress with a very nice bottom.

"This is a maid cafe." Robin said in a nonchalant manner.

"A what now?"

"A maid cafe. Customers are treated as masters or mistresses as we," Robin pointed to herself, "the maids, serve you."

"Sounds like an escort service." Boomer pointed out.

"Maid cafes are not escort services. There are rules so don't try anything funny."

"Dressing like that make me doubt that." Boomer raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Unfortunately that is the theme of this particular maid cafe. Usually maids wear French Maid outfits." Robin sighed.

"Wait... There's more?"

"Yeap,but this one's the best paying one for a part-time job." Robin shrugged.

"How are you able to work here without anyone from our school l ow about it?"

"Rule # 7: Respect the identities and privacy of the Lapin Noir Bunnies or suffer a debilitating court case." Robin recalled a rule of the cafe, which Boomer wisely decide to not ask further.

"Right... Anyway, are you gonna serve me Robin?" Boomer asked as he checks out Robin. Another slap on his arm informed Boomer that he is staring too much.

"I'm the one that leads you to your place. Follow me." Robin rolled her eyes before taking a menu with her and started walking.

Boomer trailed behind the brunette and as she walked, Boomer chuckled as he remembered what happened to Butch and Mojo Jojo's kimono-dressed assistant. Boomer had never expected to see one of his school mates here, and dressed in such a provocative manner too.

"What are you laughing at?" Robin turned around to reveal a slightly annoyed expression.

"Nah, just imagining Butch if he saw you in this outfit. He'll jump right on you." Boomer said, hoping to elicit disgust in Robin.

"Really? In that case, I should ask him to come here." Robin's mischievous smile send a chill down Boomer's spine.

 _Oh shit, she's thirsty for Butch._

"Here's your seat, young master." Robin beckons Boomer to take a seat. Nervously, Boomer took a seat and wondered what will happen next.

 _This is a normal cafe... right?_ , Boomer asked himself as Robin puts the menu in front of Boomer. Boomer immediately noticed that Robin leaned down to reveal a pair of perky bosom and covered by the teddy,along with some cleavage. Boomer averted his eyes away and tried to remain calm, but Robin smelled blood.

"Please take a look at the menu, not the bust young master. I will call for a maid to attend to you soon." Robin had a rather mischievously wicked smile as she winked at him.

 _SHITSHITSHITSHIT_ , Boomer cursed in his mind as he realized that Robin knew that he is almost distracted by her breasts. The brunette proceed to walk away, leaving Boomer alone.

Boomer decide that he will need to open the menu to not fall into the trap of looking like a hornball pervert, and he did just that. To his surprise, the menu has a rather Japanese fusion feel to it but with an overarching theme of bunnies or rabbits. Boomer decided after a decent look at the menu that he will have a tiramisu cake and a cup of macchiato. Boomer raised his arm and a few moments later, Boomer saw a waitress entering into the peripheral of his vision.

"Good afternoon young master, what would you like for -"

"Yeah I would like a-" The sweet and youthful voice of the waitress stopped as Boomer looked up to see another familiar face.

This time, Boomer's cobalt blue eyes opened wide in surprise and amazement as a curvy young woman with pale golden blonde hair tied up in two buns down at him, her light-blue eyes wide with surprise.

"Bubbles?"

The two superhumans are now staring at each other's blue eyes, not expecting the other to be in this particular situation. For Boomer, he is not expecting Bubbles to dressed up in such a revealing outfit that showed off her assets. For Bubbles, she is not expecting Boomer to see her in the Lapin Noir maid outfit. Both realized the gravity of the situation, but none dared to open their mouths to say what is needed for the situation. Instead, their silence is only aggravating the situation even further. Fortunately, or unfortunately, a young woman with waist-length dark brown hair with ocean blue eyes came to check on the two blondes.

"Is there anything wrong with-Oh." The young brunette realized the gravity of the situation as both blonde superhumans turned their gaze towards her.

"Robin, what the heck!?" Bubbles hissed. Seeing that this will erupt into something nasty, Robin gestured for both of them to come with her. Both blonde teenagers looked at each other, uncertain of how things will go on from here on out.

* * *

[Lapin Noir, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 6.15pm]

"Okay...tell me once again why are you two doing this again?" Boomer asked the two girls.

Bubbles, Boomer and Robin are now in one of Lapin Noir's VIP rooms where they will not be bothered by anyone else. It is also a good thing that the room is soundproofed for karaoke session as the room is also acting as a place where the Powerpuff Girl and Rowdyruff Boy are able to shout and scream at each other without drawing people's attention (provided that Bubbles did not do her hypersonic screech attack).

"College's gonna be tough without some sort of funding." Robin shrugged.

"Okay...that's fair. But Bubbles is in one of those special classes right?" Boomer pointed out, and both Robin and Boomer are now waiting for Bubbles to explain why she is working here in the first place. Bubbles tucked her lips in and bit them, and her eyes shifted left and right. However, seeing that Robin and Boomer are not looking away, Bubbles takes a deep breath.

"Alright... Please don't laugh at me if I tell you the reason." Bubbles is now blushing, and Boomer is surprised by this particularly cute gesture of embarrassment.

"Alright...let's hear it." Boomer pointed his head towards Bubbles, beckoning for her to explain herself.

"You promise that you won't laugh?" Bubbles asked, hesitant to reveal her reason for working in this place.

"Yeah." Boomer assured the Powerpuff Girl, wondering what is it that forced Bubbles to do this in the first place.

"You really really promise that you won't laugh?" Bubbles asked once more.

"I said yeah Bubbles." Boomer raised his voice a little, finding this a little draggy.

"You really really really really really-"

"For crying out loud Bubbles just spit it out!" Boomer barked. Bubbles took a deep breath and clenched her fists, her cheeks turning a shade of light pink. Bubbles mumbled her answer, which Boomer find a little hard to listen to even with his hypersenses.

"Sorry... Can't hear you. Can you speak up." Boomer raised his hand to his ear, trying to pick up on what Bubbles just said.

"It's...or...bby." Bubbles' voice is soft and meek, her face turning redder with every second.

"Seriously Bubbles, speak up!" Boomer raised his voice, annoyed that her voice is particularly soft to the point where his hearing is struggling to pick up her voice.

"I need the money to buy anime and manga! And their merchandises! Happy?!" Bubbles shouted out, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Wait...anime and manga? Like those Japanese comics and stuff!?" Boomer questioned Bubbles, only to notice that she is now redder than before. Boomer is surprised once more by how adorable Bubbles looked when she is embarrassed.

"Yes, that's right! I like Japanese cartoons and comics, no, I like all kinds of comics and cartoons!" Bubbles felt like she was about to die from embarrassment.

"There there now Bubbles... It's okay." Robin patted the head of the Powerpuff Girl. The Powerpuff Girl instead embraced Robin and buried her face in Robin's chest.

 _SERIOUSLY THAT IS HOT_ , Boomer watched as the two girls in the bunny suits and skirt are now embracing each other. Robin noticed Boomer is staring at them with a perverted look and immediately slapped Boomer's temple. A yelp from the Rowdyruff Boy stopped the staring on the two teenage girls.

"Stop staring you perv." Robin warned the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Then stop wearing that outfit! No guy in their right mind will stare! You're both freaking cute, you're both freaking sexy, and honestly stuff of any guy's wet dreams right now! In fact, if you're a girl, you should feel sorry about yourself if no guy is looking at you like a pervert wearing that!" Boomer cried out as he rubbed his temple. Robin realized that Boomer has a good point, and concedes that her outfit is provocative enough to make someone like Boomer to think she is sexy.

"That will not help you Boomer, but thanks anyway." Robin thanked the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Seriously girls are messed up!" Boomer remarked with both anger and frustration. Anger because he knows he's right. Frustration because he knows he is right.

The door to the VIP room opened to show a rather pudgy-looking woman in a frilly dress and curled brown hair entering into the room. The woman appeared to be in her late fifties, and she appeared to be distressed. Bubbles, Boomer and Robin turned towards the woman and the woman immediately started panicking when she saw Robin and Bubbles.

"OH DEAR! SALLY CAN'T MAKE IT FOR THE NIGHT DUE TO AN UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT AND THE CUSTOMERS SUDDENLY INCREASED IN NUMBERS! OUR GIRLS ARE NOT ABLE TO COPE WITH THE SUDDEN INFLUX! WE NEED HELP AND WE NEED IT FAST! IF ONLY WE CAN FIND A RATHER CUTE AND ATTRACTIVE WOMAN TO FILL IN HER SHOES TONIGHT! ANY OF YOU GIRLS KNOW ANYONE THAT CAN HELP OUT?!"

"Madame Macron!" Both Robin and Bubbles rushed to the woman's side while Boomer watched.

"IF ONLY WE CAN GET ONE OF YOUR SISTERS TO COME BUBBLES! EACH OF YOUR SISTERS CAN COPE FOR LIKE ONE HUNDRED CUSTOMERS AT ONE TIME!" The woman started crying, and both Robin and Bubbles are now consoling the woman.

 _Well... time for me to leave_ , Boomer said in his mind and was about to walk out from the room when Madame Macron noticed the young androgynous man. The pudgy woman broke free from the two teenage girls and rushed forward towards the Rowdyruff Boy.

"OH GOODNESS! YOU LOOK SO PRETTY! YOUR EYELASHES! YOUR BLUE EYES! YOUR FAIR SKIN~!"

"Um...lady, I don't-"

"AND YOUR VOICE! IT IS BOYISHLY FEMININE OR FEMININELY BOYISH! YOU'RE-" The woman arms started feeling Boomer, and before long the woman's hand is on Boomer's nether regions causing Boomer to squeal in the most girlish-like manner.

"HANDS OFF THE MERCHANDISE LADY!" Boomer slapped the woman's hands away from his crotch.

"YOU'RE A BOY?! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BOY! WAIT...WAIT...WAIT...I KNOW!" The woman immediately grabbed Boomer my the arm and dragged him away with her. Robin and Bubbles looked at each other before they both realized what is about to happen.

"You don't think..." Robin tried to shake of the thought that flashed in her mind.

"Oh no!" Bubbles recalled her experiences when she first came to Lapin Noir and she chased after Madame Macron and Boomer. Robin, sensing that she is about to see something very interesting, followed shortly after.

* * *

[Lapin Noir, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 7.30pm]

"Who's the cute chick over there?"

"Never you here before."

"Wow, your skin is so fair!"

"Heya good-looking! Wanna hang out?"

"Damn, she has a tight ass!"

"I wish I have your good looks..."

"That scar on your chest...somehow it made you even more special!"

"Your butt...how'd you make them so bubbly?"

" _Senpai_ , notice me!"

" _Kouha_ i, notice me!"

 _This situation is just so wrong!,_ Boomer cursed so hard that if he could, he would be crying out blood.

Boomer's usually spiky hair is now no longer spiky, and his sand-blonde hair is now shaped into a bob. Dressed in the signature waitress dress of Lapin Noir, the boy's scarred chest is shown slightly as his chest was covered by the teddy. Somehow, his figure is androgynous enough that he fitted perfectly into one of the uniforms and the skirt helped in covering his male identity. Boomer had dressed up as girls before, but never in such a revealing and sexist outfit, and he understood why those crazy feminist said that such outfits are meant exploit women and promote masculine cultural values. If he is a woman, he would feel violated being stared by people.

"Excuse me sexy, can I take my order now?" One of the customers called out to Boomer, and Boomer bit his lips. However, as a mercenary, he has his reputation to maintain. Boomer turned around and gave his most attractive smile.

"Sure thing, young master!" Boomer called out.

When Boomer arrived to the table, he is face to face with four men, whom he did not even bother to take note about their appearances. Boomer figured that since he is stuck doing work in a dress, he might as well just bite the bullet and be done with it. Before Boomer even opened his mouth, he felt an electrical impulse from his body warning him of imminent body contact. He glanced with the the peripheral of his vision to see one of the men on the table is looking at Boomer's ass and had a mischievous smile as one of his hands reached out to Boomer's butt.

"Gotta lose that hand, pudding." The man was stopped in his track with a stern warning from Boomer. Boomer noticed that his friends are oblivious to the man's actions as most of them had the menu up in their face.

"Alright, I would like to have the Moe Moe Kyun Bunny Buns for all of us and Americanos for all of us." One of the other men informed Boomer.

"That is a good choice, young master." Boomer answered politely and with a positive vigor.

However, that politeness is about to dissapear as he felt another electrical impulse and he noticed that the perverted man, in his infinite lack of wisdom, had decided not heed his warning and tried to reach towards Boomer's butt once more. Boomer's hand immediately grabbed the man and with a fluid motion, he threw the man above his shoulders and the man slammed down on the ground. The sound of the floor cracking and a rather nasty popping sound echoed throughout the cafe and everyone's eyes is now on the fallen man. The other men sitting on the same table watched in shock as the man groaned in pain.

"That chick...she broke my freaking arm!" The perverted man cried other men turned up to look at Boomer, only for Boomer to answer them in his most widest and happiest smile.

"Anything else for you boys?"

"Nope." The first man answered.

"Nuh-uh." The second man concurred.

"I'm good." The third man nodded his head. Satisfied with their answers, Boomer walked away from the man that tried to molest his butt.

"My arm...THAT CRAZY BROAD BROKE MY FREAKING ARM!" The perverted man shouted, and Boomer picked him up by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground by a good few inches. With his most prettiest smile, Boomer pointed the thumb of his other hand to a poster on the wall with the words **_'Look all you want, but don't touch the girls_** ". The man gulped before he was put down by the blonde 'waitress' back to his chair, before taking a dignified walk away from the table. The other people watching the commotion decided that it is best that they do not meddle in this situation and went back to what they were doing before.

* * *

"Damn...he's the first 'trap' I've seen in my life." Robin said as she watched Boomer heading towards the customer.

"Yeah...he's the cutest boy I've ever known Robin." Bubbles agreed with her friend.

"If I never knew better, I would think that he is a girl all the way through."

"I dressed up as him once to trap his brothers and they never knew the difference." Bubbles pointed out.

Robin and Bubbles were initially shocked by what Madame Macron had done to to Boomer as she stripped him down and forced him to wear one of Lapin Noir's uniforms. His soft facial features, natural bobbed hair and his androgynous body shape made him look like a particularly attractive flat-chested young woman. Boomer was about to run amok when Madame Macron talked to him and showed him her best puppy dog eyes.

When the puppy dog eyes failed, Madame Macron showed him the greenbacks and he immediately relented. Thus with his blessings, Madame Macron had put some makeup on Boomer to complete his transformation into a woman for the night. To both their surprise, Boomer is also a very efficient and diligent worker as he worked through the night.

Boomer's good looks being a woman and his popularity sparked a tinge of jealousy on all the other Lapin Noir employees. Bubbles knew Boomer the best among her sisters when it comes to his abilities. Bubbles and Boomer are two sides of the same coin, and whatever she can do, he can do too. There are of course some significant divergences on how it was used, but the baseline is still the same. Somehow, fate would have it that their interests are also roughly similar. If they had not started out as enemies in the first place, they would be the best of childhood friends. Maybe even be a cute childhood couple, Bubbles thought.

 _The blonde one is still cute today,_ Bubbles thought as she took out her phone and snapped a picture of Boomer in the Lapin Noir dress,. Bubbles knew that this picture will be very useful in the future.

"Bubbles...where did you take out your phone?" Robin stared at Bubbles with disbelief, and Bubbles gives her brunette friend a wink.

* * *

[Lapin Noir, Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 9.30pm]

The crowd is now gone, and the cafe is now cleaning up and the accounts are being closed for the day. The waitresses are all in the locker rooms changing their dresses for their other clothing. Boomer on the other hand is still sitting outside one of the tables waiting for all the girls to change so that he can get out from this monstrosity. Boomer looked around the cafe, and he never knew that so much time had passed without him even knowing it.

"Young boy, good work today." A voice snapped Boomer out of his thoughts and the pudgy madame of the cafe is now sitting before him. He wanted to complain, but then the woman pushes an envelope before Boomer. Boomer looked at the envelope before facing the cafe owner.

"What's...what's this?" Boomer asked.

"Your pay. That's about three hours of pay and all the tips that you've gotten for the night. You honestly didn't think I would force you to work without any pay don't you?" The woman gives Boomer a gentle smile. Boomer is hesitant to take the envelope placed before him, and that caught the woman's attention.

"I find it odd that you didn't even take the tips that the customers gave you. Why is that?" Madame Macron asked the boy, though Boomer felt that she knew the answer to that question.

"I...I just don't usually get paid for honest work." Boomer voiced out, his androgynous voice having a much darker tint.

"I see...you're one of those boys from the streets. We know our own kind," The woman pushed the envelope closer towards Boomer, "And this time, you earn this fair and square in an honest job. Let this be a lesson for you to be an honest good worker, young boy."

"Thank you Ma'am." Boomer thanked the lady from the bottom of his heart.

The moment between Madame Macron and Boomer is rudely interrupted by the sound of gunfire and the sound of people screaming, causing both Madame Macron and Boomer to turn towards the sound of the noises. Boomer immediately pulled the pudgy lady down before a wave of bullets peppered through the store. Boomer immediately shielded the woman with his body, and his finely-attuned senses picked up a sickly sweet smell in the air that he had not smelled in a while.

"What's going on?!" Boomer heard Bubble's voice calling out amidst the chaos, and he yelled back in response.

"Candymen! Get everyone to safety!" Boomer yelled as he looked up to see that whatever it is that the Candymen are fighting, the Candymen are having a field day.

Without a moment's hesitation, Boomer decided that he will answer the call of duty.

As he stepped out towards the broken windows, he saw a Candyman charging towards a man with a gun, and Boomer decided that he will start with that Candyman first.


	85. Chapter 85: For The Worse

Chapter 85: For the Worse

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.30pm]

"Too quiet."

Professor Utonium is surprised at the utter silence of the Utonium residence. It is odd not having his daughters home by this time of the evening, but as a father with three superpowered teenage daughters, he understood that they rarely had much time to themselves. Besides, they all had told him nicely of what they are doing for the evening.

Bubbles is out shopping for her monthly comics in Little Tokyo, and he know his bubbly blue-eyed daughter will be shopping her socks off. Buttercup is off on her regular roadwork, and that often take hours due to her superhuman constitution. The one that surprised him is actually Blossom, for she is going out to meet a friend. Despite his reservations, he had decided to not tail his daughter. Professor Utonium knew that she is a level-headed young woman that is aware of her actions, and she is capable of taking care of herself.

His little girls are not little anymore, and Professor Utonium knew that he will one day have to let them go into the world to pursue their own path in life. Professor Utonium sighed before he took out his pipe. As odd as it can be, other than the girls, the oldest thing that he had cherished in this home is his pipe. The dark-haired man chuckled as he bite on his pipe, knowing that his only single vice is his other cherished object.

Professor Utonium was about to light up his pipe when the doorbell rang.

"Who in blazes could it be?" Professor Utonium asked himself as he walked towards the door.

" _A certain magical district attorney is at the door, sir._ " J.E.E.V.E.S replied, and Professor Utonium almost forgotten that he had the artificial intelligence constantly screening and guarding the home.

"Lilith?" Professor Utonium wondered, as usually there is no reason for her to be here unless she is with the Rowdyruff Boys or because of the Rowdyruff Boys.

Professor Utonium opened up the door to find the woman clad in shades of midnight blue, and she almost blended in with the twilight of the evening sky.

"Good evening Antonio." The woman greeted the man in the lab coat.

"Good evening Lilith, what brings you to this side of the neighborhood?" Professor Utonium queried.

* * *

[An Hour and a Half Ago, Townsville Organized Crime Terrorism Security Forces Headquarters, Downtown Townsville, 7.00pm]

 _District Attorney Lilith Morningstar had her hands full today._

 _As the most senior prosecutor in the district, and also the representative of the government responsible for presenting cases against individuals and groups who are suspected of breaking the law, initiating and directing further criminal investigations, guiding and recommending the sentencing of offenders, and participate in grand jury proceedings, Lilith Morningstar is a vital member of the TOCTSeF force as she is the one that allow the other disparate forces of the TOCTSeF to have a legal framework for a number of their operations within Townsville by issuing the search warrants needed for them to even mobilize in Townsville in the first place._

 _"So now that we get our man, what's next?" Her short black pixie hair matches her glasses, and her gray eyes is now focused on the agent. The district attorney is dressed up in a dark blue coat over a black collared-shirt and a Prussian blue tie. The fatigue on Miss Morningstar's face is not lost on everyone else's face._

 _"Right now it is one hell of a complicated situation." Another woman voiced her lament as she read through the reports with her hazel-brown eyes. The woman is a slender and well-build woman, with curly dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Her Grecian features informed others of her heritage, and she is dressed up in a well-fitting office attire of a dark grey suit, white collared shirt, and matching dark gray pants._

 _"Organized crime is your jurisdiction, Special Agent Anastas." Lilith stated to the woman, causing the other woman to breathe a sigh of unease._

 _Special Agent Cassandra Anastas is the most senior Federal Bureau of Investigation, or otherwise known as the F.B.I, operative on the field in Townsville. Due to the unique nature of TOCTSeF being a combined ad-hoc organization meant to combat the unique Townsville situation, the divisions of civilian law enforcement and military operations had been blurred. That confusion over various elements had caused them dearly in terms of inter-agency coordination and also efforts to stop the menace in Townsville._

 _Due to the political lashback that TOCTSeF had received over the past few months over their inability to curb the situation, the F.B.I had sent one of the most capable person in the F.B.I's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch or the C.C.R.S.B for short for the coordination between these disparate elements. For the military side, they had sent a Colonel Ryan Remington of the Department of Defense as her counterpart for the military. Then there are the Special Operations Group of the Central Intelligence Agency being mobilized in 'secret' in Townsville._

 _"You don't say. The Los Noches I know is a transnational Latino street gang, not a heavily-armed narco-guerrilas. " Special Agent Anastas understood the situation well. Her expertise on organized crime groups is valued for all the groups that comprised the confederation of crime known as the Lunatics is something she is familiar with. Or at least what she used to be familiar with. The groups that comprised the organizations had evolved beyond what they were before and had become something far worse._

 _"Seeing their capabilities, the threat is an insurgency in all but name. Two Abrams and five Strykers destroyed, with twenty of my men injured or dead while bringing the SWATs in. Using US military assets to bring in police is already an extraordinary situation, but having US military personnel casualties is unacceptable for the the Department of Defense." A blonde man in his forties looked at the documents with his dark brown eyes, and his olive-green uniform and decorations showed his military bearings._

 _"At least we got our first win in this maddening conflict, Colonel Remington." Another man spoke out, and everyone's attention turned towards a graying gruff-looking Caucasian man dressed in a bright green polo shirt. The man appears out of place in this particular meeting if it were not for the fact that he is also wearing a military harness over his polo shirt. The man rested his legs on the table, showing his matching bright green Crocs shoes._

 _"You can say that Special Agent Collins, you have no men killed." The Colonel said derisively to the special agent._

 _"But I am providing the safehouse that's holding Tiburon. My men is now the one at risk if anything is compromised." The gruff man answered back, his light gray eyes sharp and menacing despite his lazy-looking eyes._

 _"What is the current status on Tiburon?" Lilith decided to focus the attention away from the interservice rivalry and focus on the issue at hand._

 _"He ain't talking. That's bad in my books. Shows loyalty and confidence that his buddies will do something." The CIA special agent spoke out his mind._

 _The others sitting at the table understood what the man is pointing out. The organization always seem to know what they are planning to do, and they had been outmaneuvered, outgunned and outsmarted on several occasions. It is only by the virtue of the Powerpuff Girls that a number of these offenses are stopped in its tracks. The Rowdyruff Boys also had helped in the situation, but their previous allegiances to Mojo Jojo and Him had made them less reliable than the Powerpuff Girls. Indeed, the army and the CIA is wont to say that the individuals are compromised should not be part of the efforts to stem the tide._

 _"That's what you get when Him's is leading them." Miss Lilith Morningstar states as she turned on the projector._

 _The projector shows the image of a abnormally slender and lanky figure in crimson red, with a black widow's peak and lips and brilliant emerald eyes. The being had two pincers for hands, and is dressed up in what appeared to be a bright crimson red one piece mini dress with a black belt with pink fur surrounding its neck. To complete the overall appearance, the figure shown had long high-heel boots that appeared more like stilettos._

 _"Him, as it is commonly known, is not its real name. It is what people through the ages called Him." Lilith pointed out as she beckons the slides to move onward. An image of a stone carving showed a pictograms of people bowing down to a figure that appeared to be wearing a long dress with pincers for arms standing head above the other people._

 _"Wait...that thing...that thing is worshipped in Ancient Egypt?" Colonel Remington asked._

 _"No...this image dates back to the Mesopotamian period. Him's older than Ancient Egypt if you really want to know. This particular slab of stone was discovered last year. "_

 _"Son of a bitch." Special Agent Collins uttered in disbelief._

 _"Him's ancient is an understatement. We honestly don't know how old it is, just that we know that it has been with us for a long while. Still, this is what we are facing; a supernatural being with abilities and experience beyond anything imaginable to the human race. Him's one of the main villains that had engaged the Powerpuff Girls on countless incidents since they are born, and arguably their most powerful villain." Lilith moved the slides and played one of the videos embedded in the presentation slide._

 _The footage shows the entire city of Townsville attacking the Powerpuff Girls, while the girls are forced to fight the citizens of Townsville while Him watched. Another showed a footage of a gigantic puppet octopus destroying the town of Townsville. The third image showed Him cooperating with Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins and Princess Morbucks to defeat the Powerpuff Girls on several occasions._

 _"As you can see, Him has the ability to do many things, and has the ability to link and allow various parties to cooperate for a greater goal. Him has many peculiar capabilities that is a great cause of concern and among observed abilities are size manipulation, transformation, mind control, acid spit, eyebeams, energy blasts, practical invulnerability, magic, and negative feelings empowerment."_

 _"Hold on, what do you mean negative feelings empowerment?" The Colonel interjected._

 _"He can become stronger and more powerful by feeding off the negative emotions of people such as hatred, fear, pain, and so on." Lilith explained, and knew what the next line of questioning will be._

 _"You're saying that the present situation is only making Him's stronger?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _"And we're supposed to defeat it with lovey-dovey feelings." Special Agent Collins sarcastically mocked, but Lilith shot the man down quickly._

 _"No, that will not work as Him can manipulate those feelings to its advantage. Imagine this; I let you fall deeply and passionately in love with someone. Then I make something unfortunate happen to said someone. How would you feel, Major?" Lilith explained, and the the color left the Colonel's face._

 _"This is nonsense, that bastard could turn the whole population against us in a split second if it wanted to ." The Colonel is in a sort of mental shock, as he wondered how can such an unearthly being be defeated._

 _"And this are the observable abilities that we had gotten on Him so far. It is highly possible that Him has abilities we know nothing about." Lilith reluctantly revealed. Among all the people within the room, none of them know Him as well as herself; Her clan is essentially bound to service to Him._

 _"I would assume that we are compromised even as we speak. I want him moved out from the safehouse." Special Agent Collins voiced his concerns._

 _"It will be good for all our sakes." Lilith answered. Despite her misgivings of the CIA's tendencies to do their own thing, but this time the man is right; time is of the essence and they are losing as time drags on._

 _"If Tiburon escapes or rescued, how to we recoup from such an incident?" Special Agent Anastas asked the CIA operative._

 _"If things goes bad, we shoot the man in the head. If we can't have him, no one can. Better they lose an asset than we lose our credibility." The agent said in a stoic tone._

 _Lilith do not agree with the agent's plan, but the man did point out something that she already knew; either way, they will lose out unless the Powerpuff Girls intervene. However, Lilith will not be able to tell the girls of when Tiburon will be extracted if the CIA decided to move without informing the rest of the TOCTSeF council. Given the level of sophistication of how the Lunatic works, Lilith will not be surprised that the CIA will fail in their efforts. In fact, she is expecting it to fail._

 _"If that is all, I would like to take my leave." Lilith commented, knowing well that things will turn for the worse._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.32pm]

"I was driving by, and...um...thought I could drop by..." The lady explained awkwardly.

Professor Utonium is no idiot, for he can see the distress in Lilith's eyes, and she did not just drop by just by chance. However, Professor Utonium decided that he will not make a point out of her stressful life. Despite all of that, Professor Utonium admired her cold smoky mercury eyes as they sparkled like stars on a starry night, standing out from her otherwise dark blue and black attire. In many ways, Professor Utonium is unable to help himself from equating her appearance to an enchanted evening and he is often not a poetic person to begin with. Something in him decided that something is in the air and his lips decided to move in a way that surprised him, and his actions caught the bespectacled woman by surprise as well.

"Lilith, shall we go for a drink?"

"Come again?" Lilith raised her eyebrow, clearly not expecting such assertiveness from the middle-aged man.

"I may be a nerd, but I do enjoy a good drink." Professor Utonium winked.

"I honestly thought that you're a teetotaler."

"I just don't drink in front of my daughters, that's all." Professor Utonium grinned mischievously.

Professor Utonium decided to take his coat and before Lilith knew it, she is being led by the tall and dark man to his car. Professor Utonium entered into a silver third-generation Ford Escape, and started the engine. Lilith opened the door to the front passenger seat and placed herself in the seat and closed the door. Professor Utonium had a silent gasp before he reminded himself to close the car door. As Lilith watched silently, the square-jawed man reversed his car towards the road and turned his wheel to align the vehicle on the road before shifting gears and drove onward. The drive is an uneventful one, as Lilith had decided to look out the window to see the tranquil neighborhood that Professor Utonium called his home. The neighborhood is a much older neighborhood than the one that Lilith settled in, but in its own way it has its own rustic charm. Lilith soon noticed a lone standing building with several cards parked in the parking lots. The building itself is a rather unassuming building, if it were not for a medium-sized sign that informed those that are interested of what the building is.

"Well, here we are. Dan's Little Pub." Professor Utonium chuckled.

Professor Utonium effortlessly slide his car into one of the empty parking spaces and shifted his car to the parking gear before killing the engine. The man and woman disembarked from the car and they closed the car doors before talking the short walk to the entrance of the pub. Lilith soon come face to face with the large, heavy wooden door of the pub before Professor Utonium turned the knob and beckoned the bespectacled lady to enter into the pub. The gentle blast of warm air caressed Lilith's skin and her eyes adjusted itself to the warm, orange-yellow light of the establishment.

"Dan!" Professor Utonium called out, and Lilith's eyes are now homed in on the man at the bar.

"Utonium!" The man that answered is a rather broad and heavily-bearded man, with his reddish-brown beard contrasting with his dark blue tartan shirt. The man waved at Professor Utonium before several other people came up to Professor Utonium and greeted the square-jawed man. Lilith is surprised by the friendliness of the pub patrons and how it appear that the man of science (as she benignly joked about Professor Utonium) is a very popular figure. Some of the patrons even stopped their game of pool to greet the professor before returning back to their game.

"Got your fave spot right here for ya, Antonio!" The barkeep pointed towards a small round table near the jukebox.

"Appreciate it Dan!" Professor Utonium thanked the man as he make his way through the spaces between the wooden chairs and tables.

"Looks like you're quite the hotshot here." Lilith commented as they make their way to the table,trying her best to move about in the slightly crowded bar.

"Nah, I'm just the friendly neighborhood scientist." Professor Utonium chuckled, and Lilith can make out the sparkle in Utonium's dark eyes despite the rather warm and dark atmosphere of the pub. Lilith looked around the bar and she noticed that the bar is surprisingly homely despite the crowd and the chatter and laughter from the other patrons made the place truly come to live. As both individuals reached their seat, Lilith noticed the small lamp on the table illuminating the dark mahogany table covered with a square beige cloth. A petite young woman came to their table, ready to take their orders.

"So what can I get ya for tonight?"

"Let's see, I'll have a double cheeseburger with a side of fries and a rum and coke." Professor Utonium informed the waitress.

"I'll... Um...Ur...I will have the same thing." Lilith said meekly, and the petite waitress nodded.

"Alright, sure thing sugar." The woman smiled before making her move.

"Nothing much, but I like this joint. Near my home, and yet far enough that my girls won't come here unless there's crime in this pub." Professor Utonium highlighted.

"I really need to explore this city a little more." Lilith answered.

"Yeah... Took me a good while too actually." Professor Utonium leaned back a little and relaxed his shoulders.

"You're not from around here? "Lilith expressed a mild interest as she placed her elbows in the table.

"I was, when I was a kid. My family moved out to Pittsburg, and was hopping around a few places before I came back over here. I was even in the Orient for a time."

"Wow...which part? " Lilith is now particularly curious about where the man went.

"Kyoto, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, and a few other places. But I'll have to admit, there's no place like home." Professor Utonium laughed once more.

"Come to think about it...I never really knew what kind of scientist you are supposed to be. For some reason, everyone refer to you about almost everything which is really odd." Lilith asked, and her curiosity is not without any basis.

Throughout her time in Townsville, almost every meeting regarding anything resembling science will always involve Professor Utonium and his unsurpassed expertise is almost unprecedented in her professional career. From being a plain medical doctor to an applied quantum physics scientist, Professor Utonium is at home in every discipline and is often the leading expert in any panel he was asked to particulate in. If anything, the fact that he is able to make three artificial superpowered beings and the compound known as Chemical X and Antidote X is a proof of his utter genius (or madness).

"Haha, that is a very common question. If only I get a penny every time that was asked, I'll have a good fortune." Professor Utonium chuckled.

"Cute, but seriously what is your exact field of expertise anyway?" Lilith leaned forward towards Professor Utonium, curious about the man's exact profession.

"My main field revolves around applied quantum molecular biophysics. In layman's term, it will be that I study the practical side of the most minute energy levels in physics and how it affect living things. It requires me to be well-versed in biology, physics and chemistry to begin with."

"Sounds like a shorthand for all-purpose scientist, Antonio."

"That or magic. To be fair, it still feels like magic even to this day. Thanks to these set of skills my girls are here today, growing up and living." Professor Utonium beamed.

"It is, isn't it?" Lilith lifted her glass of rum and coke, and Professor Utonium followed suit in a toast. Their glasses clang as they hit each other, and it took a second for them to realize that a third glass joined in the toast.

" _Yes,_ _seeing your little ones grow up is such a beautiful thing_." Professor Utonium and Lilith Morningstar turned towards the source of the voice to see a figure they never expect to be sitting with them at the same table.

A dark-haired woman in a a white button-up blouse and dark, almost black, emerald blazer with gold satin lining and long pants sat before them, holding a highball glass with a bright red liquid within in one hand. The woman wore a dark, square, frameless sunglasses with smooth angles and a white dove brooch with her black hair tied up in a bun with a large fringe sweeping to the left. As the woman took her sunglasses off, the bright and vivid emerald irises of the woman revealed to Professor Utonium and Lilith of the identity of their unexpected guest.

"Him." Professor Utonium and Lilith called out at once, their voices being the only voice being heard. Lilith immediately looked around to see that the bar is now devoid of people.

" _Been ages since I saw you! Must be real busy with the girls huh? Having kids is a full-time job in itself. And having teenagers is like having your own reality show_." The woman asked the Professor.

"What are you doing here?" Professor Utonium asked, trying to keep his cool despite the jarring and surreal situation.

" _Can't I have a drink in a bar?_ ""

"Not if you make people disappear." The dark-haired man riposted.

" _Point taken._ " The woman took a sip from the highball glass.

"You never appear without a good reason...what do you want?" Lilith asked.

" _Simple really; I'm just want to speak to both of you._ "

"Both...of...us?"

" _Yes,_ _it is not easy to find two bright people in this town that can understand me,"_ Him pointed towards the Professor first before turning towards the gray eyed woman, _"like you two."_ The frown on the demon's face showed its world-weariness, and this is a cause of alarm in both Professor Utonium and Lilith.

Both of them had never seen Him being melancholic before, and to see such an expression signalled something dark and unfathomable within both of them. The demon drank the rest of its highball before slamming it on the table, causing Professor Utonium and Lilith Morningstar to jump instinctively. The empty highball glass soon started to refill itself with a bright red liquid, the liquid materializing from an unknown eldritch realm beyond the scientific understanding of mortals. The demon gulped the entire drink once more and slammed the glass on the table once more.

" _Both of you are above the common, vulgar, weak licentious crowd. But the rest...the rest...He made the Devil, like myself, so much stronger than a man."_ A pair of emerald green eyes are now piercing into the souls of Professor Utonium and Lilith Morningstar.

 _"But it is not my fault, I'm not to blame. It is in God's plan to lit the fire in man's skin, blazing men out of control. The burning desire turning men to sin._ " The demon slurred, and Professor Utonium is convinced that the demon is drunk. Professor Utonium did not muster the courage to point it out the the demon, knowing well that it is best to not piss off an entity that can warp reality to its own whim.

"Then why stoke it Him? Why light the fire within man's soul?" Lilith asked the demon, unsure of what the demon wanted.

" _Hellfire, dark fire, now it is man's turn. But why did He let my children have to choose too?_ " Professor Utonium observed the demon further and there is something that he had never seen before. He had seen such eyes before, and indeed Utonium had seen such eyes before in the mirror.

When Bubbles hugged him in fear when she is afraid of the dark.

When Buttercup fought with him and not talk to him for days.

When Blossom have doubt in herself and started closing herself.

When Professor Utonium watched his girls fight against threats that would cause lesser parents to utterly go mad.

Professor Utonium knew what Him is experiencing right now, but to see it on an almighty demon is something else entirely. The veiled fog of deceit and manipulation is not present in the demon's tone and if Professor Utonium dared to think, it appeared that the demon is being honest for once in its existence. Professor Utonium knew the name of this emotion, but he dared not say it.

However Professor Utonium is not given a choice.

" _Tell me, Utonium. Tell me why my children's' enraged eyes still scorch my soul."_ Him asked solemnly.  
 _  
_"Perhaps it is because you're the one who sent the flames to sear their flesh and bone. Like a siren casting her spell and letting them taste the fires of hell." Professor Utonium answered, surprised at how the words slipped out from his lips effortlessly.

" _Perhaps. Perhaps. May God have mercy on them. May God have mercy on my soul._ _But they will be mine or the world shall burn."_

Professor Utonium and Lilith Morningstar found themselves surrounded once more with a crowded pub, and the demon is gone. However, the atmosphere of the pub is no longer a cheerful place and everyone's attention is now upon the television screens. Both individuals turned their attention towards the screen, knowing well that there can be only one reason why the patrons of the bar are watching the screens. The emotion that Professor Utonium saw in Him's eyes are now etched on the spectators' eyes as they watched the screen.


	86. Chapter 86: Tokyo Showdown

Chapter 86: Tokyo Showdown

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, Time Unknown]

A sound of a switch being flipped is heard in the darkness before the room illuminated to reveal a man bound to a chair surrounded by racks of liquor. The man being bound on the chair is a middle aged Hispanic man wearing a bloodied wifebeater, and the man's face is bruised and cut. The most distinctive feature of the man is face tattoo of a snarling crescent moon with the eyes and mouth of the snarling crescent moon formed from his own mouth and eye. A walked up to the tattooed man,an impressively build man with dark skin, black hair and brown eyes wearing a white t-shirt with green cargo pants. A bucket of water with plenty of ice cubes is held in the hands of the African-American man.

"Rise and shine sugar!" With a swift motion, the muscled man poured the bucket of ice water on the Hispanic man.

"GAAAAHHHHHH!" The Hispanic man gasped with shock as his body received the shock from both the extreme cold and pain from being splashed by the cold water.

"Now that' you're awake, let's continue from where we last left off." The black man looked around before he spotted what he wanted to look for. The man walked up to the chair and took the chair in his other arm before bringing it just a feet away from his captive.

"From where I last said your momma's gonna get it?" The Hispanic man mocked. The other man swung the bucket towards the man's face, hitting the Hispanic man in the face with such force that the bucket dented. The blood from the impact splattered on both men's face and body, and the black man held on the dented bucket as he sat on his chair.

"Yeah, that one." The black man puts down the bucket on the floor, the blood and condensation from the bucket mixed together and pooled down on the floor.

"You know my answer is the same all the time." The Hispanic man said defiantly despite his bloodied condition.

"And that answer can't fly, _Tiburon._ You know that." The Black man pointed out.

"Los Noches don't snitch and you _Gura_ all want us to snitch. It is like asking a whale to run. Whales got no legs, _Gura_. You can't make a whale walk on land, let alone run." The man known as _Tiburon_ laughed, but the other man appear to be not impressed with the gangster's reasoning.

"Then explain to me why you're here unless someone ratted you out." The Black man pointed out, but his attempt at causing a crack in the gangster's armor backfired.

"That's because I was asked to, Captain Martin Jameson." The black man's eyes opened wide as the Hispanic gangster mentioned the name.

"How'd you know my name?" The man stood up, inadvertently pushing his chair back down on the ground.

"Los Noches never let themselves captured unless we are told to. We also wipe our enemies unless told not to. Why do you think you can even get me out with some survivors in the first place huh? I let myself be captured to smoke out rats like you! Now that we know that _culos_ like you exist, you better be prepared, and most important of all; _be afraid._ " The bald man said in an intimidatingly confident manner, in contrast to his present situation of being bound to a chair.

The African-American man walked away as the Hispanic gangster started to chuckle that soon turned into a cackling laughter. The Hispanic gangster known as _Tiburon_ burst into a maniacal and hysteric laughter as the lights in the room went out.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsvile, Time Unknown]

"What took you so long, Captain Jameson?"

The bald Hispanic gangster is flanked by three men; a large burly African-American build like a mountain flanked by a well-build white Caucasian man wearing aviator sunglasses and a dark olive green shirt with a brown-reddish beard and a matching olive green hat looked at the man. The bald gangster noticed that each one of his captors had a earpiece in their ears, and he knew what is about to happen next.

"We're moving you today, _Tiburon._ " The gruff-looking man informed the Latino man.

"So, you pussied out because you can't get shit outta me." The bald gangster mocked.

"You better watch your mouth." The black man snarled.

"Easy there. He's not worth it." The man in the aviator glasses said calmly and sternly.

"I'm worth more than both of you cos I got a pair of balls, unlike you two." The bald man chuckled, and the man with the sunglasses just barely held back his partner from trying to attack the bound man.

"Yeah, hold your friend back like that Major Wade Reynolds. He'll make it far too obvious that you guys are screwed." The Caucasian man removed his sunglasses to reveal a pair of concerned light green eyes as the bald man laughed hysterically. The man realized the severity of the situation they are in when the Latino gangster had uttered his real name. As a Special Forces Operator, his identity is more or less a state secret and no one is suppose to know that he exist. And for that matter, his team.

"You know a lot about us. I am impressed Tiburon." The man with the beard folded his arms as he spoke to the bald gangster.

"He who knows best, bleeds less. Right about now, you'll know how much you are bleeding." As if on cue, the earpiece came alive.

"Eagle Five to Eagle One! Eagle Five to Eagle One! We've got a situation! Over!" The voice ringing through the earpiece belonged to a young man, and he appeared to be particularly distressed. Major Reynolds walked away from the gangster and started speaking through the communication piece.

"Eagle One to Eagle Five, status report. Over."

"Eagle One, Fish Tank is missing, and Eagle Eight is not responding, Over!"

"Eagle Five, any status on the rest of the flock? Over." Major Reynolds asked. The situation had indeed went wrong in so many ways. No one is supposed to know about the extraction vehicle and the news of the extraction vehicle going missing with one of their team members bode ill for their operations. He will have to assume that one of their operators is lost and will have to move on to alternative plans. But first He will need to know how many of her team operators are still alive.

"Eagle Three, Eagle Six and Eagle Seven are in the Waterhole, but Eagle Four is nowhere in sight! Over!" Major Reynolds projects a stoic expression despite the news that their sniping specialist is missing. That means that if the enemy had longer ranged weapons, they will be at a disadvantage. The situation had gone critical, for it appeared that the enemy had started their own operations. The only option is to evacuate as soon as possible with their objective.

"Eagle Five, get Bird Nest to give us a bird and fast. Over."

"Roger that, Eagle One! Over!" The communications ended, and the man turned towards the bald man tied up on the chair. The bald gangster had gained a measure of power within that short span of time, and the bound man making it clear who is truly the one in trouble.

"Too late, Wade. I don't care how tough you are, but Los Noches is already embedding the knife into you. Be afraid."

"Eagle One to Eagle Flock, get ready to leave Waterhole. We will be moving out now. Over."

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 9.30pm]

Murcielargo watched as a group of people exited the small alleyway beside a bar with a stylized Japanese courtesan on its signboards. The masked man saw a two men flanking a hooded individual; a bearded Caucasian person and a large, burly person of African descent. Soon enough, several more individuals exited the alleyway and they walked a short distance away from the trio. The trio blended themselves into the walking pedestrians of Little Tokyo and if it were not for Murcielargo's continued surveillance, they would have succeeded. Alas, Murcielargo had planned for such a matter in mind. His subordinates had been mobilized to neutralized the other elements of this particular splinter group. A ringtone signalled to Murcielargo that his men had successfully completed their task, and he is vindicated as he answered the call.

" _Jefe_ , it is done."

"Good. Get the ones that have _Tiburon._ " Murcielargo cuts the call, and Murcielargo puts an earpiece on and listened in on the special operatives' communication with each other. The exact earpiece of one of the operatives that he had personally taken care of that is part of the group he is now hunting alongside his men.

"Bird Nest, this is Eagle One. Over." Murcielargo saw the bearded man's lips moving and Murcielargo slowly strolled as he continued on observing.

"This is Bird Nest, Eagle One. What is the situation, over?" Another voice came alive in Murcielargo's ear, and Murcielargo observed the development of the situation.

"Bird Nest, Fish Tank is missing and Eagle Eight and Eagle Four are MIA. Over." The man's voice is calm, but Murcielargo also picked up a tone of urgency in the man's voice.

"Eagle One, we have received intel that Fish Tank had been ambushed and neutralized. Over." A hushed curse is heard over the communication feed, but the voice continued on speaking.

"Bird Nest, I need backup ASAP. My flock's identity is compromised. Over." Murcielargo smiled, satisfied that his quarry knew that they are being hunted like the dogs they are. Despite Murcielargo's desire to reveal himself over their communication channel, but he wanted to hear their despair as his subordinates slowly tighten the noose around their necks.

"Bird Nest, this is Eagle Three. Spotting possible threats at three o'clock, five o'clock and eight o'clock closing in on the flock. Over."

"Bird Nest, this is Eagle Six. Permission to engage." A feminine voice interrupted over the communication channel.

"Eagle Six, Do not engage unless your flock is attacked. Over."

"Bird Nest, Bird Nest, this is Eagle Seven, I am spotting several possible threats on the rooftops trailing our flock! Over!"

Murcierlargo watched as several of his men are now moving across the rooftop like natural hunters over the rooftops. Vaulting, swinging, jumping, rolling and running across the rooftops as if it is second-nature. Los Noches had always been an urban gang, and their mastery of moving in such environments is a trait that Los Noches members take pride in. Even with their weapons on them, their poise and grace of movement is not affected.

"Bird Nest, Bird Nest, This is Eagle Five, I saw armed threats on the rooftops, permission to engage. Over."

"Negative, Eagle Five, Negative."

 _Let me make this easier for them_ , Murcielargo decided that he should reward his men by initiating the offensive himself. Murcielargo pointed his finger towards the sky, and fired a beam from his fingers. The communication channel immediately sprang to live, and the frantric communication between the special operatives is nothing short of exhilarating for Murcielargo.

"Shit! What the hell was that!"

"Bird Nest, Bird Nest, we saw a beam shot towards the sky! We-" Immediately the sound of gunfire immediately erupted and the panicked screaming of people soon reverberated throughout the street.

"Bird Nest, Contact! Contact!"

"Bird Nest, Bird Nest! Surrounded and need help!"

"Eagle One, what is the status of the package? Over?"

"Bird Nest, we have the package intact, but we need to evac now!"

"Eagle One, new transport will be coming in ETA T-Minus Twenty Minutes."

"Bird Nest, we do not have twenty minutes!"

"Eagle One, stay with the package."

"Bird Nest, Candymen! Candymen!"

Murcielargo watched with glee as several of his men transformed into hulking red monstrous beings and started charging towards the other special operatives and it is then that the carnage truly began in earnest. The sound of the operatives screaming as they were bludgeoned by the enhanced brutes and being treat as nothing more than insects is satisfying to Murcielargo, and their operation to take back one of their members will be a short one.

However, Murcielargo's satisfaction is cut short when a bolt of cobalt blue lightning bolted out from one of the buildings and struck one of the red behemoth. The Candyman was struck with such force that the behemoth was thrown into another building, causing a portion of the building to collapse. Murcielago was taken aback by the sudden interference and his cloudy gray eyes soon turned towards this unwanted and unexpected wrench in his operations. To his surprise, he is faced with what appeared to be a very bizarre sight.

A feminine figure in a blonde bob haircut is standing in the middle of the street in a strapless black merry widow corset teddy with a very short white frilly skirt and a fluffy cottontail, while wearing a white collar and matching white cuffs with a black bowtie and matching black sheer to waist pantyhose. To make it all the more bizarre, the figure is also wearing black bunny ears. Upon closer examination, Murcielago saw a scar on the chest of the mysterious figure and the person's legs are encased in greaves with interwoven sheets of plates with several wing-like projections covering several small thruster-like nozzles on the calves. Murcielago's puzzlement is soon answered when the figure started to materialize two bat-like energy projections on each hand with a chain of electrical energy connecting the two projections and the bob haircut started to raise up and spiked itself in a certain way that Murcielago knew the identity of the person.

Seeing that things will turn in an unexpected manner, Murcielago took out a small vial with several crystalline orbs placed within. With a flick of his thumb, the cover to the vial opened up and Murcielago opened his mouth and allowed one of the orbs into his mouth. Murcielago bit hard into the candy, causing the candy to crack and his skin soon started to turn scarlet-red. and his dark hair soon turned into a darker shade of red as well. His cloudy gray eyes started to glow into a luminescent silver as he closed the cap of the vial.

"Boomer." Murcielago answered coldly, slighted that the young Rowdyruff Boy is once again in his way. In addition, Murcielago and Boomer have a score to settle.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 10.03pm]

Boomer clearly had never expected to fight in such an outfit, and the eyes of the bystanders staring at him further enforced that perception.

"This is not a practical battle get up at all." Boomer said to himself as he looked down on his Lapin Noir's bunny suit costume .

Consisting of a strapless black merry widow corset teddy with a very short white frilly skirt and a fluffy cottontail, with a white collar and cuffs matched with a black bow tie, matching black pantyhose and black bunny ears, the outfit is meant for fanservice of the Lapin Noir female waitresses. However, Boomer is also clad with one of Mojo Jojo's Regalia combat equipment, whom Boomer had affectionately called Hermie. Designed with Boomer's particular speedster attributes, the greaves are meant to further accelerate Boomer's already prodigious speed further. The wing-like projections are meant to stabilization when Boomer speeds up and the intakes and thrusters located around his calves are there to funnel Boomer's electrical energy to generate further thrust via ramjet. Combined with his bat-like energy weapons, of which Boomer dubbed his Battlers, Boomer is armed to take on any threats.

Boomer have not gotten the chance to surveil his surroundings before his body reflexively stepped back and barely avoiding a beam by mere inches from his face. Simultaneously, Boomer's body reacted by throwing one of his Battlers towards the source of the beam. A loud shocking sound and a yell confirmed Boomer's mark and with a yank, the energy projection came back to Boomer's hand on command. Boomer's body moved instinctively once more as a hail of bullets and beams descended on him, his body moving in such an unnatural dodging pattern that it belies belief that a human can ever move in such a manner.  
For Boomer, it feels like he is dancing to the beat of disco music.

 _Let me help you there_ , and the air is filled with a funky disco music to accompany the battle.

"Might as well." Boomer said to himself as he started singing the lyrics to "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees as he dodges the various projectiles and beams coming his way.

Seeing the threat, the other crooks opened fire to the Rowdyruff Boy dressed in a women's bunny outfit, but to their disbelief Boomer seem to have a lot of fun dodging all their weapon fire, incorporating disco dancing moves with his dodges.

 _Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk_

 _I'm a woman's man, no time to talk_

 _Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around_

 _Since I was born_

 _And now it's alright, it's okay_

 _And you may look the other way_

 _We can try to understand_

 _The New York Times' effect on man_

Unfortunately for them, Boomer is also swinging his Battlers around his body as he dodged the attacks to build up considerable speed before releasing the bat-like energy projections to strike at them from any angle. From wrapping itself around an object and grabbing away from the crooks to wrapping around the crook's limbs and throwing them around, Boomer is using the Battlers like an extension of his own body as they are used like meteor hammers and nunchakus to attack his opponents. Several of the crooks tried to attack him in close combat, but to no avail.

 _Well now, I get low and I get high_

 _And if I can't get either, I really try_

 _Got the wings of heaven on my shoes_

 _I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose_

 _You know it's alright, it's okay_

 _I'll live to see another day_

 _We can try to understand_

 _The New York Times' effect on man_

The Candyman that Boomer knocked away earlier joined back into the fray and started swinging several hook punches and uppercuts. Boomer avoided without even breaking a sweat as he got his groove on in dodging the attacks, all while counterattacking all the ranged fire that is coming his way. Soon enough the initially dangerous scene soon became a festive one as the distraught folks of Townsville started clapping their hands to the beat of the music as Boomer started breaking out his moves. The attacks became more like a performance as Boomer dodged and boogied his way in this encounter.

 _Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me_

 _Somebody help me, yeah_

 _Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me, yeah_

 _I'm stayin' alive_

Boomer did a split as the Candyman threw a straight punch, only for Boomer to strike at the Candyman's crotch with his Battlers. Before the being can even react, Boomer discharged a shock of electrical energy towards the Candyman's groins and the sudden dispersal of so much electrical energy caused an explosion. The Candyman immediately collapsed on the ground, causing the onlookers to give a pained expression as a cry of "Dayum!" is heard in the air.

 _Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother_

 _You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive_

 _Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'_

 _And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive_

 _Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive_

 _Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive_

Boomer noticed that the attacks is slowing down, and soon enough the attacks stopped once and for all. It is also by chance that he stopped in with an arm stretched out and hand pointing toward the sky with his legs spread out wide. A thunderous applause from the citizens from Townsville came shortly after with the sound of whistling and cheering for the Rowdyruff Boy.

 _Zeus Mode FTW!_

Boomer's _Zeus_ _Mode_ , as he dubbed it, is an ability of Boomer where he basically programs his bio-electrical abilities to send an electric signal to his muscles so as to instantly react to a threat, bypassing the comparatively slow nervous system. This ability allow Boomer to program his movements for certain responses and/or retain conscious control of his movements, boosting it consciously as needed. In practice, this ability makes Boomer's reaction and speed preternatural. Boomer had practiced on this mode even more ever since his first combat use, and he had gotten a better hang of his ability. Boomer felt particularly good in this situation despite his particularly embarrassing clothing.

"Hello, _gringo._ "

Boomer saw a figure with a white bat-like mask is now walking towards him clad in a white outfit, consisting of a trench coat, collarless shirt, pants and shoes. The black sash wrapped around his trench coat broke the wholy white monotonous clothing and the man's long hair glowed with a bright crimson. Where the figure came out from is anyone's guess, for no one expected the Lunatic lieutenant to appear out of nowhere.

"New mask." Boomer noticed that the mask is even more intimidating than before and it appear almost demon-like in appearance. The silver eyes of the Lunatic scanned Boomer for a moment, and the man snidely chuckled.

"New dress." The bat-masked man pointed out.

"Screw you." Boomer flipped the bird towards Murcielago.

"Screw you back." Murcielago flipped the bird back.

"Screw you back back." Boomer other hand is now showing the same gesture.

"Screw you back back back." Murcielago did the same gesture.

"Screw you back back back back." Boomer did an Italian Salute.

"Screw you back back back ba-wait a minute, why am I doing this with you?" The bat-masked villain was about to reply when he realized his folly, and Boomer chuckled.

"Because you're a dumbass." The Hispanic gangsters took offence to Boomer's words and suddenly to Boomer's disbelief, the colors of the world fade away leaving Boomer and the surroundings as black outlines on an otherwise white background. To make matters more bizarre, the outline of of himself and his surroundings looked like a pencil sketch and as he moved, Boomer felt uneasy as his arms are moving as if it is a rotoscope animation.

In a puff of gray smoke, the bat-masked gangster disappeared only to reappear before a group of men. Boomer turned around only to see two of the men taking out their weapon and aiming them at the Lunatic. One of them appear to be a bearded man with aviator sunglasses while the other appears to be a burly African-American man. The black man fired his weapon towards Murcielago, and to his horror Murcielago had just waved the bullet aside.

 _No, he wiped it off,_ Boomer realized as the spot where Murcielago had just waved the bullet had rubbed marks in the air. Before the black man can even respond with another shot, the bat-masked villain wiped the man's face off. The smear that was once the man's face stayed in the air as the black soldier's body knelt on the ground limply before falling face first on the ground.

"I just swiped left." Murcielago said candidly.

Boomer wanted to move until his body reflexively moved from a vicious hook that came out of nowhere. If there is one thing that Boomer hated about his Zeus Mode, it will be that he need to manually turn it off in order to prevent it overriding his movements. Alas, Boomer will still need his body to be in his Zeus Mode as the flurry of blows flew inches away from his body and face as he dodged them just a hair breadths away from his watched as his body preternaturally dodge the attacks of the Candyman, wondering why the Lunatic stopped before these men. His hearing soon picked up on the dialogue between the men.

" _Hola Murcielago_." To Boomer's surprise, the man beside the bearded men did not appear to be fazed by Murcielago's appearance.

" _Te ves como una mierda."_ Boomer noticed that Murcielago had responded in kind to the man in the hoodie, commenting on his bad shape.

" _El servicio de habitación de mierda de estos imbéciles."_ The man responded, and Boomer knew of what they had done to the man for him to look bad.

 _"_ And you must be Major Wade Reynolds, the man that gave my friend such service in the first place." Murcielago turned his attention to the bearded man.

"Damn... You really do know who I am. " The bearded major replied with a nervous chuckle.

 _That is bad_ , Boomer thought as he sensed a certain amount of antagonism from the masked man. Boomer decided that he had no time to play with the Candyman. The blonde hair of the Rowdyruff Boy started to raise up and and the electrical current started to spark out from the ends of his hair. Boomer stabbed the ends of his pure energy weapons into the groin of the Candyman, causing the red hulking figure to collapse immediately on the ground. In a flash of lightning, Boomer struck across the street to face the bat-masked Hispanic.

Boomer's body reacted before his mind even registered Murcielago's attack, and the air before Boomer was wiped away. Boomer's body immediately threw the electric bat-like apparition towards his opponent causing his opponent to jump away moments before the electrical projectile slams into the building explosively. Boomer took the opportunity to grab the bearded man and the hooded man away and sped away in a streak of lightning only to end up on one of the rooftops.

This exchange happened within the span of a few seconds.

"Are you guys al-Oh." Boomer looked upon the two individuals and both individuals are jerking and drooling while their eyes looked at the young man. It appeared that they are shocked by the electricity emanating from Boomer's body. The rooftop ground beneath Boomer rocked and Boomer turned around to see a chain of explosions detonating around the area where Murcielago retreated to.

"Boomer!" A youthful girl's voice turned Boomer's attention around and he saw the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl landing beside him with a ring of plasma energy orbs floating around her, dressed in the bunny suit with the frilly dress. It appear that Murcielago is still alive if Bubbles still looked like a real-life sketch.

"Took your sweet time!"

"What is going on Boomer? Why do we look like we just came out from an A-Ha music video?!"

"That's because that stupid bat just made it so! He just wiped someone's face off!"

"What about those two?" Bubbles asked as her eyes saw the two stunned men.

"I-ur...I didn't know my body is zapping them when I took them here!"

A beam of gray came between Boomer and Bubbles and both teenagers turned to face a visibly annoyed opponent. The Hispanic gang lord pointed all his fingers towards them, and Bubbles immediately spread her plasma orbs between the Lunatic and themselves.

"Take cover!" Bubbles cried out before the beam struck the force field explosively.


	87. Chapter 87: A Bat Out Of Hell

Chapter 87: A Bat Out Of Hell

 _The City of Townsville._

 _Little Tokyo is now ablaze as the battle between Murcielargo, Bubbles and Boomer escalated in earnest. The citizens of Townsville that managed to escape the early stages of the battle told of a surreal world forming itself at the heart of Little Tokyo; A world that appeared to be a sketch of an artist drawing a storyboard and where everything had lost color. A madness given form, and the schizophrenic experience had driven many to mentally collapse. Yet, there are still many that are trapped in the epicenter of the battle._

 _As the reactionary forces attempted to enter into the battle zone to evacuate the civilians, there is only one thought on everyone's mind; How bad will it escalate?_

* * *

Murcielago's beams struck its target and the explosion rocked the earth beneath his feet and the dust and debris engulfed the rooftop. The descending cloud of dust caused Murcielago to lose sight of his targets. However, rather than figuring out if he had hit his target, the Lunatic threw another volley of beams towards the same rooftop, creating another wave of explosion.

Followed by another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

The building soon started to collapse from the sheer punishment it had received, but it appeared that the bat-masked man cared little about the collapsing building. The streets of Little Tokyo is soon clouded by the dust from the ruined building, and everything is soon clouded by the pulverized particles of the destroyed building. Murcielargo cursed as his eyes failed to spot his opponents amidst the stagnant cloud of dust. Before the masked man can even regain his bearings, something flew past Murcielago's head, and it took him another second to realize that he had just inadverted had a close call with an attack.

"YOU MISSED!" An innocent-sounding female voice yelled out, displaying her dismay.

"YOU TRY HITTING SOMEONE IN THIS STUPID CLOUD YOU DUMB BLONDE!" Another voice yelled back, this time a more androgynous boyish voice.

"YOU'RE A BLONDE TOO!" The female voice yelled back, not pleased by the name-calling.

"I KNOW I'M A BLONDE, BUT I'M SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW I'M DUMB UNLIKE YOU!" The boyish voice snarked back.

"YOU DUMB BLONDES ARE GONNA GET IT!" Murcielargo roared and he threw a barrage of beams towards the direction of the attack.

"YOU DID NOT JUST CHIP MY NAIL!" The girlish voice expressed her displeasure and anyone with a brain cell can sense her immediate rage. In response, a large wall flew towards Murcielargo, forcing the masked man to jumped out of the way. The part of the building crashed towards the building behind Murcielargo, causing part of the building to collapse.

"MISSED ME YOU BITCH!" Murcielargo taunted, but he soon regretted it as a piece of brick crashed towards the masked man's face. The bat-masked man was dazed for a moment, but he immediately immediately started running sideways as several more projectiles barely missed the Lunatic. Each attack missed the Lunatic by mere inches, and before long the attack only intensified.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" The female voice roared.

"FUCK NO!" Murcielago retaliated by firing more beams, but it appeared that his opponent is also moving about and his attacks appear to miss its mark.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT!" An orb soon sped towards his face and he was forced to wipe it off with a swipe of his hand. However several more orbs came crashing in and Murcielago was forced to leap away. In retaliation, the bat-masked gangster fired back several more beams and explosions erupted from behind Murcielago and also the direction where he had fired his beam. Within seconds, a section of Little Tokyo soon turned into an explosive shooting gallery.

 _Smart_ , Murcielago commented on the tactics being used by his opponents. His _Luz De La Luna_ is weak against ranged attacks and his close-ranged 'wiping' ability will be negated by the range and sheer amount of projectiles thrown at him.

The bystanders were soon forced to evacuate the brutal firefight between the superhumans but collateral damage is none of Murcielago's concern. Anything that stands in his way is fair game to the Lunatic. This view is not shared by his opponents and he will make sure that he will use that weakness to his advantage. Murcielago started to move towards the fleeing crowd, and as he had anticipated the attacks started to reduce in intensity. Such is the woes of having virtues in a virtueless world, as Murcielargo is led to believe.

However something else took the Hispanic gang lord by surprise.

"GOTCHA!" The voices of Bubbles and Boomer yelled out at the same time.

"What th-" Murcielargo was caught by a chain of plasma orbs and a chain of electrical current wrapping itself around his body and one of his arms . Murcielago did not even have time to react before he was pulled into the fog of dust. Murcielago felt the sudden burst of acceleration before his body felt the impact of two fists crashing to his chest. The shock of the pain coursed through his body and his body was blown back by the force of the blow. The recoil pulled him away from the source of the blows but he felt the tension from the bindings around his body tightening and he is soon pulled back towards the source of the attacks.

However this time he is prepared.

With a flick of his unbound arm, Murcielago wiped off the chain of plasma orbs and also the chain of electrical current, pointing all his fingers towards the cloud of dust. The bat-masked gangster fired a streak of ten gray beams from his fingertips that soon resulted in a chorus of explosion, causing a great gust of dust to blow towards him. Murcielago took a deep breath only to feel a excruciatingly stinging pain from his chest as he took in the dusty air into his lungs.

 _My ribs are broken and something else is messed up,_ Murcielargo posited. Before Murcielago can assess the damage done to his body, a streak of light blue light and a bolt of cobalt blue lightning flashed out from the dust and arches towards Murcielargo.

"Fuck." Murcielargo cursed.

* * *

Bubbles and Boomer were caught by surprise as a sudden explosion erupted, stopping them in their tracks. The blast blew a gust of wind filled with dust over the two individuals, coating them with a brownish-grey color. Boomer coughed as some of the dust entered into his nose and mouth and he ascended quickly to avoid taking in more irritants in his respiratory system. Boomer looked down only to see a curtain of dust cloud enveloping a part of Little Tokyo and Boomer is impressed that their fight had caused such a phenomenon.

"You alright Boomer?" Boomer heard an innocent-sounding voice with child-like qualities calling out to him and Boomer finally laid his eyes on Bubbles for the first time since the dust cloud shielded his vision.

The platinum blonde Powerpuff Girl's bunny maid outfit is replaced by a dress-like battle suit with a passing resemblance to the Powerpuff Girl's original dress. Boomer observed with interest that the armor even have the original black band around their waist represented on the armor with a black stripe around her abdomen like a corset. The light shaded suit is layered and armored in such a way that it appear more like an item of clothing.

"Nice." Boomer complimented, but Bubbles paid no heed.

"Where did he go?" Bubbles asked as her sky-blue eyes surveilled her surroundings, enclosed in a helmet with wo teardrop-shaped attachments to the side of her head and a floating white ring disc hovered behind her back with several nodes in them.

"No idea." Boomer shrugged as he looked at his own outfit. A little torn here and there, but decent enough that he is not showing any naughty bits. Honestly, he wished that Mojo Jojo made a more fuller suit like what Bubbles is sporting.

"Be careful Bubbles, he is still around." A youthful voice spoke, causing Boomer's eyes to open wide with surprise.

"I know. We still look like art sketches." Bubbles acknowledged the advice as she walked back towards where they came from, her jet black boot-like leg armor crushing some of the smaller rubble beneath it.

"Wait...did your suit just talked to you?" Boomer asked Bubbles, trailing shortly behind her.

"Oh yeah, you guys haven't met yet. Boomer, Caspar. Caspar, Boomer." Bubbles briefly introduced Boomer to her armor and vice versa. A pale light pulsed around the armor like glowing vein, and her arms are encased in form-fitting full-length light gray glove gauntlets, while her shoulders are covered with white fabric -like armor.

"Greetings!" The suit answered.

"Your suit is so badass." Boomer's envy revealed itself. However, Bubbles can ill-afford to feel smug about it, and instead she stopped by a building with a gaping hole by its side.

"I don't think he's gone yet." Bubbles reached a partially ruined building and entered into the gaping hole. Boomer instinctively took watch and scanned his surroundings, and his ears picked up on the sound of Bubbles picking up something.

"But where could he be?" Boomer asked. A few moments later, Bubbles emerged with a bearded man in one arm and a bald man with a tattooed face on the other.

"No idea, but we need to get out of here before he rear his head again." Bubbles passed the tattooed man to Boomer. Boomer dematerialized one of his energy bats and took the man with his free hand.

"So where do we go now?" Boomer asked the Powerpuff Girl.

Bubbles was about to answer Boomer when both of them picked up on the low booming sound reverberating from beneath them. The teenagers' split-second reflexes is the only thing preventing them from being engulfed by the exploding ground below as they flew up to the sky. The hole below is now a black abyss, and the ink-black hole is unnaturally black. The unnatural white background turned into pure pitch-black darkness and the only thing separating the people and buildings from the darkness is their white outline.

 _ **Luz De La** **Obscuras**_ **.**

"Ah shit!" Boomer cursed.

Bubbles immediately reformed her orbs to envelop them in a polygonal structure with what appeared to be lines forming between the sounds of something impacting the shield provided by Bubbles' ability only served to heightened the urgency of the situation. The sound came from all angles like a heavy torrent of rain hitting on a thin metal sheet. Bubbles struggle to hold up the shields as the mysterious objects bombarded the defensive grid that Bubbles erected. Boomer narrowed his eyes in his attempt to discern what exactly is attacking them. However, his eyes failed him as he is seeing nothing.

"I can't see anything! I can't see anything!" Bubbles panicked, and Boomer realized to his horror that this is not an isolated incident.

"I am unable to detect the enemy. He had literally _disappeared_." Caspar warned the Powerpuff Girl.

"We need to get down to the ground now!" Boomer barked as he saw the situation is slowly becoming untenable. However, the sounds of the onslaught is slowly becoming softer and softer and Boomer immediately barked to Bubbles once more.

"Bubbles!" Boomer immediately sensed that his voice is much more muted than a moment ago, and Boomer immediately understood what is going on.

"You're getting softer Boomer!" Bubbles responded back, her voice almost a whisper.

"Make another layer of your shield thingie! Your first layer's about to collapse! And keep on doing that!" Boomer is not sure if Bubbles heard him but her response gave him a slight relief.

"On it!" Bubbles yelled, and it is at that exact moment that the sound disappeared from Boomer's ears.

 _Ah shit_ , Boomer understood this to be Murcielargo's peculiar ability. Somehow, somewhat, someway, Murcielargo is able to cut away a person's senses one by one with the exception of their sense of touch.

Followed by his sense of smell.

And his sense of taste.

And his sense of touch.

 _No worries, I can always use my bioelectricity to sense the world around me._

Boomer tried his best to sense his surroundings using his bioelectricity. Boomer emanated the electrical energies within his body outwards and spread the field out without breaking the concentration of his bioelectrical emissions and he found a range where he can not go any further. It is not as far as he would like, but it will have to do given the took in all the information that he is receiving from his electrical field and he is disturbed by a few thing.

Firstly, Boomer's range is no more than five feet away, giving him the impression that he is particularly vulnerable.

Secondly, the concentration of Bubbles' field is particularly strong and Boomer sensed that her bioelectric field is becoming more irregular. In other words, Boomer is sensing that Bubbles is growing tired and the field she erected might collapse.

Thirdly, Boomer failed to understand is what exactly is attacking them despite the electrical fields being impacted by a barrage of ferocious blows. He felt the disturbance upon the electric fields on Bubbles's shield but Boomer is not sensing any reading resembling any living organism or otherwise pounding on the shield.

 _That is wrong,_ Boomer corrected himself; he felt the world around him is like one solid piece of jello wrapping around him. Somehow, this odd texture is informing Boomer of what they they are truly up against. Boomer had never thought of such a thing as possible, but it appear that the impossible had made itself known to Boomer.

Boomer tries to understand what is going on, but it became more illogical the more he thought about it. To begin with, Murcielago made the world in shades of grays, black and white when they first fought and he lost his sense of hearing. Then, there was that fight with Brick and his brother had his hearing muted down and he can't escape from the building. And moments ago, a large section of Little Tokyo turned into an A-ha music video and they all turned into sketches and one guy got his face rubbed wondered how on earth are they even facing off against such an unrealistic opponent.

 _This is fucked up,_ Boomer thought as he recalled how the world turned black with every object having white outlines before he lost all his senses. If it were not for his electroreceptive powers, he will be utterly 'sense-less'. Boomer needs to understand what the hell is Murcielago's power or else they will all never get out from this place in one piece.

 ** _Let me get what I want and you will be spared_** , A dark and deep wraith-like voice spoke out and Boomer is surprised that his hearing is back. However, Boomer immediately realized that the voice is actually echoing in his mind.

 _That did not sound_ _right_ ,Boomer recognized the voice as belonging to the Hispanic gangster despite its dark distortions.

Boomer tried yelling back to protest about the Hispanic gangster's demands but he is unable to hear his own voice. Boomer's uneasiness over the inability to hear his own voice is particularly disturbing to him, let alone sensing anything from his body other than his bioelectrical emanations. However it appeared that Boomer's voice did reach out, for the dark, cruel voice responded to Boomer's protest.

 ** _Don't be stupid, you dumb blonde._**

Boomer yelled back with a mocking sense of pride on being the blonde one of the Rowdyruff Boys, and it will take more than what is happening to let Boomer fold under the insurmountable pressure. Boomer decided to flip the bird towards his opponent knowing well that he might as well do so since he is unable to feel anything.

 ** _So be it._**

Boomer sensed that the electrical field surrounding them is being compressed by all sides and Boomer knew that he will need to inform Bubbles about the situation. Boomer reached out towards Bubbles and grabbed her arm. Boomer transferred some of the electrical impulses from his own body to Bubbles' body and started to communicate with her.

 _Bubbles!_

 _Boomer!,_ Bubbles is surprised and relieved to hear Boomer's did not appreciate that the first sensation that she felt after her loss of all her senses will be the voice of the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy speaking in her mind. At the same time, she is also glad that it ia a voice that she know.

 _Electrical communication, part of my electrical power_ _toolbox. Works only if I am in contact with another person though._

 _What the hell is going on here?_ , Bubbles asked, and Boomer noticed that Bubbles had started to curse. When Bubbles curse, it is time to take notice.

 _For wanting of better words Bubbles, the 'blackness' is attacking us._

 _Boomer... WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DARKNESS IS ATTACKING US?_

 _Blackness, not darkness Bubbles. Don't know how, everything that is black is cutting us off our senses. Whatever is outside your energy field striking at us is something else from the blackness._

 _THIS IS BULLSHIT BOOMER!,_ Bubbles is clearly distraught by the abilities of the Hispanic gangster.

 _Yeah, this is bullshit alright_ , Boomer is also uneasy about the developing situation.

Whatever the gangster did, it is downright broken. Boomer felt like this is not the ability given by the Red Candy alone, but something else entirely. There is a biting sensation behind his mind about the nature of the Lunatic's power and Boomer pried his head hard to figure out what is wrong with the powers exhibited by Murcielago. Something felt very wrong about how the power worked, and how it even functions.

 _This is just so unreal!_

 _Alright Bubbles, I need you to do something crazy for me...I want you to shut your shields down!_

 _WHAT?!_ , Boomer sensed Bubbles disbelief and utter horror.

 _Do you trust me Bubbles!,_ Boomer asked but soon realized that he had chosen the wrong words for the wrong person.

 _NO, OF COURSE NOT!_

 _Of course not,_ Boomer relented. But Boomer had another plan, and he will regret it later.

Boomer decided to go for broke, and the energy within him started to build up with every waking moment. The heat coursed through his body and the burning sensation beneath his skin is a very uncomfortable feeling for he can sense the tingling vines of heated electricity started to branch out from his body. Boomer gritted his teeth as the pulse started to increased in intensity within the hemisphere that Bubbles formed around them. To be fair, Boomer did develop the technique in order to take on Bubbles in a fight a long time ago. However, Boomer at that time is a much more stupid boy, and he was thinking of the move as an end in itself rather than a means to an end. It was not until much later that Boomer realized that it is a stupid move and he can only use it once without causing some adverse effect on his body.

 _Boomer, what are you doing?!_ , Boomer sensed Bubbles' voice is increasing its pitch as the energy grew within his body. As his body finally reached a point where he can't store the energy anymore within his body.

 _Shock and Awe_ , Boomer answered and Boomer felt the field surrounding them had collapsed.

The stored up electrical energy within burst out in all directions in an explosive manner. The explosive electromagnetic field cascaded out and Boomer felt a deep uneasy sensation running through his body only to find his sight returned to him. The sight of seeing the electroluminescent colors and shapes overwhelmed his cobalt blue eyes. The smell of burning ozone and the loud crackling sound of electrical pulses bombarded his sense of smell and sound respectively and Boomer knelt down in pain. Boomer's body struggled to take all this sensations and stimuli at once and he roared in pain as the electromagnetic wave finally 's glowing blue eyes watched the area around a hundred feet from him started smoking and the whole street is utterly pitch black. Boomer realized that he had just fried every single electronics around him.

"YEAH!" Boomer cried out, but silence only greeted him when he is expecting a cry of anger.

 _That is odd_ , Boomer looked around as he wondered why Bubbles is not screeching at him for his act. His cobalt eyes met an unconscious girl lying down on the ground, with a few sparks flying from her body.

"Fuck." Boomer cursed, realizing that he had just knocked Bubbles unconscious with his electrical pulse attack.

Boomer immediately dropped the tattooed man he was holding and knelt down beside Bubbles. Boomer placed his fingers on her neck, and wondered if he had just inadvertently killed off his Powerpuff Girl counterpart. Fortunately for Boomer, he felt a pulse and he breathed a sigh of relief. However, his relief was short-lived as a voice boomed in his mind.

 ** _Not bad._**

Boomer looked up to see a figure floating in the sky, with the light of the full moon shining brightly behind the figure. As the figure descended from the skies like an angel gracing the earth with its presence, Boomer's eyes adjusted itself and he finally managed to see what he is looking at. A faceless smooth black mask looking back at him with a set of large ram-like horns resting on its shoulders. A pair of long, sharp black tapered ears flanked the side of its head and long and wild waist-length black hair runs down its back. The forearms and hands are coated with a black fur-like coat, its hands and feet feet appears to be reptilian with sharp talon-like extensions. The figure appeared to be cloaked in a black coat-like pair of curled-up semi chiropteran wings with each divided into three segments giving it an appearance of trench coat with coattails. The bare black chest of the demonic figure had a stylized heart-shaped mark with a smaller heart outline in the center.

"What the-?" The colors once more disappeared from Boomer's surroundings, leaving only a jarring white outline to delineate the difference between the pitch blackness and the presence of the objects. Boomer's senses are once more becoming duller, but this time Boomer is more prepared to face the disorienting situation.

Boomer watched as the surreal and unnatural blackness surrounding the dark figure started to come alive with the sound of shrill, rat-like chirpings. Their eyes are now wide open and their mouths agape as they saw the blackness behind him started to peel away to reveal a swirling blood red wall. The otherworldly being plunged its arm into the swirling wall of red and pulled out an intimidating obsidian paddle-like object with a long handle on one end. The large paddle-like object is as wide as a man's head and as long as a man's height, while the flat edges of the paddle contained pieces of crystalline red crystals, each shaped like a rectangular teeth that resembled chainsaw blades.

"Okay...that's a real big ass paddle." Boomer admitted as he stared at the large, paddle-like weapon.

Boomer had only seconds to react when the demonic being disappeared from his sight, only to reappear once more just mere inches from him. With a wide sweeping swing of the paddle-like weapon, the ground below them is carved like a hot knife through butter. The cut on the ground glowed with a bright glowing red mark and a dark oozing blackness started escaping the wide gap. The sound of bat-like chirping overwhelmed Boomer's hearing and Boomer gritted his teeth.

"This couldn't get any worse!" Boomer cursed, but soon regretted tempting fate. The oozing blackness soon took on a far more sinister shape and formed into a swarm of bat-like apparitions. To make matters worse, several eye-like objects revealed itself from the swarm of eldritch things.

"Ah, well played." Boomer can appreciate a divine comedy when he sees one and understood that the dates had threw a wrench into his luck. The bat-like apparitions escaped the gaping darkness and started chasing after Boomer.

Boomer fires off the beams from his eyes in an attempt to stem off the tide, but twenty 'creatures' formed for every one that he burned out. The enraged darkness set upon Boomer like a group of furies seeking dark justice and Boomer knew that the rate of attrition will not be on his side. Boomer flew across the buildings, and the swarm trailed behind while destroying anything in its path. Boomer is visibly horrified and impressed that the swarm just corrode everything it touches and Boomer knew that his superhuman body will not be able to take one hit from the swarm.

 _What will it take to stop these bastards_ , Boomer thought hard as the swarm drew closer.

His cobalt blue eyes started moving around to spot something he can use to buy himself the time he need. It was then that he noticed something he can use and Boomer immediately dived down towards the ground. In a swift action, grabbed the object that may be the ticket to saving his hide. Boomer landed and skidded a little before bring up the object he grabbed just inches away from the incoming swarm. The swarm immediately stopped at the sight of what Boomer brought up.

 _ **Puta!**_

An unconscious man with a stylized moon tattooed over his face is the only thing between Boomer and the swarm, and Boomer knew he hit the jackpot. Their interaction earlier allowed Boomer to put two and two together and Boomer is glad that he is ruthless enough to use a human shield. Boomer brought the unconscious man closer to him and with his other arm, he formed a sabre-like energy object and Boomer brought it closer to the neck of the unconscious person in his hold. Boomer caught on the increased tension from the Hispanic gangster despite the faceless mask covering Murcielargo's face.

"Call those things off!" Boomer demanded.

 _ **Do not toy with me, Blondie. You don't have the balls.**_

"YOU WANT BALLS?! I'LL SHOW YOU BALLS! " Boomer yelled before pressing the energy blade on his hostage's neck, burning through the surface of the neck like a blowtorch. The demonic figure before Boomer watched in silence as Boomer did a light sliding motion around the hostage's neck, causing the wound to burn and cauterize. Boomer looked up to see a blank face facing him, but the increased electrical signals within Murcielago's body informed Boomer that the man is utterly livid that he got a hostage in his hand. With a wave of his weapon, Murcielargo called off the swarm and both individuals are now staring at each other.

"That's a good boy." Boomer smirked, knowing that his experience in villainy will be key in this situation.


	88. Chapter 88: Mexican Hostage Standoff

Chapter 88: Mexican Hostage Standoff

Bubbles slowly opened her eyes, not understanding how on earth did she even blacked out in the first place. The first sight that greeted her eyes is the utter blackness of her surroundings and everything that is an object is outlined with a white outline. This in itself is particularly jarring and surreal, for Bubbles understood that things need to have color. Alas, her mind is unable to compute the situation that she ended up in. As she looked around, she picked up on the destruction around her. The buildings are broken and some are on fire, and some of the buildings even appeared corroded. Bubbles wondered what just happened, and her mind slowly recalled the details of the situation that she ended up in.

However, before her mind consolidated the information, her eyes are distracted by two particular sights.

On one end, an utterly otherworldly individual stood amidst the blackness, its red outline at odds with the white outline of their surroundings. The stylized heart outline at the center of the being's chest started pulsing with an unnerving movement, contained only by the outline of a stylized heart-shaped mark that held it in check like a cage. The merging of clothing and organic part of the being is blurred to the point where one knows not where each began and end. A crown of ram-like horns rested on its shoulders, framing its large tapered-batlike ears and rampant waist-length hair radiating a dark majesty from the inhuman being. A black claw-like extension pointed out towards the other sight that caught her eyes.

Her eyes focused on Boomer holding up an electrical projection of a sabre at what appear to be a person's neck. The steaming wounds from the hostage's neck confirmed in Bubbles' mind that Boomer had just hurt his hostage. The strong sense of justice and protecting the innocent blared at the sight, and she immediately snapped.

"What the?!" Bubbles voiced out her confusion, her eyes utterly shocked. Her voice distracted both Boomer and the monstrous being from their standoff and their attention are now fully focused on Bubbles.

"Oh hi Bubbles!" Boomer said in the most nonchalantly happy voice he can muster.

Bubbles wanted to ask what is going on, but then the hostage's eyes opened wide and he started screaming in pain. The screaming also managed to wake up the bearded man beside Bubbles and the man also started screaming. Shocked by the sudden screaming, Bubbles also screeched, causing a sonic shockwave to reverberate in the air and hitting the monster directly. The being was propelled violently into one of the buildings, causing the building to implode.

"Nice one!" Boomer said with a pained voice.

"That's not nice at all!" Bubbles scolded the Rowdyruff Boy, before she realized that there were normal humans among them.

She immediately turned towards the person beside her, only to see the man's eyes rolled up to his skull showing only his eye whites and the man's ears bleeding. She turned her attention towards him and placed her finger around his neck, trying to get a semblance of a pulse. Fortunately for her, she felt a pulse from the unconscious man. She looked at the hostage in Boomer's hands, only to see the same thing happening to the man. Bubbles rushed towards Boomer and she placed her finger on the man's neck to find a pulse. Bubbles breathed a sigh of relief when she found a pulse.

"Damn...I think you did a number on them." Boomer commented, and Bubbles is clearly not pleased that she had essentially caused grievous harm on both these individuals.

"We need to get them to the hospital and fast!" Bubbles' rising panic within her is not helping her peace of mind for these two humans.

"Can't." Boomer responded.

"Why not! We can just fly away!" Bubbles is clearly not taking Boomer's simple response, and Boomer can see that Bubbles demanded an answer from him.

"For one, I don't have enough power in me to other than to hover around this damn place. Secondly, Murcielago's back." Boomer pointed towards the ruins and Bubbles sees the monstrous being emerging from the ruins.

"Wait...that's Murcielago?!" Bubbles is visibly shocked by the identity of the monster walking towards them.

"Yep, he evolved or something. Suffice to say, we're in a lot of trouble. Fortunately for us, I got a hostage that Murcielago cared about. So we are good for now." Boomer iterated. Bubbles' shocked expression displayed her utter disbelief and anger over the situation.

"Why the hell did you just take a hostage?" A vein popped on Bubbles' temple and Boomer sensed that Bubbles is not pleased by what he did.

"At least I got an idea on what to do! Any bright ideas little Bubbles!" Boomer snapped, and Bubbles clearly did not like how Boomer had snapped at her. Bubbles grudgingly admitted that Boomer's questionable action is unquestionably the most effective course of action, as it is the only thing stopping Murcielago from slaughtering everyone.

"Seriously Boomer, I do not condone your action of taking a hostage... But that buys us time."

"But he is getting more frustrated...and I don't think we can wait any longer." Boomer's eyes shifted from left to right, scanning their surroundings.

"What do you suggest?" Bubbles asked, wondered what Boomer had in mind.

"I suggest we kill him."

"WHAT?! " Bubbles clearly do not condone such a barbaric action.

"Oh right, I should start with a finger and then-" Boomer trailed off, unaware of the things he is proposing to the Powerpuff Girl.

"NO! THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!"

"What do you mean that is not how it works? You start with the tips and-"

"NO! NO! NO! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!" Bubbles put both palms to cover her ears and tried to shake off Boomer's explanation.

"Or would you like to start with the legs?" Boomer's suggesting is soon met with a stomp on the shin, a a pained expression showing itself on Boomer's face. Boomer dropped his hostage and immediately yelled in pain.

"YOU'RE SICK! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU YOU SICK BASTARD!" Bubbles screamed, causing Boomer to cover his ears in turn.

"THEN WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST WE DO BUBBLES!" Boomer yelled back.

"LET'S SEE... HOW ABOUT DOING SOMETHING THAT WILL NOT PUT US IN PRISON YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE-" Bubbles prodded her finger at his chest and wanted to complete her sentence, but a particular jarring sound distracted her.

"Bubbles... Why are you making that face?" Boomer noticed Bubbles' agitation.

The chattering sounds of a legion of voices rang in her ears, and it disturbed her so. The voices are all chanting something, and it is in a language that Bubbles understood. However what disturbed Bubbles is that the language spoken is a dead language, and Bubbles knew that when things are spoken in a dead language it can only mean one thing. Bubbles turned her attention towards the source of the voices and she pointed the source of the voices out.

"The voices...they're coming from _that_."

Bubbles watched as the grotesque being unsheathed a large weapon that resembled a charred flattened paddle-like bat with dark teeth-like retangular crystalline red crystals. Oddly enough, Bubbles recognized the weapon wielded by the monstrous being. Sharp enough to decapitate a horse, the weapon is the signature weapon used by the Aztec civilization to maim and capture people for their human sacrifices. Known as the obsidian chainsaw, the weapon struck fear in the populace of Ancient Mesoamerica, and Bubbles can understand why it caused such fear.

"The weapon? " Boomer's voice failed to hide his anxiety, made worst by Bubbles' hardened expression.

"When evil weapons talk, it is always bad." Bubbles voiced her growing uneasiness of what they are facing right now.

"A possessed paddle...what a great day for exorcism." Boomer rolled his eyes, his tone a mocking sarcasm.

"Not a paddle, a _maquahuitl._ " Bubbles explained as her eyes narrowed. Boomer rolled his eyes, not caring about the distinction.

To the blonde teenagers' horror, the darkness behind Murcielargo soon started to form itself into a grotesque face. The dark face grinned at them, and both Bubbles and Boomer knew that something bad is about to happen to them. To make matters worse, the chirping voices are growing louder with every moment. The face broke apart, forming countless swarms of bat-like creatures charging towards them.

"Holy shit!" Boomer cried out, his voice barely audible over the chirping noises.

"BAD BATS! BAD BATS! BAT BATS!" Bubbles squealed.

"WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER!" Boomer cried out, and before he knew it, Bubbles flew towards him and glomped him. Boomer swore that the sensation of a pair of soft squishy things pressing on his chest is really nice. Boomer wanted to enjoy the sensation a little longer but soon realized that something needs to be addressed first.

"SHIELDS UP BUBBLES! SHIELDS UP!" Within seconds, Bubbles materialized her energy orbs and the orbs surrounded both superpowered teenagers once more. The apparitions soon started slamming violently on the energy field, causing several ripples in the energy field. The continuous pounding on the walls only served to remind Bubbles and Boomer that if it were not for the shields, they would be in much deeper trouble.

"What the hell just happened?!" Bubbles breathed.

"You hugged me?" Boomer pointed out, knowing well that his response is intercepted by what his teenage boy hormones wanted to highlight more than what the situation calls for. Bubbles immediately let go of Boomer, causing Boomer to feel a little sad that the nice, warm and squishy feeling is no longer pressing on his body.

"No, not that! You dumbass! He just make freakin' bats from slicing throughs stuff! " Bubbles is clearly distraught by the developing situation, and Boomer knew that their situation is really bad if Bubbles cursed.

"And he just took the color out of everything and dulled our senses. It never make sense with these people." Boomer pointed out as he felt his sense of hearing is slowly disappearing once more.

"This is not good, not good at all... " Bubbles' unease is showing through her mannerisms, and Boomer wonder if Bubbles is slowly being pushed to her breaking point.

"Not sure why everyone cared about this baldy." Boomer is starting to feel particularly uneasy by the attention his particular hostage had received from all quarters.

"We need to get out of here." Bubbles ignored Boomer's comment, and her eyes are now looking for an exit.

"How?" Boomer asked, knowing well that they are all trapped with the crazed bat-like monster. Bubbles did not take too kindly to having her Rowdyruff Boy counterpart questioning her reasoning.

"We need to kick his ass. You still have that electric shock thingie?" Bubbles glared at Boomer, and Boomer decided there and then that he will not ask any stupid questions for the duration of their encounter.

"Running low on juice, sugar. If I overcharge, I burn out." Boomer pointed out, and Bubbles noticed that his sabre is slowly losing its shape. Bubbles frowned as she figured out what can she do given the cards she had been dealt with.

 ** _Done talking?_**

The voice interrupted them, and Bubbles and Boomer noticed that Murcielargo is once more standing before the energy field. The rectangular edges of the dark weapon in his hands glowed maliciously and the disconcerting chirping voices grew with every moment. The faceless mask looking at them further increased the tensions between the superhumans. The outline in the center of his chest pulsate with every heartbeat, pumping the red outline of the being with a flash of light every time it beats. The bat-like Lunatic is now raising the paddle-like weapons before he swung it down with all his might towards the energy field once more. The field started to crack and Boomer decided that he needs to remind their opponent of their particular situation. Boomer immediately pointed the tip of his electrical sabre apparition towards his hostage's neck and the monstrous being stopped in his tracks.

 ** _Give me Tiburon_** , the Lunatic pointed towards the bald man. The only response from both superhumans is silence, and that is not what the Lunatic wanted to hear.

 ** _Two can play this game_** , Murcielargo snapped his fingers and both superhumans watched as the blackness revealed a young woman with the shoulder-length hair in a bunny suit with a frilly skirt hanging above several feet in the air.

"ROBIN!" Bubbles cried out. Bubbles' jaws dropped as more people started to emerge from the background above Murcielargo.

 ** _Let him go, and I will let them go._**

 _Not good_ , Boomer thought to himself.

Bubbles is often considered to be the weakest link among the Powerpuff Girls, and when push comes to shove, Bubbles is most likely to break. In this situation, Bubbles will negotiate for the lives of these people, and Murcielago will renegade on his word. Boomer had no qualms in breaking a few eggs to reach his objectives, but Bubbles will not condone his action. To make matters worse, she will hurt him if it means having the hopes of trading the tattooed man for these people.

 _First she will shout for her friend to be freed._

"You fiend! Let her go!" Bubbles cried out.

 _Next, Murcie here will do something despicable to make her mad_ , Boomer predict.

Murcielargo slit his fingers amids Robin's long, flowing hair before caressing the young woman's jaw. Boomer watched as Bubbles gritted her teeth and an anguished look appear on her face. He lifted the young girl's chin gently and turn it towards the vacant mask, and Boomer wondered what will happen next? Licking Robin's cute little cheeks? Ripping part of Robin's clothes to reveal some naughty bits? Making Robin bleed by cutting her somewhere? Boomer is repugnantly interested to know what the Hispanic Gangster will do to tick Bubbles off.

 ** _A pretty face no? What should I do with such a pretty face?_**

 _Bubbles will say something to a threat to stop what he is doing, but it will be weak._

"You dare to even-"

 _You know what? I will just hijack this talk, as this is really lame._

Boomer decided to ask himself a simple question; what will it cost him to do what is needed? A difficult question, no doubt, but it is a question that if one has the will for it has a simple answer. Boomer dropped the hostage down on the ground, distracting both Murcielargo and Bubbles. Their attention are now on Boomer and Boomer had rested his foot on the unconscious gangster's neck.

"One more move, I break his neck." Boomer said with a smile, but a smile with an air of unbridled threat.

 ** _Ruthless._**

"Comes with the Rowdyruff label." Boomer winked.

 ** _So...you and I...willing to kill our hostages...but that's stupid ain't it?_**

"Stupid's my middle name." Boomer joked despite the severity of the situation.

 ** _What will it take?_**

"You tell me, bat-face. Tell me about Him's plans." Boomer decided to play the role of an inquisitor.

 _ **You expect me to** **speak?**_

"Let's just say," Boomer stepped harder on the man's throat, "the decision is yours."

Bubbles is appalled that the two men are starring at each other in a Mexican standoff with hostages' life at stake, and neither can back down from their position less it shows weakness in the negotiation. Nothing more needs to be said, but nothing more can be done. Bubbles will darkly admit that his hostage-taking skills is not up to par with his brother Brick, for Brick is cruelly creative in his way of tormenting people that cared for the hostage. Boomer in compasion is much 'tamer', opting for a more conventional form of hostage-taking. The only issue is that the other side had her friend, and Bubbles along with the other Powerpuff Girls will be livid if he ever hurt Robin, and she is not interested to find out what will happen to him if Buttercup found out about this.

 ** _It is unfortunate, but in this case, I will have to let Tiburon die._**

"If you really wish so." Boomer said and he was about to stomp on the neck of the person when Bubbles tackled him to the ground.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Bubbles looked up towards Boomer and to her shocked disgust, Boomer is laughing.

"And that's how you bring the shields down." Boomer whispered, and Bubbles realized that her _Blumenkratz_ are all gone. At the same time, she turned towards Murcielargo and realized that he is no longer holding Robin's chin and his attention is now entirely on both superhuman teenagers.

Bubbles realized that something is very wrong when the air started to ionize. Boomer's body is emanating a violent discharge of energy, and she knew that she is a second too late to stop him. Bubbles gritted her teeth as her nerves started blaring an extreme stimuli that she had never experienced before in her life. Bubbles recalled that this is the exact thing that knocked her out earlier, and at the time she was not prepared.

Bubbles watched as a large singular electrical surge spirals out of Boomer's and made contact with Murcielargo directly, and the being was blown back by the electrical impulses that exploded violently as it touched the gangster. The light blinded Bubbles for a moment while the explosion deafen her and cause a further disorientation to her senses. Bubbles felt like her senses was being contorted into a nauseating experience for what lasted for an eternity before her vision started to return to her. The afterimage of Bubbles' surroundings further nauseated her, and she tried to stand up. However, her sense of balance was severely disrupted and she fell back on the ground. It took her another few more seconds before she struggled to get up once more.

"What the..." Bubbles struggled as she looked around as the world once more regained its color. The unconscious townsfolk that Murcielargo had taken hostage a moment ago lie on the broken streets of Little Tokyo, and Bubbles is surprised that none of them appear to be injured.

"It worked...somewhat." Bubbles turned towards the voice and she gasped as she saw blood flowing out from Boomer's eyes, nose, ears and his mouth. His cobalt blue eyes are now marred with broken blood vessels in his eyes, staining his eye whites. The clothing on him is almost burned away, and his significantly reddened body is now smoking with the smell of burnt ionized air. Worse, Bubbles smelled something that resembled charred flesh.

"Wait...you mean...you did all that...to save everyone?!" Bubbles is shocked that Boomer had gone to such an extent to save the hostages.

"No, I did all that to get a _shot._ " Boomer admitted without any guilt in his croaking voice, marring the texture of his usually youthful voice.

"Boomer! You idiot! You could've-!" Bubbles yelled to the Rowdyruff Boy, but she was cut with a raised palm towards her face.

"He's not down yet." Boomer answered.

Bubbles sensed that the clear and present danger of their situation is not over as Boomer's eyes are not focused on her. Indeed, his ice-blue eyes are now focused on something else entirely. Bubbles turned around to see a mountain of rubble being forced apart and to her horror she watched a dark figure emerging from the ruins. Bubbles watched as the figure slowly descended from the rubble and walked towards them, hellbent on closing in on them. However, her eyes caught on a few things that informed her that the surprise attack did more damage than expected.

Murcielargo's glowing outline is much more muted than before, and the heart-shaped outline in the center of his chest is now glowing stronger. The staggered steps of the Lunatic betrayed his injured state to Bubbles and Bubbles turned towards Boomer to assess his situation. Boomer materialized two electrical bat-like projections from his arms, but Bubbles noticed that Boomer is struggling to maintain the shape of the two objects. Boomer's labored breathing and his unfocused eyes are telltale signs to Bubbles that Boomer had pushed himself a little too far. Bubbles formed several plasma orbs from thin air and the orbs orbited around the two individuals in a defensive manner.

"This is not good." Bubbles knew that the situation is now much worse, especially when the civilians are lying on the ground as far as the eye can see.

 ** _Well done, I wasn't expecting you to play with her to get to me._**

Both teenagers stared at the monstrous crook, but they were soon taken by surprise as several more figures appeared from the ruins, each dressed in a purely black and yellow plaid shirt, yellow wifebeater with a black crescent on the chest, black pants and black shoes. Bubbles and Boomer watched as Murcielargo raised up his arm to reveal a bearded man being grabbed by the collar. Several more figures appeared from the ruins, carrying individuals on their shoulders.

"Ah shit...who the hell are those guys." Boomer blurted out, his voice a mixture of being annoyed and a groan.

"Bad news." Bubbles frowned, knowing that these men are not like the normal gangsters that they had faced so far. Something about the way they carried themselves marked them as an altogether deadlier force.

Murcielargo's ears perked up, and he raised his hand up in a fist. The other figures flanking Murcielargo looked up as well, and a red fog enveloped Murcielargo and the other gangsters. The fog dissipated, and the scourge that had torn apart parts of Little Tokyo disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Bubbles sat down while Boomer collapsed on his knees, their body finally giving way from the stresses of battle.

"That's intense." Boomer voiced out, his voice still hoarse from his injuries.

"Who are the people that they just took away?" Bubbles wondered, knowing well that somehow they had inadvertently gave up something that they should not have.

"Don't know, don't care." Boomer replied.

"We're supposed to rescue them right?" Bubbles asked Boomer.

"I don't think they're good either way, as Baldy over there," Boomer pointed towards the unconscious man with the tattoo of a crescent moon on his face, "Is really messed up."

"What are you trying to say here, Boomer?"

"What I am trying to say is that we got no right to know what the US government did in order to get their hands on Baldy. That saying, Lilith will be really interested about having him as a guest." Boomer lied down on the broken road, looking up to the starless night sky.

"Why did they run away? Bubbles asked herself, knowing well that they could have done a lot worse.

"Them." Boomer pointed towards the sky, and Bubble squinted her eyes to find out what Boomer is pointing at. Upon closer inspection, Bubbles make out the silhouette of a dark-haired girl with light-green eyes descending down upon the battle-torn area of Little Tokyo with a carnelian red-haired young man with crimson eyes beside the young woman. Not far behind these two individuals are two more other figures; a well-dressed obsidian-haired young man with forest green eyes and a fiery red-haired young woman with rose-colored eyes.

"Hold on...is that Butch with a suit?" Bubbles said out loud.

"Yeah...that's real weird." Boomer agreed with Bubbles.

"Just as weird as a certain blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy dressed up in a bunny suit with a skirt." Bubbles poked at Boomer, causing him to sigh and groan.

"And now Buttercup get to see me in a dress. Shit. I am so screwed." Boomer lamented.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 12.30am]

Boomer put on a white shirt over his bare torso after Professor Utonium had checked up on him, and Boomer breathed a sigh as he looked at the X-ray screen of the ward. The pristine white ward is a stark contrast with the unnatural blackness of the surroundings that he fought in just a few hours ago.

The battle had lasted only thirty minutes, but it felt like it lasted thirty hours. The strain of pushing himself in the battle with his bioelectrical attacks had caused some internal ruptures and that caused the bleeding that came out from his nose, eyes, ears and mouth. Professor Utonium had given him a stern warning and voiced out that it was by luck that Boomer's ruptures are not in fully enclosed areas like his brain or his heart or else he would not make it. Boomer is forced to stay the night in the ward to let his injuries heal for the night. With their healing factor, such injuries will not take too long to heal.

The only good thing out from his reckless action is that Los Noches lost their second-in-command and he will play a role in the fight against the Lunatics. Boomer doubt that they will be able to get anything out from the gangster, as they would rather bite their tongue than to reveal anything that betrays their gang. But a source of information is a source of information, even if they have to feed truth serum into the bald gangster.

"So...how are you?" A pure, youthful innocent voice asked and Boomer recognised the owner of the voice.

"Alive and kicking, Bubbles." Boomer answered with a croak in his voice and a smile on his face. He need not look back to know who it is, and soon enough his recognition is proven true when the person appeared in front of him.

"That is good to hear, seeing that you look like a girl. " The zircon color of Bubbles' eyes expressed her relief. Boomer noticed that she is wearing a simple white T-shirt that shows he figure despite its loose fittings, and a dark gray trackpants.

"I'm not girlish Bubbs, I'm angelic." Boomer riposted, showing his boyish charms as he watched the blonde-haired girl resting her arms on her hips with his cobalt-blue eyes.

"Yeah sure thing pretty boy." Bubbles snorted, though she will have to admit that Boomer has the charms when he wanted to show it.

"Better pretty than good." Boomer winked, causing Bubbles to roll her eyes.

"You're cute, but not that cute." Bubbles poked at Boomer's chest.

"Same can be said about you." Boomer replied.

"Anyway, what you did... It is really stupid." Bubbles expressed her opinion, her arms shifting from resting on her hips to folding itself around her body.

"Well, I ain't the brightest so to speak." Boomer answered, his voice a little less brighter than before.

"But if it is stupid but it works it's not stupid. Your heart's in the right place, even if your mind is not." Bubbles complimented the sand-blonde teenager, and an unwitting smile etches itself on the Rowdyruff Boy's face.

"Two Puffs' approval is a real good measure in my books. Just need Blossom and I'm all good." Boomer grinned, causing Bubbles to reveal a relieved smile. However, her expressed hardened a little before she pointed her index finger at Boomer's chest.

"Major point deduction on the hostage-taking part and trying to kill the hostage. I'll give you a C-minus this time." Bubbles took her index finger away from Boomer's chest and started wagging it. Both teenagers stared at each other's blue eyes for a moment before both burst out laughing.

* * *

[Unknown location, Unknown time]

" _So how was your day out?_ " A cacophonous honeyed voice spoke out to a blank-masked figure with large, sharp bat-like ears amidst an utterly black environment.

 ** _Not as well as I would like_** , The figure reported as it cracked its sharp claw-like fingers.

" _Good, for the others are angry with you and are taking offense to your selfish actions, and I am not pleased that you went out of your way to wreak half of Little Tokyo off the grid."_ The displeasure in the sinister voice is revealed for all to see, in contrast to the veiled presence of the owner of said voice.

 _ **Could have gotten Tiburon if it were not for the two little blonde brats.**_

" _Temper, temper. Though I will have to say that you did well in testing out the Crimson Candy on yourself. It had exceeded all my expectations._ " The voice expressed a sweetened glee, causing the blank-masked figure to point towards the blackness.

 _ **I know you planned this somehow El Diablo, and you got what you wanted.**_

" _Not everything. Tiburon is not back in our clutches. But we will make do with these people you took. With this, Phase Hades is now in session."_ The voice faded away as the blackness covered everything like a curtain closing to signify an end to an act.

* * *

 _The battle that burned half of Little Tokyo to the ground lasted no more than thirty minutes, and yet the uninformed masses are not aware of the reason of why half of Little Tokyo is razed to the ground._

 _The people that were taken away during the chaos. The person that was taken in Bubbles and Boomer. The new form of the Lunatic known as Murcielargo. All these are parts of a dark battle that the common folk will know. The battle for the heart of the city had begun, and dare I say the heart of the world. What will it take for the heart to be won?_

 _Whatever their pitch, the question will bewitch everyone from both sides of those fighting for the soul of the world._


	89. Chapter 89: Croque-Madame

Chapter 89: Croque-Madame

 _THE CITY OF-_

 _"KEEP IT DOWN GOD DAMN IT!" A voice yelled out._

 _Right, sorry about that. I will whisper instead._

 _The City of Townsville._

 _It has been a rather eventful night for the citizens of Townsville, but so far the suburbs had escaped the roils of what happened in the city. Indeed, such is the peace held in the suburbs that it is one of the very few places where any semblance of the former peace is still being honored, or to be exact, respected. The reason for such a peace to be respected is due to a single home in the suburbs, and it is in this home that we will focus our attention to for this chapter._

 _Dark was the night when our tale has begin in the Utonium home, as Boomer Morningstar woke up in a daze, his throat parched._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 3.00am]

"God damn it." The sand-blonde boy rubbed his eyes as he sat at the side of his ward bed.

To his annoyance he noticed that there is no glass of water nor a bottle of water beside his bed. His throat is utterly dry, and with his particular injuries and healing from said injuries, it is a much more dreadful experience than it usually is. Boomer dragged his feet towards the ward doors, causing the doors to open up. Boomer is surprised that the security in the facility is particularly lax, but he realized that the best security of this place is the people that called this place home.

Boomer tend to be a mess whenever he woke up, and he combed his messy sand-blonde hair but to no avail. The white shirt and pants he was forced to wear is particularly odd for him, as he prefered darker colors. Wearing such a bright palette is particularly uncomfortable for him, especially when his clothes blended directly to the background of the pristine white hallways of the scientific facility under the Utonium residence.

Boomer soon found himself at the area where Professor Utonium made his lab and the staircase leading up to the Utonium residence. He groaned before taking the necessary steps to climb the staircase. Boomer soon slapped his palm on his face when he realized that he could just hovered upwards, but it was too late as he had already reached the door. He turned the door knob and he is soon greeted by the darkness of the unlit living room of the Utonium residence. He cared not for his surroundings, safe that of the kitchen. He soon made his way towards the kitchen, and he maneuvered around the aisle. Boomer wanted to turn the lights, but he reasoned that since he will be here for a short while, he do not see the reason to do so.

Also he is a little too lazy to find the switch.

Boomer soon found the kitchen sink and he turned on the tab for the water and let the water run into his cupped palms. It sook a little while for the water to fill up in his cupped palms, and he brought it to his mouth and he took a sip from his palms. The cool water's effect cooled the burning sensation he felt within his throat, and he felt a tinge of relief as it eased the uneasiness he felt within his throat.

Boomer assume that he will be safe in this house, and no one will do something like attacking him while he is drinking some water.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 3.00am]

"God damn it." The raven-haired girl rubbed her eyes as she sat at the side of her bed.

To her annoyance she noticed that she had forgotten to put a glass or bottle of water beside her bed and she forced herself to get out from her bed. Buttercup Utonium dragged her feet towards the door, taking care to not wake her sisters up. With a soft turn of the door knob, she opened the door and closed it gently behind her. Buttercup is always a mess when she wakes up in the middle of the night, and this morning is no a spaghetti strap from her black camisole dropping off the side of her dress and her usually styled undercut hair in a mess, she felt a slight chill from her surroundings blowing over her shoulders.

The Powerpuff Girl struggled to walk in the corridors of her home as she made her way towards the stairs, and she struggled amidst her drowsiness as she walked down the stairs of her home. It is only by sheer familiarity of her home that she did not trip on her otherwise baggy pair of used olive green track pants. If it not for her sudden dryness of her throat, Buttercup will not even make the journey down to the kitchen. Buttercup could have flown down, but that will take even more effort in her state. She held on the rails of the stairs and made her way to the bottom, being very careful with every step. Soon she reached the ground floor and she let her hands go from the railing and made her way towards the kitchen. Buttercup entered the kitchen only for her eyes to catch on the outline of a human-sized object near the kitchen sink slurping on something.

Her lime-green eyes immediately opened up wide as her mind blared the warning to her mind that it is not one of her sisters nor her father figure. Buttercup's body immediately bolted into action and she did a handstand before launching herself with a bicycle kick towards the object. Buttercup's kick hits its mark and the human-like object crashed down on the ground. Buttercup immediately climbed on the intruder and was about to give the intruder a pounding before a croaky boyish voice called out to her.

"UNCLE! UNCLE! UNCLE!" The voiced called for mercy,causing Buttercup to halt her actions.

"Boomer?" Buttercup immediately got up and walked towards the switches. Buttercup turned on the lights, and true enough a sand-blonde individual in a white round-collared shirt got up from the ground rubbing his head.

"God damn...you really are a crazy bi-" Boomer's words were cut short by Buttercup's glare.

"Don't you finish that line. What the hell are you doing here?" Buttercup wondered why.

"I'm supposed to stay a few nights in this damn place for my injuries to heal, remember?" Boomer looked at Buttercup with an annoyed expression, not believing that the Powerpuff Girl forgot the reason why he is in their house to begin with.

"Ah." Buttercup uttered, her mind finally recalling the little bits and pieces of information that coalesced at this exact moment. Her mind is utterly embarrassed by her actions, but she will not admit it nor show it to Boomer.

"You sure know how to kick an injured guy down to the ground, don't ya..." Boomer snided, and he spat into the sink. Buttercup soon realized what he spitted out as he wiped the blood-red stain from the side of his mouth. To add to Buttercup's guilt, Boomer started coughing before he was forced to spit the blood from his mouth once more.

"Fine." Buttercup planted her face in her palm.

"Huh?" Boomer is lost as he failed to understand what Buttercup is trying to say.

"You get to hit me back." Buttercup pointed towards her face, a frown of guilt on her face.

"No." Boomer refused. If it was the old Boomer, he will gladly take the shot to Buttercup's face. But not now. Something has changed between them, and Boomer had no idea what had changed. However, Boomer will not hurt her.

"Why not?" Buttercup is a little surprised by Boomer's answer. A Rowdyruff Boy will not care if they punched a king or a pauper. A man or a woman. An elder or a child. Buttercup wondered why the sudden change of heart from the blue-eyed Rowdyruff Boy.

"For one, I'm beat. Secondly, I really beat." Boomer tried to disguise his reluctance to hit her as a result of his battle a few hours ago, and he hoped that Buttercup buys it. Fortunately for Boomer, Buttercup bought it as she gritted her teeth in frustration and groaned.

"Ah crap, forgot about that. Why am I forgetting about these things? I gotta make it even..." Buttercup felt a growing unease within her, and this had never been something she felt before. Buttercup had never been so hung up on not being able to get even with another party, especially not a Rowdyruff Boy. Something in her had changed, but she had no idea what it is exactly. But whatever it is, Buttercup is not feeling comfortable about the situation.

Boomer thought deeply and looked at a very distraught Buttercup. To be honest, Buttercup is looking surprisingly sensuous to him as the spaghetti strap sliding off her shoulder is turning him on in a way he didn't expect. That messy hair reminded Boomer of Buttercup's haircut from when they were kids, and somehow it looked really good on her as an adult especially when the highlights are not presently dyed in her hair. Buttercup's citrus green eyes pulled him in, but he soon shake it off by remembering that there is something that she can definitely ask her to do to ease her uneasiness.

"Make me a meal." Boomer requested.

"Sorry?" Buttercup raised an eyebrow, not expecting Boomer to ask for a meal now.

"You want to make up right? Make me a meal." Boomer allowed this to be a way for her to ease her guilt. At the same time, this excuse allowed him to have something he had desired for a while now; a taste of Buttercup's cooking.

"Wait...now?" Buttercup is a little taken aback by such a benign request.

"Yeah...that's kinda the reason why I'm up anyway. I will be reasonable, make me a sandwich." Boomer knew that cooking the Italian meal that he sought is impossible, but surely something simple as a sandwich can be made in minutes.

"Fine. Any particular sandwich in mind?" Buttercup asked. Boomer frowned, and started thinking of what kind of sandwich he wants to have. A thought flashed in his mind, and he knew of what he wanted Buttercup to prepare.

"A ham and cheese sandwich." Boomer answered.

"Hm...alright. I'll make a real good one." Buttercup moved to the fridge and took out some of the ingredients that Boomer find as being a little too fancy for a normal ham and cheese sandwich.

Boomer watched as Buttercup prepared the ingredients needed for the particular sandwich that he had asked Buttercup to make. Boomer's sense of smell picked up the smell of the ingredients and Boomer knew that most of them are fresh enough. After placing and preparing the ingredients on the aisle, Buttercup moved on to take the utensils needed for this particular sandwich. After that is done, Buttercup took out one of the pots and poured a cup of milk into a small pot and placed on the stove, before she moved on to place a small piece of butter on the other pan and did the same as the previous pan. She turned on the gas for the stove and started to heat both mixtures up.

"That's a lot of work for a sandwich." Boomer uttered out as he smelled the butter melting.

"Then be prepared to be impressed by the rest of it." Buttercup said confidently as she heated the oven broiler.

Buttercup added the flour into the pot with melted butter and started mixing the flour and butter mixture. Seeing that there is some steam coming out from the milk, Buttercup poured a little of milk into the pot with the butter-flour mix and started to mix the mixture, before she proceeded on to add the milk progressively in stages while still stirring the mixture. Boomer can already smell that Buttercup is making the taste of the mixture smoother with every progressive stage, and he is impressed by her ability to subtly build the layers of taste.

Buttercup left the mixture alone for a moment and she moved on to take a small grater and what appear to be a small little nut before moving back to the pot. The mixture started to boil, and Buttercup turned down the heat to leave it to simmer for a few minutes. Buttercup placed the grater and the nut aside and took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it into the mixture before picking up the grater and the nut. Buttercup proceeded to grate the nut and allowed for the powder to fall into the mixture.

 _Nutmeg_ , Boomer recognized the smell from the grated nut and added a vibrant, uplifting dimension to the mixture. Buttercup stirred the mixture for a moment before leaving it alone once more. As the mixture simmered, Buttercup moved to the aisle once more and took what appeared to be a round and rustic looking loaf and started cutting the bread.

"Huh...why use the odd-looking bread ?" Boomer asked Buttercup.

"This rustic country loaf? I prefer this bread as it has more flavor to it. Its deeper, and has more 'earth' to it." Buttercup commented before cutting the bread into a few slices. She scooped some Dijon mustard and started spreading it across several slices, and she tried to make the spread of the spicy mustard as thin as possible on the bread slices.

"Can't wait to see the final result." Boomer admitted as he watched Buttercup started slicing the cheese into thin slices. Boomer can already smell the creamy and and nutty flavor of the cheese and to his surprise, the cheese had a rather assertive, earthy and complex flavor with a sweet but slightly salty taste. The thin slices of cheese are then placed into the slices of bread and Buttercup started to build the sandwich with an alternating layer of ham and cheese. After that is done, she proceeded to grate even more cheese, and Boomer wondered how much cheese will she be using for this meal.

Buttercup took a pan and started to heat it up as well and as the butter melted on the pan, she took the built sandwiches and placed it on the pan. Boomer can smell the caramelization of the butter as Buttercup grilled the breads on the pan. Buttercup flipped the sandwiches once the side she is grilling it on is done. Once both sides are done, Buttercup placed it on a plate and she spreaded the mixture that she had made earlier onto the grilled top of the sandwich before topping it up with the grated placed the sandwiches into the over broiler and as the sandwich started to broil, the dark-haired girl moved on to place some butter on the pan that she was grilling the sandwich on and let it melt.

Boomer is surprised that Buttercup is able to make cooking a sandwich into a work of art, and Boomer noticed that the sound of the eggs cooking is not like what he is used to hearing. Instead of a searing sound, it is a much more milder and gentler and Boomer is perplexed on what Buttercup did to make the eggs in such a manner. Buttercup sprinkled a pinch of salt and black pepper on the eggs and she took it out from the fire before turning off the stoves.

"Just a minute, and it will all be good." Buttercup assured Boomer as he watched Buttercup taking the sandwiches out from the over broiler. The enticing smell of melted cheese permeated the kitchen and Boomer swallowed as he held back his saliva. Buttercup placed one sandwich on one plate and another sandwich on another plate. Buttercup topped off the tasty treat with placing the eggs gently on each of the sandwiches.

"And here you go." Buttercup slide the plate with the sandwich towards Boomer.

"That is a fancy ham and cheese sandwich. I was kinda expecting you to build a simple one."

"That's because it is French. It's called a _Croque-Madame."_ Buttercup informed before she reached out to the fridge and opened it up. Boomer looked at the sandwich and wondered why the name of the dish sounded familiar.

"You don't mind a glass of milk with that right?" Buttercup asked Boomer, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Oh...no, that's fine." Boomer answered.

"Alright, take the sandwiches and bring them to the dining table. I'll bring the glasses and the milk." Buttercup politely instructed Boomer to help her. Boomer took the two plates of sandwiches and make his way towards the dining table.

Boomer placed the sandwiches on the table, covered by a white table cloth with some subtle and yet intricate silver embroidery of birds and flowers. Boomer pulled one of the mahogany chairs backwards and takes a seat before Buttercup appeared with a carton of milk in one hand and two glasses on the other. Buttercup placed the items on the table before pulling one of the chairs and taking a seat.

"Surprised that you're joining me for this meal." Boomer pointed out.

"It is hard to make it for one person, so I decided to make one for myself as well." Buttercup shrugged before pouring the milk into the glasses.

Boomer reached out for the sandwich and lifted it from the plate. Boomer can sense the crispy texture of the bread as he gently squeezed on the sandwich, and the browned cheese coated the slab-like sandwich like a warm, yellow blanket with brown spots. Boomer bit into the sandwich, and his sense of taste is bombarded by the texture and taste of the sandwich and he put down the sandwich down on the plate. Buttercup raised an eyebrow as she noticed that Boomer did not take another bite into the sandwich.

"What's wrong? Is it bad?" Buttercup asked for her pride as a cook will not take that she had prepared a subpar item for consumption. A sniffing sound replied her, and Buttercup immediately started to wonder if she screwed up big time. Is it the _roux_? Had the flour not been dissolved properly? Had she burned the _roux_ by accident? Did she raised the temperature of cooking the eggs by over two degrees more?

"No...it is _beautiful_." Boomer's cobalt eyes are now watering up before he wiped his eyes with the back of his wrists. Buttercup clearly did not expect such an expression from Boomer about her sandwich, let alone having a sandwich being called beautiful.

"Glad that you like it...I guess." Buttercup is short for words to say in this situation, and she watched as Boomer's tears started flowing from his cobalt blue eyes, further enhancing the crystalline color of his eyes.

"This is some good shit." Boomer complimented the dish before taking up the sandwich once more and took a bite from it. A bite turned into two bites, and before Boomer knew it, he is now munching down on the food like it is the last sandwich remaining on this earth. Buttercup watched as he munched on her sandwich with so much unbridled gusto that her response to Boomer is entirely flipped upside-down. She had no idea how to respond, but something in her felt elated that Boomer is enjoying her cooking such a manner.

"Damn...this is so good." Boomer's ecstatic mood darkened once he realized that he had finished his sandwich.

"You can have mine if you like..." Buttercup offered the sandwich, and Boomer's eyes brightened up once more.

"I CAN?! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Boomer unashamedly grabbed the plate from Buttercup and started munching down on the sandwich.

"Sure thing." Buttercup raised her eyebrow in amusement as she watched Boomer munching on the other sandwich and mumbling unintelligible words.

Buttercup is impressed that Boomer somehow managed to make it as if eating a meal is such a fun-filled activity, and he is so into eating the meal that the dark-haired girl almost regretted that she did not prepare something more intricate for Boomer to eat. But seeing that even her most basic meal had sparked such open enjoyment allowed for a smile to appear on Buttercup's face. Her expression softened as she rested her elbow on the table and rested her chin into her palm.

"That was a first for me. It made me real happy that you're loving it." Buttercup thanked the Rowdyruff Boy.

"I mean, it was a first time for me too! Eating such great food! I was super impressed!I really have to wonder how you're so good at cooking, have you been at it for a long time?" Boomer asked, and Buttercup thought for a moment before answering the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy. By now Boomer's tears had stopped flowing, and Buttercup looked at his reddened eyes.

"...No."

"Really?" Boomer is now perplexed as this intricate complex layers of taste, texture and passion is not something that can be nurtured in a short time. As the saying goes, Rome is not build in a day.

"I only began to cook starting two years ago." Boomer immediately choked when Buttercup informed him of how long she had started cooking.

"You alright?" Buttercup expressed her concern as he downed a glass of milk to ease the choking.

"Damn...are you for real? Even top chefs can't do what you did!" Boomer pointed out, causing Buttercup to cover her mouth and part of her cheeks to hide her embarrassment.

"Thanks...I guess." Buttercup said abashedly before gulping on the glass of milk.

"Butters, I'm the one that need to thank you." Boomer pointed out, and Buttercup noticed that Boomer's enthusiasm dimmed a little.

"For a good supper?"

"No, for helping me answer a question I always wondered to myself."nIt was then that Boomer was reminded why the sandwich's name sounded familiar, and his expression darkened as he looked on the innocent-looking dish before his eyes.

"Huh?"

"This sandwich is Renee's favorite food, and yet I never knew what it is." Boomer explained, and Buttercup heard of the name before. She had heard about the name many times when they are in the dream world, and Buttercup recalled that Blossom explained to her about it.

"Sorry." Buttercup immediately apologized, but Boomer shook his head.

"No, no. Don't. I remembered a long time ago that she told me that the first thing she'll eat when she returned home is a _Croque_ - _Madame._ Wanted to ask what it is, but I got interrupted by a raid. After that, I tried to ask her a few times, but I always got blueballed by attacks. Never knew what it is. Now I knew why it's her fave." Boomer showed a bittersweet smile.

Buttercup looked down on the floor and fell silent, but she felt a hand on her shoulder. The dark-haired Powerpuff Girl looked up to see a pair of dark blue eyes looking at her, mere inches from her face. Buttercup felt her cheeks flushing, and she wanted to say something given the situation but words failed to escape her lips. Her heartbeat started to increase in tempo as he drew closer. Buttercup's heart is not ready for this moment, and it went a little too fast for her own good.

"Please, Boomer, I-" Buttercup closed her eyes and she felt something on her lips. She jumped a little, but soon realized that it was just Boomer's fingers.

"There, the milk is off your lips." Boomer gave off a particularly innocent and charming smile as he wiped the milk off her lips.

"Wait...Boomer that's what you're gonna do to me?" Buttercup said, the sudden tension suddenly disappearing as soon as it began.

"Wait..what do you want me to do to you?" Boomer wondered, not expecting that line to appear from Buttercup's lips.

"I thought you're gonna kiss me or something!" Buttercup exclaimed out in anger, and she soon realized that she had done a mistake.

"Kiss you?" Boomer finally asked the dark-haired Powerpuff Girl, and he can feel his heart beating louder as well.

Boomer's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped, flabbergasted by Buttercup's words as he stared at her. Buttercup will not fault him for being confused. This is because Buttercup is also just as confused to why she said the words she did. Both individuals gazed at each other, expecting an answer to come out from the other's mouth. Alas, they are to be disappointed by the utter lack of response to the situation.

"I-I-I- It just slipped out okay? No biggie there! Hahahahaha!" Buttercup tried to laugh it off, but her forced laughter is fooling no one. Not even herself.

"You wanted me to kiss you?" Boomer asked, and now Buttercup's heart is pounding as hard as a heavyweight boxer pounding on a sandbag with anger.

"N-n-no! I-I-I don't-I-!" Buttercup protested, but something in her is forcing her to not be firm in her answer. Her resolve faltered, and the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy sensed the faltering defiance of the Powerpuff Girl.

"I am alright if it is you though." Boomer admitted, and it is now he who is shocked.

Both teenagers stared at each other, not knowing what is happening between them. Being the smarter of the two, Buttercup immediately realized that something will definitely happen if they continued on, and she will not allow it to happen. Rather than to risk such a thing from happening, she immediately got up from the chair and is ready to flee. Just as she was about to walk away when she felt a vice-like grip around her wrist followed by a gentle pull. She turned around to see Boomer's utter confusion, and indeed she is also just as confused.

Buttercup struggled to escape,but she immediately felt her body accelerated a little as Boomer pulled her towards him.

"Whoa!" Boomer cried out, realizing that he pulled a little too hard.

"Oh shit!" Buttercup watched as her face headed towards Boomer's own. With only seconds to react, Buttercup instinctively placed her hand between her own lips and Boomer's lips. Buttercup felt Boomer's lips making contact with her palm, and her lips with the back of her hand. Her slightly bent body held sturdy as she prevented herself from falling on the sitting Rowdyruff Boy. Buttercup felt Boomer's grip on her wrist loosening and she immediately took the opportunity to back away from the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Butters, wait!" Boomer called out, but Buttercup had already sprinted away from him.

Boomer watched as the Powerpuff Girl make her way up the steps to her room, and he is stunned at the development of the situation as he sat alone in the immediately entered the room and closed the door behind her, and she soon leaned on the door before sliding down and sitting on the floor. Buttercup looked at her hand and her palm remembered the sensation of Boomer's lips. She lifted her palm towards her lips and she soon rested her lips on where Boomer had just kissed her palm and closed her eyes in disbelief.


	90. Chapter 90: Matters Of The Heart

Chapter 90: Matters Of The Heart

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _The city is trying its best to maintain a semblance of normalcy despite the particularly turbulent situation. It is amazing how hardy the people of Townsville truly is when one think about it, but this is a city where gigantic monsters, monstrous creeps and creepy crooks prowl the streets in such numbers that it takes an extraordinary magnitude of crime and chaos to shake it to its core. However, the presence of the Lunatics had done just that, and now more than ever the people of Townsville looked upon any means of hope to make it through the encroaching winter._

 _One such person is Blossom, the slender proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls._

 _Things had went downhill really quickly for the Powerpuff Girl, for the criminal organizations are emboldened to increase the intensity of their crimes. It is to the point where the Powerpuff Girls have to split up to fight while leaving others to the mercy of the criminals. That is now taking a toll on her, and she is not even flying as she took a walk back to her home._

 _Let us observe her for a little while longer shall we?_

* * *

[Suburban Townsville, 4.30pm]

"Urgh...I can't believe how tired I am today.." Blossom groaned as she dragged her feet on the ground.

Blossom wondered why on earth is she so tired before remembering the reasons why she is so fatigued in the first place.

Being the president of the Townsville High Student Council, the President of the Chinese Culture Club, President of the Debate Club, and essentially any club that revolves around science and math.

Being the equivalent of the calvary for the TOCTSeF forces when they are in trouble.

Being more involved in more tactical meetings in TOCTSeF as a result of Bubbles being pulled into one of the TOCTSeF's covert operations which caused the battle in Little Tokyo just three days ago.

Being the person that all the other teachers and classmates rely on.

 _It is all too much_ , Blossom groaned in her mind. Blossom felt a chill down her spine thinking about it, and it is not just because of the rapidly cooling temperature that marks the end of autumn.

Honestly, Blossom wanted nothing more than to just take a simple cup of coffee and do some homework. But when schoolwork is becoming part of the problem, the copper-haired girl felt as if she is caught in a self-perpetuating wheel of torture. Blossom needed something else entirely to take her mind off the stresses that she is accumulating within herself, but what that is escaped her mind. Blossom hoped that she will be able to get a different pace in her life for once, no matter how brief a moment that will be.

But as they always say, never attempt fate.

Blossom's eyes immediately caught a sight of a familiar figure squatting before a box beside the road and looking down into the box. Feeling the irrational need to hide herself, Blossom immediately hid herself behind a thick tree and continued watching. Blossom watched as a charcoal-haired teenager with a dark green hairband clad in a dark grey-black jacket and the distinctive camouflage pants stared at the box for a while, his dark green eyes watched the inside of the box with unblinking eyes.

 _That's Butch... What is he doing?_ , Blossom watched curiously as the Rowdyruff Boy's arms reached into the box.

A yell and a hiss revealed that whatever it is in the box did not take too kindly to Butch's effort to take it out from the box. The thing within the box pounced out from the box, causing Butch to fall back on the ground. The Rowdyruff Boy is now cursing and struggling for his life with what appeared to be a cat now viciously trying to scratch off his face. Blossom immediately ran out from behind the tree and immediately picked up the cat with her hands, thereby saving the Rowdyruff Boy from his attacker. The copper-haired girl puts the cat down and the cat immediately hissed at Butch before sprinting away, and Butch gave the kitten a salute. Seeing that the cat is no longer trying to rip Butch's face off his skull, the slender girl immediately tended to the Rowdyruff Boy on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Blossom asked as she noticed that the cat had amazingly scratched deep enough for Butch to bleed.

"Pinkie?" Butch is surprised by Blossom's presence, ignoring the scratches with blood flowing thinly from it.

"Come, let me help you up." Blossom offered, and Butch accepted as he get himself up from the ground with the Powerpuff Girl's help. Butch stood to his full height, dwarfing the slender redhead. Blossom immediately inspected the arms of the Rowdyruff Boy, and seeing that the wounds are bleeding, she decided to dig into her bag for something.

"Whoa, easy there Pinkie. This is just a scratch, nothing more." Butch assured the Powerpuff Girl, but that comment fell onto deaf ears.

"You don't look alright at all! You're supposed to be bulletproof for crying out loud!" Blossom expressed her concern, and Butch realized that she has a point.

"Huh, good point Pinkie."

"Look, I got a first aid kit, so please, let me help you!" Blossom appeared to be particularly distraught by the injuries that Butch had.

"Look Pinkie, I am perfectly fine. You're overreacting."Blossom then took both of his arms and turned the injured parts to his view and now Butch is mightily impressed by the wounds the little kitten had brought upon him. Both his arms are now bleeding profusely, and Butch never knew that kittens can make him bleed like that.

"Wow...not bad." Butch complimented the kitten as he is amazed how the had managed to hurt him.

"CLEARLY I NEED TO USE IT RIGHT NOW!" Blossom cried out.

"Oh dear, that boy is covered in blood."

"Was there a fight?"

Butch and Blossom turned around to see two worried elderly ladies looking at them, and Blossom felt that there is a need to prevent further panic from growing given how unrealistically bloody Butch's wounds are from a cat scratch.

"ACTUALLY NOT RIGHT NOW, LET'S GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Blossom is particularly fazed as she pulled Butch away, her small hands grabbing around Butch's wrist.

* * *

[A Few Minutes Later, Suburban Townsville]

Blossom and Butch are now sitting on a bench in one of the parks littering the suburbs of Townsville, with the red-haired girl wrapping the arms of the charcoal-haired boy with gauze. Butch watched as Blossom tied the bandages with a cute little bow reminiscent of her own bow before patting his arm. Butch had never expected for a Powerpuff Girl to give him first aid kit, let alone help him out.

"And there, all patched up. "Blossom said to herself with a a rather satisfied look on her find it to be a rather nice change of pace to see Blossom in such a mood.

"Thanks I guess." Butch offered his thanks, and honestly he is at a loss at what else to say. He is never one to speak a lot, preferring to walk the talk than just talk and talk. Even when he speaks with Blossom, he is always amazed how talkative he is when he is bantering with Blossom.

"Please try to be more careful. You'd never know what kind of diseases a stray animal could give you." Blossom warned as she cleaned her hands with a bottle of water.

"All the strays I come across don't seem to like me at all." Butch pointed out as he flexed his arm around.

 _I'd imagine they're probably getting spooked by his size and fierce eyes,_ Blossom thought to herself.

"Anyway, my home is down this road." Butch pointed down the street.

"Mine is also down this part too." Blossom is surprised that Butch's home is down the same road as her own.

"What do you know, we live in the same neighborhood." Butch shrugged before getting up from the bench and decided to take a walk down the road. Blossom immediately closed the water bottle before following shortly beside the Rowdyruff Boy.

Butch and Blossom walked side by side down the street with the mildly cold wind blowing at them. The leaves gently rolled across the pavement as they took their steps, and the two individuals walked in silence. Both of them wanted to talk about something, but they had no idea what they wanted to talk about. Indeed, what is the topic that they should use. Both are a little nervous that they are walking for some considerable distance without talking with each other, but at the same time they wondered if the other wanted to walk quietly home.

 _Should I thank her for what she's done for me in the Dream_ world?, Butch thought.

 _Should I say that the time we had a few weeks ago is amazing?_ , Blossom wondered.

"Hey..." Butch spoke as he turned towards the Powerpuff Girl.

"Um..." Blossom spoke as she turned towards the Rowdyruff Boy.

A melodic chimes of "Pop Goes the Weasel" interrupted the two individuals, and they turned behind them to see a white ice cream truck driving up to them with a painted on notice that read "Scream and I will give you Ice Cream!". Blossom is startled a little by the melodic chime and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the ice-cream truck.

"Huh, haven't see those in a while." Butch raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I used to have ice-cream with my sisters when the trucks came by." Blossom said with a hint of nostalgia in her voice.

"Well, let's have some!" Butch raised his arm and waved at the truck, causing Blossom to hold on his jacket.

"Wait, hold on I don't have any cash on me today!" Blossom informed the Rowdyruff Boy, slightly embarrassed that she had no cash with her at this moment.

"You did me a favor, so allow me to do one in return." Butch pointed to his arm.

The ice-cream truck stopped right in front of them, and true to its form the various pictures of ice-creams are shown on the display of the truck. Blossom's eyes are now wide open with excitement despite her best efforts to keep a more refined and stoic demeanor. Butch is also equally as excited as he had not seen one of these vehicles in ages. The window of the ice-cream truck slide open and a man in a white shirt and pink apron is now resting his arm on the edge of the window watching the two teenagers looking at the display like wide-eyed little children.

"Hello there, anything strike your fancy?" The man asked.

"Wow, I haven't seen one of those in a while!" Blossom pointed at an Ice-cream sandwich.

"Yeap, those are real rare young lady. Pick whichever ice-cream that suit your fancy." The man chuckled.

"And I loved this one when I was a kid...wow, they still make these!" Blossom is mesmerized by the trip down memory lane as she saw the various ice-cream shown on the display. It was not long before she realized that the person that stopped the ice-cream truck is watching the display silently.

"Hm..." Butch pondered.

"Are you going to get anything-"

"I'll take one of everything." Butch told the ice-cream truck man, and the man looked at the teenager for a moment before giving him the thumbs up. As the man walked behind to take the ice-cream, Blossom pulled on Butch's shirt.

"What's up Pinkie?"

"That's a lot of ice-cream isn't it?"

"Well, I finally got my chance to eat ice-cream from an ice-cream truck once more so why not?" Butch answered as if it is the most logical thing in the world. Blossom immediately burst out in a giggle.

"All the ice-cream that you can have, I wasn't expecting that at all...it's cute!" Blossom pointed out while giggling, but sooon notice that Butch is now staring at her with wide open eyes.

"Uh- I swear I wasn't making fun of you, honest!" Blossom tried to apologize, knowing that she might had offended the Baron of Berserk.

"...I see." Butch answered stoically.

"I'm really sorry, I really am! Sorry!" Blossom swore that he is angry and profusely apologized. However unbeknownst to Blossom, Butch's mind is now a hive of activity.

 _Cute, is it? I can't remember ever being called cute in such a manner before,_ Butch covered his mouth and looked away to hide his embarrassment.

"Here you go, one of everything!" The ice-cream man brought out a plastic bag filled with ice-cream, amd two vanilla ice-cream cones in each hand. Butch took it all away from the ice-cream man's hands.

"How much is it?"

"All of that is about twenty dollars." The man said, and Butch handed him a twenty-dollar note. The ice-cream man thanked Butch and moved towards the driver's seat. Within seconds, the ice-cream truck started once more and went on its merry way down the street.

"Anyway Pinkie, take one of the cones and take whichever one you like from the bag." Butch offered the bag to Blossom and the Powerpuff Girl stopped apologizing and her rose-colored eyes are now staring down the bag. Her eyes honed in on the ice-cream sandwich and she decided to take it out from the bag before taking the ice-cream cone from Butch's hand.

"Thank you so much." Blossom expressed her thanks.

"Likewise. Well...it's about time I head off." Butch waved at Blossom and walked away from her.

Blossom watched as the distance between herself and Butch grew larger and she stood at the side of the street with an ice-cream cone in one hand and an ice-cream sandwich in others. Blossom bit her lips as she felt an uneasy sensation within her chest, and as her hair blew away in the wind she felt that something needs to be done. Her lips opened up and the words escaped from her mouth like a hushed whisper.

* * *

Blossom and Butch are now sitting on a bench munching on some ice-cream, and perhaps it is too much ice-cream to munch in one sitting. Blossom had just called Butch back without thinking at all. For some reason, Blossom had irrationally decided to call him back for no other reason, but it is something that she did not regret one bit. Somehow, this is the most relaxed she had ever been for the past few weeks and she did not think too much on why it is so. Butch's presence in itself relaxes her, and she wondered when is that the case.

 _Maybe more than just his presence, I..._

"Heya Pinkie." Butch snapped Blossom out from her thoughts.

"Y-yes?" Blossom answered Butch, not knowing what to expect.

"I wanted to thank you." Butch started as he took a bite out from a popsicle.

"Y-yes?" Blossom is stuck for words to say, like a broken track record. The red-haired girl clearly did not expect the line of conversation, and she is utterly clueless on what will happen next.

"Seeing someone taking such effort to be kind...that is the first for me. It makes me rather happy...so thank you, really." Butch gave Blossom a particularly charming smile.

"I-I-It was a first for me too and I was super impressed and ur-"Blossom blurted the words out and he wondered where her poise disappeared to. Butch chuckled at the dorkiness of the Powerpuff Girl, and honestly he find it particularly charming as well. Blossom's bumbling mannerism is a big contrast to her usually elegant and cultured image.

"It's good to be honest and kind." Butch responded.

"Huh?" Blossom is taken by surprise once more.

"I'm brought up to be a heartless son of a bitch. A criminal. That was my job. More than money, what I sought is to be feared. I ended up being a good criminal because I'm resolute and I'm loyal, and if my brothers wanted something, that something has to be ours. We have a culture of violence, and I didn't care if anyone gets hurt or killed. And when I was at war, I had to be in a mindset of war. If I had to do something bad, I don't have the time to think of how someone's family might suffer and all that. " Butch looked up as he finished his popsicle. Blossom wanted to say something, but she decided to let him continue on.

"My brothers and I had gone through a lot of things and been surrounded by violence in society and in our lives in order for us to decide to make the decision to hurt, to kill. It's like being a construction worker. He doesn't feel the need to stack bricks when he is outside of work. When you have to do it, you do it." Butch reached into the bag and pulled out a ice-cream muffin.

"But if there is one thing I know, it is best to be honest whenever you could. It is in my best interest to be honest as lying often get people in trouble. Lies beget lies, excuses begets excuses, and before you know it you're piled up with lots of crap." Butch advised as he chuckled, but he soon realized that Blossom is now particularly quiet. Blossom looked down on the ground, her eyes deep in thought.

"...I wish I could be honest..." Blossom voice came out a whisper, dark and cold.

"...Is there some reason you can't?" Butch leaned down and faced Blossom, his dark jade green eyes focused upon her. Blossom is surprised that Butch did not say anything demeaning to her in this particular situation as he usually does.

"Ah...well..kind of...it's like...Well for whatever reason, people are always asking favors of me. There is just so much that they just leave up to me. School, the town, the authorities. And at home...I have my sisters and they are a little more impulsive than me and... I can't help but worry anytime I see them." Blossom leaned forward but her eyes are still hooded with a dark permeating mood.

"And when they foist that on me, they say-"

"You're reliable." Butch interrupted her. Blossom opened her eyes wide and looked at Butch, shocked that he know what the people had said to her.

"How-?"

"You're reliable...is what they tell you." Butch reached out his hand to her head rest it on Blossom's head. Butch is surprised how small Blossom's head is, for he expected it to be much larger due to her vast intellect.

"...And I'm really...i'm not really together as everyone seem to think. But right now, being honest about that is just too hard." Blossom's eyes is filled with a certain sadness that Butch knew. It is lonely when no one else knows your situation, and it is frustrating when people put their perceptions and ideals on you.

Butch narrowed his eyes, and wondered what he should say to her. Butch can see that Blossom is always the one that leads and people depended on, but a person is just a person and there is so much a person can bear before they are burnt out. Butch started patting Blossom's head gently and he decided to let his body do the talking. Butch knows that he works better this way, and it is better to be honest when it comes to matters of the heart.

"You're working hard and you're doing your best, but it is important to keep your mind straight and don't overdo it. It's gonna be fine as long as you take all of it one step at a time. And it is okay to treat yourself when you need a break." Butch advised calmly.

Butch noticed that Blossom is now closing her eyes and slowly leaning towards him, and that in itself sparked a panic within him. Butch did not expect for Blossom to be this defenseless and relaxed, and he soon realized that he had just inavertedly touched a girl without her consent. Butch immediately tried to pull his hand away but he felt a gentle grip around his wrist.

"...No, it's fine...It's helping me relax. Can I ask you to... do it just a bit longer...?" Blossom's voice came out as a soft and serene plea, begging Butch to keep on doing what he is doing. Blossom sounded very vulnerable and she sounded like a child in need of encouragement. Her eyes are almost puppy-dog like as she looked at him with her rose-pink eyes.

Butch obliged, and started patting Blossom's head once more and she closed her eyes once more. Butch's initial panic subsided and the tenseness in his shoulders are also loosening up. Blossom slowly but surely slipped down to his his lap and the Rowdyruff Boy is surprised that the young woman is now lying down on his lap. Not sure of what to make of the situation, Butch continued on patting her head. It was not long before Butch heard a soft breathing sound from the Powerpuff Girl, and it is apparent to Butch that Blossom had just slept on his lap.

"Seriously?" Butch could not believe that the leader and the smartest of the Powerpuff Girls had left herself defenseless. L Butch had his swings with the opposite sex before, but nothing so intimate and innocent before. Butch took a choco taco with his other hand and decided that he will stay here until she decided to wake up.

 _This_ _is comforting in its own way_ , Butch reasoned as he combed his fingers into her soft, fiery copper hair and chewed on a choco taco with his other hand.

* * *

[A Few Minutes Later...]

Blossom had no idea what time it is, but as she slowly opened her eyes she realize that she is lying down on something. The pink eyes of the Powerpuff Girl looked up to see a charcoal-haired boy looking upwards towards the clouds. The Powerpuff Girl's eyes immediately widened and she immediately jumped up, realising that she had dozed off on Butch's lap.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm just so spent!" Blossom's facr is now beet red, embarrassed that she had shown a side she did not want others to see. Instead Blossom noticed that Butch is also looking away from her with a tint of red on his cheeks as well

" M... Maybe we should head home for the day." Butch suggested. Blossom figured that the advice is sound and she got up from the bench. However Blossom sensed that there is something odd about Butch as she got up for Butch is not getting up from the chair.

"What's wrong?" Blossom asked obliviously, not expecting the Rowdyruff Boy to blush in such a manner.

"It is a guy thing when they sit too long... Please leave me alone. It is the least you could do." Butch did not try to defend himself and allowed Blossom to leave in peace and with dignity. Blossom immediately understood what had happened, and she decided that it is best to not question him as a token of gratitude for allowing her to lie in his lap.

"R... Right." She bowed a little to bid him farewell before she walked away from him, her mind now taken over by the fact that her head is nearby his-

 _NO, NO, NO!,_ Blossom will not allow her mind to delve further into the thought.

 _That sucks_ , Butch grumbled in his mind as he sat alone on the bench waiting for his bone to subside.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00pm]

"That was unexpected." Blossom said to herself as she held her pillow close to her chest.

Blossom clearly had no idea how to react to what she had done to Butch, from calling him back for no reason at all to having to leave Butch alone with a boner. Yet,the time she had spend with the Rowdyruff Boy is something she enjoyed despite the short and brief period. She also honestly have no idea why being with him is so relaxing to the point where she had taken a nap on his lap. Blossom had never done that with anyone outside her own family and that surprised her as she thought back about her action.

A few months before, Butch and her would be confront each other like cats and dogs. But now, Blossom had slept on his lap and lowered her defenses. Butch is the one that is known to be a player, and who knows what he could do to her in such a defenseless state. Yet, Blossom is also relieved that Butch did not do anything to her and had the moral decency to be embarrassed by his involuntary biological functions.

 _Why am I so relaxed around him?_ , Blossom asked herself as she wondered why she allowed herself to do so in the first place. And the way she called him back to hang out with her. The way she begged him to pat her head. These are some of the things she did not expect herself to do, let alone say to anyone. Blossom immediately turn red once more and covered her face with her pillow to hide her clearly had no idea what she is experiencing right now and why she did what she did.

"What is wrong with me?" Blossom wondered why she is particularly conscious about her actions.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00am]

"That went well enough." Butch said to himself as he lied down on his bed and extend his hands above him, looking at his fingers.

Butch remembered the sensation of Blossom's soft hair in his fingers and he is surprised at how small her frame is as compared to his own. Furthermore, to have such a pretty little thing to be so defenseless before him is surprising to say the least, but what surprised him more is how he enjoyed Blossom lying on his lap. The charcoal-haired boy felt a hole in his soul filling up. Not so much, but enough to feel that there is something better ahead of him. Also, for him to be at ease around her is something he wondered to himself.

 _Why am I so relaxed around her?_ , Butch asked himself as he wondered why it did so in the first place. For her to call him back to hang out with him. The way she begged him to pat her head. These are some of the things he did not expect her to do. Butch stared at his hand, wondering why she did what she did. For him to feel odd about it is something he had no idea about.

"What is wrong with me?" Butch wondered why he is particularly conscious about her.


	91. Chapter 91: New Arrival

Chapter 91: New Arrival

[Townsville Train Station, 7.00pm]

A tall, dark and handsome man walked out from the train and looked around to digest his surroundings with his almond-shaped dark green eyes. His levantine features is sharp and bold, in contrast with his light beard around his chin and jawline. The man is clad in a dark green shirt and pants that matched his eyes, and he soon walked away from the terminal with his mahogany brown briefcase. The walk towards the exit is uneventful and as the man finally exited the train station, a cool breeze greeted his face.

"Welcome to Townsville." A rough voice called and the man turned around to see a taxi driving up to the man. The man driving the taxi appears to be a pudgy and gruff middle-aged man with gray eyes.

"Thank you." The man's accent marked his higher status, and it is not lost on the taxi driver.

"You're a Brit?"

"Something like that."

"Need a ride?"

"Yes, I do. I need to go to Alder Residence in 5th and 6th Monterey Road."

"Upscale neighborhood. Come right in." The taxi driver offered, and the olive-skinned man took the offer and opened the door to the taxi. Once his passenger made himself comfortable, the taxi driver drove away from the train station.

"What's your name, sir?" The man asked the taxi driver, his particular charm and poise came out effortlessly from his lips.

"Jose's the name. Your first time here stranger?" The taxi driver asked.

"No...it has been a while since I've came back." The man answered, with a sense of nostalgia in his voice.

"Ah...welcome back then. Amazed that you're willing to come back at this time. No one will come to this city for the devil of it."

"Well, it is more interesting to return in such a time as compared to the one before." The man chuckled.

"You're nuts y'know that?" The taxi driver sighed in disbelief.

"Well, I need to give the devil its due Jose. Townsville is having a devil of a time to get herself free and she deserve something better." The man reasoned as he looked out from his window towards the view of the Townsville skyline.

"How'd you gonna do that sir?" The gruff man asked as he shifted gears.

"I'm going to teach."

"Oh great...that's gonna help a lot." The gruff pudgy driver sarcastically muttered as he kept his eyes on the road.

"You'll be surprised at how important the children are, especially the gifted ones." The passenger smiled.

* * *

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _The sanctity of peace utterly shattered, and there is no one to tell the citizens of Townsville otherwise. That is a harsh and cruel truth that is impossible to deny, especially when the scars from the terrorism of the Lunatics and the united crime groups had made their mark upon the city. In many cases, the mark is literal, but in other cases it is much more insidious and subtle._

 _Neighborhoods are slowly feeling the encroaching malign influence in their homes, and there is no escape. The cloud of doubt within the city is now further enforced with the increased appearance of armored vehicles guarding places such as schools, shattering any semblance of normal living in this world. To make matters worse, the people knew that the armored vehicles and soldiers are just paper tigers that will be blown away by a determined threat._

 _And in this setting is where we see our main characters making themselves present in Townsville High..._

* * *

[Townsville High, 8.50am]

The sight of armored vehicles guarding Townsville High is as bizarre as it is jarring. Despite the friendliness of the soldiers waving back at the teenagers making their way to the high school, but the heavily armored and armed troops coupled with the barricades surrounding each checkpoint failed to hide the truth that nowhere is safe for anyone. Indeed, some are now looking at a trio of girls with concern and unease, for they are both the first line of defense that the high schoolers had and also the radiating flame in which villains flock to like moths.

One particular Powerpuff Girl clearly did not appreciate the looks that the rest of the students and the soldiers are giving her, and her light greenish eyes frowned as she know that there is nothing she could do about it nor change. The young woman with the bright green eyes scratched her raven-black hair as she understood the common weak minds of the citizenry of Townsville, for which person is not afraid for their own lives?

"I seriously wonder why school's still open despite all of this nonsense." The young woman voiced her opinion as she shot a glance at one of the Abrams tank with her eyes.

A hand rested itself on Buttercup's shoulder, and Buttercup turned around to see a pair of rose-pink eyes meeting her eyes. The gentle shades of pink in the eyes are contrasted greatly by the bold, flaming copper hair of the owner of those eyes. The dark spiralling crimson ribbon holding most of the hair back blended almost seamlessly with the girl's hair.

"The world needs to see that we do not and will not succumb to fear, Buttercup." The red-haired girl answered, eliciting a tongue click from the dark-haired girl.

"Honestly Blossom, they're having a failing grade if that is what they want to show the world." The dark-haired girl groaned.

"Like it or not, we still need to get our grades in order to move on to senior year." The girl with the knee-length flowing hair commented.

"If grades is all we need to worry about, the world will be in a better place." The third girl answered; a blonde girl with two spiralling pigtails and a pair of light, sky-blue eyes.

"Indeed Bubbles, but this is the only world we've got." A sharp dominating voice answered and the girls turned around to see a teenage boy clad in a gray trench coat while wearing a charcoal back turtleneck and pants, contrasted with his maroon red newsboy cap, ombre hair that fade from a radiant dark orange to blood red, and a pair of eyes with cinnabar-colored irises.

"Ah...it's you Brick. Anyway where are your brothers? Aren't they coming to school?" The self-proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls asked the red-red-haired teenage boy.

"Boomer's have to stay home, being injured last Saturday and all. Butch on the other hand-"

"Damn, thought that I'm gonna be late!" The deep raspy tenor breathed a sigh of relief. Both teenage girls turned to see a tall, dark and rusticly handsome figure entering into their view clad in a black leather jacket with an uniquely camouflaged long pants.

"Not my fault that you overslept." The carnelian-haired individual showed no pity at his brother's close call.

"Yeah... skipped breakfast because of it..." The charcoal-haired boy is bemused by his brother's comment, glaring at his brother with his dark jadeite eyes as he tried to catch his breath.

"Catch." To Butch's surprise, Brick gently tossed passed something to him and it is by sheer reflex that Butch caught the item.

"An apple?" Butch is surprised that his brother had an apple to begin with, let alone where he managed to keep the apple.

"There's your breakfast. Not much,but it will hold up till lunch." Brick casually strolled away from the Powerpuff Girls and Butch, his waist-length ponytail wrapped in a dark maroon cloth swinging like a tail of a feline.

"That's new." Buttercup raised an eyebrow as she watched the Rowdyruff Boy walked away from them.

"Yeah and-Ah crap, need to go!" Butch realized that he is late for his class and sprinted down the hallway, fading away amongst the crowd of other students

"The boys are far less edgy these days." Blossom pointed out.

"Docile even." Buttercup added, before a sudden gentle chiming tone cuts through the rather noisy hallway.

"Good morning students of Townsville High, this is your principal speaking. I would like to call for all students to assemble in the hall for an announcement. Thank you."

"An assembly?" Bubbles wondered.

"Well, let's make our way and find out what's up." Buttercup patted her blonde sister on the back to reassure her that it will be all fine.

"Fair enough." Bubbles said despite her concerns.

The Powerpuff Girls joined the masses as they made their way to the Townsville High hall, and it appears that the other students are also curious about the sudden assembly. The muted excitement started to build as they dew closer to the hall. Blossom soon picked up on the distinctive red cap of her rival making his way into the hall, followed by the dark green hairband that held the hair of the other Rowdyruff Boy.

"Well, at least the boys are not skipping assembly." Blossom is a little relieved that the boys are not playing truant.

"Well time to find a seat." Buttercup suggested and the girls soon entered into the hall and noticed a small stage with a single lonely microphone stand erected in the center of the stage. As they take their place among the crowd, Buttercup scanned the situation and something immediately caught her attention.

"Bloss, it appear that we'll have a new teacher." Buttercup pointed her eyes towards four empty seats.

"New teachers? This time of the year?" Blossom expressed her interest as she caught on what Buttercup is seeing with her own eyes.

"Let's see what kind of teacher it will be. Takes an insane one to come in a city where there are supervillains running rampant." Buttercup said as she took a seat.

The other two Powerpuff Girls fell in place as the rest of the students chose their spots to take a seat. The murmurs intensified as the other students noticed the empty seat as well. The talks of the new teacher joining their school at this particular juncture soon spread among the students like wildfire, and it took a loud coughing voice over the microphone to silence the crowd. A cheery young Latin-American lady, dressed in formal garb and with a single line of braided hair with beads running down her otherwise short hair down from the right side of her head.

"Good morning students, due to Miss Honeywell having to relocate due to personal reasons, we will be introducing everyone to our new teacher." The woman smiled, but everyone sensed that she is not expecting this teacher either.

"Figures. She's a little soft." Buttercup snorted sarcastically.

"Buttercup!" Blossom hissed with disapproval in her voice.

"Thus, we would like to introduce you to your new teacher. Mister Reisz."

A tall, darkly handsome man with tanned olive skin appeared and walked up towards the microphone. Blossom watched as the lightly bearded man entered into everyone's vision, the man's dark and deep almond shaped dark green eyes and sharp eye lashes being one of his most charming features. His dark charcoal blazer and slightly unbuttoned off-white shirt exudes a certain air of presence that lowers the inhibitions of everyone around him. Indeed, the crowd started murmuring on his particular charms and others besides as he adjusted the microphone to suit his stature.

"I guess he's six feet four inches or so." A voice uttered behind Blossom.

"He's too sexy to be a teacher."

"I want to have a piece of him, even if I will regret it later."

"I think I am gay for this guy."

"Seriously he looks like Tom Ellis, but way hotter."

"Damn Bloss, this guy is ridiculous. He's making everyone hot and bothered." Buttercup chimed as she looked behind her.

"Well, hope his lessons are as charming as his looks." Blossom knew that she is also bothered by the presence of this particular individual and in both a good way and a bad way.

"Good morning students, my name is Mr. Halliburton Reisz but you may call me Hal. I will be replacing Miss Honeywell in teaching world history and I hope that I will be able to know all of you well and have a good time teaching everyone." The man spoke with a smooth and rich accent, further heating up the already excited hall.

"Wow, that is one attractive British accent." Bubbles blurted out and both her sisters looked at her.

As everyone else was charmed by this new teacher, there is only one person that the teacher had failed to charm. A pair of burning crimson irises watched intensely as the Levantine man smiled to the crowd, and the owner of those eyes adjusted his newscap before getting up from his seat and head out towards the doors of the hall.

* * *

[World History Class, Townsville High, 10.00pm]

Bubbles spotted Brick already sitting in the class with his books opened up before him as she entered in the class with the rest of the students. The blonde-haired girl noticed that her male counterpart is particularly menacing as compared to his more relaxed mood earlier. However, Bubbles is unable to find her chance to ask the Rowdyruff Boy as a figure walked past her towards the teacher's table.

"Alright class, get to your seats." The eloquent British accent informed Bubbles of the person that had just entered into the classroom. The students dully took their seats and their eyes are now trained on the Levantine teacher.

"Now class, let me introduce myself again. I'm Mr. Barker but you can all call me Clive. As for your names, I would reckon that it will take me a whole to remember your names. However, I was informed that some students of this particular class are superheroes. Miss Bubbles Utonium and Mister Brick Morningstar, am I right?" The charismatic voice confidently uttered the names, and a few of the students are smitten by how Mr. Reisz delivered his words.

"Y-yes." Bubbles said meekly.

"Yeah." Brick followed shortly after, his voice sharp and cold.

"Well, let's turn to page eighty-nine of the textbook for today we will be talking about ancient literature" Mr. Barker smiled as he gently sits on the edge of the table, waiting for the students to flip to the page that he had instructed them to flip to.

"Now class, a little quiz; who knows what is one of the earliest work of literature known to man?" asked the students, and an arm raised up. Mr. Barker pointed towards the blonde-haired girl that raised her arm and allowed her to answer him.

"The Epic of Gilgamesh." Bubbles answered.

"That's right . And what is the civilization that gave birth to this epic?" asked once more.

"The Sumerians." Brick shot the answer, and despite his tone Mr. Reisz smiled with an acknowledging smile.

"Well done, Mr. Morningstar. But that is the language of the 'standard' version of the epic. Consisting of five poems combined into one unified epic in Akkadian, the first surviving versions of it called the _Shūtur eli sharrī,_ or Surpassing All Other Kings while a later, more 'standard' version is compiled from the thirteenth to tenth centuries BC and bears the incipit _Sha Naqba_ _īmuru,_ otherwise translated as He Who Saw the Abyss."

"He Who Saw the Abyss?" Bubbles asked.

"Depending on the version, you will get a different beginning. But the 'Surpassing All Other Kings' version is so old that by 2000 B.C., the language written on the tablets had almost completely died out and was used only by scholars like Latin is today." explained.

"That's some old text." One of the students quipped.

"Yes, it is. Yes it is. The Epic of Gilgamesh was meant to be sung, and that is the unique properties of the poem. Interesting isn't it?" The teacher revealed, and the teacher's words had piqued Blossom's interest.

"But that is one long poem to sing." Another student commented, causing Mr. Reisz to chuckle.

"Unlike the present day, people had the time to appreciate the poem and it will be performed before an attentive audience with instruments."

"It will be nice for us to hear it once." Bubbles voiced her interest and Mr. Reisz looked around the room before noticing something.

"Well... Mr. Langley is it? If you are so kind to borrow me that guitar." Mr. Reisz asked, and the student whom the teacher had singled out was a little taken aback by the sudden request. However the student managed to get his bearings before taking the guitar case that he had leaned on the side of his table and took out his guitar.

Mr. Reisz walked up towards the student and picked up the acoustic guitar before taking a seat on Bubbles' table. The man started turning the guitar as everyone watched, wondering what exactly they are about to hear. Brick's is now glaring at the man sitting in front of Bubbles, his displeasure growing within him. The dark-haired teacher started to play the guitar and to everyone's amazement, Mr. Barker played the chords of a deeply soulful and nostalgic sound. The sound is unlike anything the students had ever heard before and everyone can sense a longing resonated within their hearts. Of a time in those distant days and nights, in those distant years where all things are created and where all things are given their place. When the heavens are separated from the earth, and when mankind had been established.

The teacher started to sing in a tongue that was unlike any other language that they heard before, and the trembling soulful anguished sound of Mr. Barker singing touched everyone. Even Brick, whose hardened constitution is well-known among the students,started to bite his lips. However the one that is most affected by the singing is Bubbles herself, for she understood the language that was being sung by Mr. Reisz . A language that time had forgotten but Bubbles is able to understand with all her heart in a gestalt collective memory of the linguistic meta-understanding within her genes. Bubbles appreciated the beauty of the words uttered, for it is as if the singer had known the tale first-hand and is recounting not a poem, but a recollection of a memory long ago.

"Bubbles?" A concerned voice interrupted Bubbles' appreciation of the poem.

"Huh?" Bubbles looked up to see Mr. Reisz looking back at her with concern and Bubbles soon found out the reason for the concern. Her eyes are now flowing with tears and are reddened by the tears. Bubbles sniffled as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

"It's beautiful." Bubbles praised the teacher, causing him to put a hand on the Powerpuff Girl's shoulders.

"Glad that you appreciated it Bubbles." The man smiled gently.

However, someone else is also having a strong flow of emotions coursing within his soul. Brick's heart is sensing something he had never felt before. A swirling mess of emotions curdled within him and he can only purse his lips while his blazing red eyes watched insecurely as the male teacher consoled the blonde Powerpuff Girl. The emotions slowly coalesce into a dark burning sensation in his chest and he felt the heat up his head, and Brick knew that this is not something he liked to experience at all.

* * *

[Townsville High, 12.30pm]

Brick is clearly not in a right state of mind as he sat on the ledge of one of the Townsville High blocks, and he looked down upon the courtyard of the vast school complex. Bubbles had to do something for today, and thus he is now watching the school grounds alone from his make-do perch. These two factors combined make for a utterly livid and miserable Brick, and this is not lost on himself. In fact, a vicious cycle of self-hating of his miserable state only served to fuel his gloom.

"Yo." A voice called upon Brick.

"Butch." Brick acknowledged the presence of the voice without even looking at the source of the voice.

"Heard that he made Bubbles cried when he played his guitar or something." Butch asked his brother and his inquiry was met by a pair of burning red eyes, finally acknowledging Butch's presence.

"Hate that prick." Brick grunted and Butch chuckled lightly.

"Can't blame ya. All the girls in my class will do anything to get him to look their way. For Pinkie...she's won over by his knowledge or something. In fact, take a look now." Butch pointed his index finger towards one of the walkways and Brick saw Blossom carrying a stack of paper beside Mr. Reisz , and their conversation appear to be surprisingly animated and both individuals are engrossed in their particular topic. Brick and Butch may not have Boomer's hypersenses, but both individuals are aware of the topic being talked about by the two individuals.

"Damn...he got to her too?" Brick spat as he watched the two individuals conversing with each other about ancient civilizations in the Middle East. Alas, the two Rowdyruff Boy cared not about the topic between the two individuals and are instead focused on their own conversation.

"He is a real charmer Brick, but I personally believe in Pinkie. She knows what she's doing." Butch expressed his trust as he decided to take a seat beside his brother.

"She better be. I don't want to realize that my rival is that easily won over because of some history lessons that she could have just gotten by reading or Googling it." Brick pointed out his dismay and Butch noticed that his brother is more agitated than usual.

"Alright, if you're that willing to listen then I'll talk. Just don't melt that guy with your eye beams or something." Butch decided to talk to his brother, knowing well that his brother may snap without him even knowing it.

"That's new, a Butch that's willing to listen." Brick chuckled sarcastically.

"Trying something new." Butch admitted to Brick, causing his red-haired brother to raise an eyebrow.

"Trying to be nice here dumbass." Butch explained, causing his brother to snort.

"Nice ain't your thing Butch." Brick covered his mouth, but the sound of his chuckle reverberated behind his cupped hands.

"It's worth trying." Butch is not pleased that his brother is not taking his efforts seriously, but he felt a pat behind his back.

"Thanks anyway. Right now I just want to observe the man." Brick curtly responded and Butch decided to respect his brother's decision.

The two brothers sat in silence as they watched Blossom and walking towards the teacher's office, deciding that it is best to not agitate (in Butch's case) or be agitated (In Brick's case). Brick and Butch watched as a girl with jet-black hair with neon-green highlights bumped into and Blossom. Both boys noticed that Buttercup is now having a conversation with her sister and the teacher. The topic now appear to be something else entirely, and to both Rowdyruff Boys, it is rather trivial.

"Buttercup appears to be the only one that is acting normal around this idiot." Brick pointed out to his charcoal-haired brother.

"Butterbutt's made out of tougher stuff." Butch assured his red-haired brother.

"Still...that guy is toxic as hell. Somehow if given time, he will win everyone over."

"Maybe he's just a nice guy Brick." Butch reasoned. Brick rolled his eyes before getting up and walked away towards the stairway.

* * *

[Little Tokyo, Downtown Townsville, 5.30pm]

Brick had strolled down the streets of Downtown Townsville and his mind is occupied by the thoughts of Mr. Reisz. It is utterly incomprehensible why Brick disliked the man, but there is something that he sensed from the very first time he met him that made him very uncomfortable.

Brick stopped himself just short of breaking through the barricade that separated the decent part of Little Tokyo from the ruined parts of Little Tokyo. Brick's red-colored eyes observed the site of the destruction behind a barrier erected to prevent the citizenry of Townsville to enter into the ruined section of the city. Brick's carnelian-red hair blew by the gust of wind, causing his ponytail to slither like a fiery serpent. Brick is at a sudden lost for words, and this is not usually something that happened to is particularly bothered by , but he failed to find the reason for his unease.

Perhaps it is because of an unreasonable thought.

Perhaps it is because of something his instincts had picked up.

Perhaps it is because he just hated the guy.

Fact still remains that Brick's whipping up a storm in his mind. Suddenly, he sensed something rubbing against his leg causing him to shriek in an uncharacteristically high pitch. A high-pitched hiss responded to Brick's shriek, startled by Brick's reactions. Brick immediately turned towards the source of the voice and to his surprise, a pair of frightened light green eyes belonging to a male orange tabby cat are now staring at him. Brick clearly is shocked that the tomcat managed to sneak up on him, and the red-haired teenager can hear his heart pounding in his chest like beatings of a drum.

The cat and Brick stared at each other for a moment, before Brick squatted down. Brick decided not to move and the cat backed a way initially. Brick slowly and surely extended his hand and left it hanging before the cat, and he watched the cat moved hesitantly towards his arm. The cat sniffed his fingers and breathed in Brick's smell to discern if Brick is a threat. Brick allowed the cat to explore his arm and slowly but surely raises it paw to touch Brick's fingers.

"It's alright. I don't bite." Brick said in a calm and gentle voice. The cat kicked his fingers in response and Brick can feel the coarse texture of the cat's tongue rubbing on the tip of his fingers. Seeing that the cat did not seem him as a threat, the red-haired boy proceed to pat the head of the cat with his hand. The cat purred as Brick continues patting its head.

"Alright, time to go." Brick decided and he got up from his squat. But just as he was about to fly off, the cat purred once more. The two eyes pulled something in Brick's heart and somehow Brick is unable to leave the cat alone.

"Wanna come with me?" Brick asked and the cat meowed in response. Brick shrugged before he walked, with the tabby cat walking beside him.

"So what do you want to be called, cat?" Brick asked, knowing well that the cat will not answer him in any tongue he knows about. The cat looked at him as it walked beside him, tilting its head on one side.

"Since you're a stealthy one, how about I call you Stealth?" Brick suggested, and the cat gave him a resounding meow.

"Alright, Stealth it is."


	92. Chapter 92: Frankly Dear, Be Honest

Chapter 92:Frankly Dear, Be Honest

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It is a beautiful morning, and the rays of the sun rises to show the world it is a beautiful world, despite the unbridled cruelty and unforgiving realities. But not everything is beautiful nor cruel as what this humble narrator is suggesting._

 _No, it would be safe to say that some matters are dependent upon the hearts of those experiencing the present. The present is a gift as they would say, but whether it is a gift that they want is an entirely different question entirely._ _That in itself a mystery that needs answers to, and no one need those answers as well as Boomer and Buttercup._

 _Both never knew that they had something that is there before, but for the veil of ignorance to be pulled down unexpectedly will require them to face the true matters within their hearts. For that, we will have to see how they decided to come to terms with the opened seal with what they thought of each other. And now let us watch the scene unfold in the Utonium Residence, where it all began the night before._

 _Fun times to be have right now..._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.00am]

Boomer find himself walking towards the Utonium's kitchen wearing a rather dull gray-colored tracksuit over a white shirt, and he wished he could wear something else. Alas, he is in a house filled with three teenage girls and one conservative middle-aged man thus denying him the option of just walking around the house in his underwear and shirt. Alas, the smell of food compels him to think instead with his stomach, and he walked into the dining area where he saw several members of the Utonium household already started on their breakfast. Boomer can smell the mouth watering aroma of freshly baked pancakes, along with the fruity sweet smell maple syrup, the creamy and sultry smell of unsalted butter, complimented by a lingering smell of vanilla mixed in the pancake dough.

"Good morning Boomer!" Boomer is greeted by the man of the Utonium household, and he greeted the professor in turn.

"Morning Prof." Boomer greeted Professor Utonium, currently is reading the newspaper.

"Morning Boomer!" Boomer heard the voice of the self-professed leader of the Powerpuff Girls greeting him. Regal, poised and elegant, Blossom's voice is almost unmistakably friendly and yet filled with a fiery charisma, matching her flaming copper-red hair.

"Morning Cherry." Boomer greeted her and Blossom's soft features responded by giving him a warm smile, matching her faint rose-colored eyes. However, Boomer did sensed that Blossom is somewhat emotionally fatigued.

"Heya Boomy!" A sweet, soft and youthful voice called out to him, and Boomer turned his attention towards the platinum blonde teenage girl with the sky-blue eyes. Boomer noticed that the young woman had not tied her hair in her distinctive pigtails and had let her hair loose, allowing Boomer to appreciate a much more casual and much more mature look from the most jolly of the Powerpuff Girls.

"Heya Bubbs." Boomer replied, and his eyes scanned the dining table for a moment before he noticed that one particular Utonium is not present with them.

"What's wrong?" Bubbles asked, wondering what Boomer is looking for.

"Where's Butters?" Boomer asked.

"She's not down yet. She takes a while to warm up." Blossom informed, and Boomer is a little surprised that she is a late starter.

"Yeah, she looked a little fatigued when she woke up today." Bubbles added.

"Well, to be fair, she had been a little under the weather since like a few nights ago." Blossom pointed out as Boomer took a seat among the girls. Boomer is not willing to add anything to the conversation as he silently acknowledged Buttercup's absence as being caused by himself.

He cursed his photographic memory as he remembered the sensation of his lips on Buttercup's palm and his mind had caused him to have several nights of fitful sleep. Boomer is somewhat relieved that he is not the only one having to figure out the aftermath of that particular night. However, he had not seen Buttercup for the past few days, and he wondered if she is ignoring him because he had hurt her in some manner. Boomer decided to not think too much about it and looked at what the girls are having for breakfast.

A stack of pancakes is laid on the table, and it was not long before Bubbles passed Boomer an empty plate. Boomer's cobalt eyes looked at Bubbles and the sky-eyed Powerpuff Girl winked at him. Boomer nodded in acknowledgement and took a fork placed beside him and jabbed into a few pancakes. Just as he was bringing it to his plate, a dark-haired lean and wiry young woman stepped into the kitchen, clad in a black hoodie and trackpants. Boomer's eyes made contact with the light citrus green eyes of the new arrival before the young woman averted her attention away from Boomer.

"Morning." Buttercup greeted the Professor.

"Morning cupcake. Made some pancakes today." Professor Utonium informed Buttercup.

"I'm going off for my morning flight. See you guys later." Buttercup informed the professor as she took a bag of potato chips from the kitchen aisle before exiting the kitchen.

"Alright dear. Have a safe flight." Professor Utonium replied without missing a caught the concerned looks of both Blossom and Bubbles, and both of them are looking at each other. Boomer wondered what is wrong, and he decided to muster the courage to ask the other two Powerpuff Girl.

"What's up? Something wrong?" Boomer asked the Powerpuff Girls.

"Buttercup is in a bad mood. She took the chips." Bubbles pointed out.

"Bad mood? Chips? How?" Boomer is perplexed by the logic pointed out by Bubbles.

"Whenever Buttercup is in a bad mood or is in a stressful situation she will always snack on junk food." Blossom explained, and Boomer immediately knew that he needs to do something about it. Boomer decided to put the stack of pancakes into his mouth in one go and gulped it down, causing Bubbles to cover her mouth in shock and Blossom to stare agape at Boomer.

"Holy cow!" Bubbles gasped.

"Alright, thanks for breakfast!" Boomer thanked the professor and immediately rushed out. Bubbles and Blossom looked at each other and immediately got up from their chairs and followed Boomer immediately after.

As Boomer made his way to the main entrance, Boomer wondered what he should say to her.

Boomer immediately wondered what he should say to the dark-haired girl, and as he opened the door of the main entrance, he saw the contrails of a bright green light speeding into the sky Boomer decided to chase after it and with a bolt of dark electric blue, Boomer blasted off into the sky. Blossom and Bubbles arrived just a moment too late, watching the streak of lightning scaled up towards the sky with breakneck speeds.

"What the heck is that all about?" Bubbles asked her sister.

"No idea, but let's go after them!" Blossom reasoned.

* * *

[Townsville Skies, Townsville, 10.05am]

High up in the clear autumn skies above, a streak of light lime-green cuts through the sky belonging to the Powerpuff Girl known as Buttercup. Dressed in a manner that is best described as spartan, as she had covered her black hair with a similarly black hoodie. The appearance of a bag of potato chips in her arms signalled the state of her particular mood at the moment.

The incident in the kitchen had bugged her in more ways than one, and the scene of Boomer almost kissing her is replaying itself in her mind. The situation happened because Buttercup believed that she blurted out that she was expecting Boomer to kiss her, and her actions started the whole chain of events that culminated in the rather embarrassing situation. The fact that her mind is amplifying this particular issue had made Buttercup particularly bothered and she guiltily admits in her mind that the issue with Boomer in some aspect is making her particularly flustered. Buttercup is glad that no one had confronted her over this particular mess in her mind.

"Butters! Wait up!" Boomer heard a voice, and she turned around to find that she stands corrected. Boomer is now closing in on her and Buttercup knew that Boomer wanted to get some idea. Buttercup reasoned that as a reasonable person, she will just wait for him to close in on her and she will explain herself. However, her heart and body decided to kick that plan down the drain.

"No!" Buttercup is caught by surprise on how flustered and combative her voice came out to be, and before she knew it her battle instincts had decided to act in this fight-flight response. A pair of beams shot out from her eyes and barely missing Boomer, causing Boomer to yell back at Buttercup.

"Hey watch it!" Boomer is not pleased by the escalation, and his speed increased exponentially. Buttercup knew that she had messed up once more and decided that she will have to take flight at full speed. Buttercup decided to throw the bag of chips towards Boomer in hopes of stopping him. However, Buttercup was reminded that Boomer can shoot beams from his eyes. His cobalt blue beams made contact with the bag of chips and it blew up in midair.

"Stop it Butters!" Boomer yelled, his annoyance starting to build up even more than before.

"Go away!" Buttercup cried, not willing to meet with Boomer and yelling for him to stay away from her.

"Go away where!" Boomer reasoned with her, knowing that Buttercup is not making any sense.

"You jerk Boomer!" Buttercup yelled back, knowing well that Boomer has a point.

"No, you're the jerk!" Boomer yelled back.

As the two individual bickered with each other, Blossom and Bubbles eavesdropped on their conversation to find out what on earth is going on between their sister and the boyishly pretty Rowdyruff Boy.

"What's going on with those two?" Bubbles questioned the situation between the two.

"Sounds like a fight." Blossom posited as she watched the two people they are trailing behind are now engaged in a dogfight. Blossom and Bubbles listened in as they started shooting beams at each other.

"Stop Buttercup!"

"No way in hell, pretty boy!"

"Come on, Butters!"

"I don't want to!"

"What are you thinking Butters! Firing your beams like that! "

"I don't know!" Buttercup spoke, but it is much softer response.

"WHAT!" Blossom and Bubbles felt a shock in their ears as they heard how loud Boomer yelled.

"I don't want to know!" Buttercup yelled, annoyed that Boomer is not taking a hint.

"That makes no sense damn it!"

"I know!" Buttercup conceded.

"Then just stop!" Boomer yelled.

"NO!" Buttercup yelled back, almost breaking her voice.

"Stop being so proud damn it!"

"Wow...they are really going really far down the route aren't they?" Bubbles observed.

"What route?" Blossom asked as she did not appreciate that she is not knowledgeable about the present situation between Boomer and Buttercup.

It was not long when Blossom and Bubbles noticed that both individuals are now descending down to a city and to their surprise, Blossom and Buttercup noticed that they are heading down towards what appeared to be a cathedral. Buttercup landed before a cathedral and ran into the place of worship, as if she was a gypsy seeking for sanctuary from a figure who's clutches were iron as much as the bells of the cathedral. Like an inquisitor seeking for a heretic, Boomer landed just shortly behind Buttercup and ran towards the cathedral.

"Buttercup!" Boomer yelled.

"NO!" Buttercup yelled back in response as she entered into the opened entrance of the cathedral. Buttercup almost bumped into an elderly rotund clean-shaven man in a white robe with a red skullcap on his head.

"STOP!" Cried the man as the Powerpuff Girl and Rowdyruff Boy ran past the man.

"Sorry!" Buttercup apologized.

"My bad!" Boomer followed suit.

"Let's go after them!" Blossom pointed out to her blonde sister, who in turn nodded her head.

"Teenagers." The man sighed and shook his head, only for another two more teenagers to ran past him. The man was about to use the Lord's name in vain, but he held back, knowing well of his position and where he is situated. The man sighed once more, for he only wished that there were more teenagers that would run into a cathedral with such spirit to worship in the sanctum.

"Wait!" Blossom held Bubbles back, and both of them hid behind a pillar before popping their head to spy on the developing situation. The man of the church is now surprised by their sudden inactivity and he decided to walk up to the two girls.

"Child, what is going on?" The man popped behind the two teenage girls, one a blonde girl with twirling pigtails and another a red-haired girl with a dark red ribbon holding her knee-length hair.

"Shhh! Watch if you wanna know!" Bubbles hissed while resting her index finger on her lips. The archdeacon decided to obey the young blonde girl and joined them.

"Sorry, but we really need to see this." Blossom explained to the rotund man.

* * *

[Cathedral Of Our Lady of Townsville, Uptown Townsville, 11.30am]

Boomer entered into the cathedral and is greeted by the grand interior of the cathedral itself. The nave of the cathedral reflected the architect's purpose of glorifying God, grand and as beautiful as wealth and skill could make. The stained glass of the cathedral depicted the story of the story of the cathedral and the New Testament, while the intricate Gothic masonry of the pillars and stone works showed the love and passion poured into the architecture. The wooden dark wooden benches are also masterfully crafted, in contrast with the pristine marble floor of the cathedral is surprisingly empty, and there were not a single soul within the nave of the cathedral. An unusual sight for a cathedral, but perfect for whatever that may happen from their interactions. Buttercup is as unpredictable as she is fiery, and it is best to have no one to interfere with them.

 _And speaking of the devil herself,_ Boomer thought as his eyes caught on the figure standing in in the center of the nave.

Her hood is folded back, revealing the young woman's raven-black hair and striking citrus emerald green eyes. Despite her rather masculine clothing, Boomer can pick out her femininely athletic body. Boomer wondered why she had decided to corner herself in this cathedral, but he soon recalled a particular is an independent figure with a particular gift of outsmarting and evading dangers with her particular cunning, despite the number of odds against her. Boomer took a step forward while Buttercup took a step back. This continued on until Buttercup reached the steps of the cathedral's bema. Boomer decided to press further, and Buttercup make her way up the bema. Boomer stopped just short of the steps of the bema and he looked up upon her.

Boomer can see her chest moving up and down, her breathing a little short than her usual pace and her arm holding on her chest. Boomer knew that Buttercup is not one to sacrifice her freedom for the sake of any form of suppression, and will be defiant to a fault. Buttercup know her worth, and will refuse to degrade herself by surrendering to him. No, Boomer knew, Buttercup is in essence a figure with a free and fiery but ultimately kind and selfless spirit.

"Well, I am now in a church Buttercup. You led me here...this means you want us to get married or something?" Boomer flirted with a comedic tone, and he enjoyed Buttercup looking around her only for her to plant her palm on her face.

"God damn it!" Buttercup cursed, only to realize the irony of her cursing.

"Ah, ah, ah! No using the God's name in vain, especially in His house." Boomer wagged his finger, not being able to resist poking at Buttercup.

"Shit...why did I come here..." Buttercup cursed.

"Well, is it because you wanted to confess my dear?" Boomer suggested.

"What?! NO!" Buttercup shot down the notion.

"Alright, forgive me God," Boomer knelt down, cupping his hand in prayer before the altar on the bema, " For I have a confession to make."

Buttercup wondered why Boomer knelt before the altar and started praying only to realize that he is actually trying to speak to her. His deliberately bold directness appeared pure and innocent, and Buttercup watched in silence as she wondered what stunt he is about to pull off.

"God, I wanted to confess; No face as hideous as my face, was ever meant for heaven's light. But suddenly an angel has smiled at me, and I dare to dream that she might even care for me. My cold dark tower seems so bright, I swear it must be heaven's light. Yet at the same time, why do I see her dancing there and why her smoldering eyes scorched my soul. Why her voice crackled like a burning torch, and the light from the flames catching the sun in her raven hair, the flames blazing in me out of control. This burning desire, is turning me to sin."

"Wait...what?" Buttercup felt something growing warm within her, and she is very bothered by Boomer's confession. This is definitely something out of her comfort zone, and she held her chest with both her hands.

"Yet this is why heaven's light and hellfire lit the darkest abyss within my soul, lit up by my desires to be closer to this angel. I know not of what I want to feel, but I believe that there is an ember there in my heart that wanted something more. These two things had sparked a riddle in my heart, and I hope I can find an answer to. Any answer will help." Boomer opened his eyes, only to look up towards Buttercup.

Buttercup looked at those cobalt blue eyes seeking for answers, and she know that she can not refuse his desire to seek an answer to the matters of his heart. In turn, Buttercup knew that she will have to settle the matters of her own heart as well. Buttercup decided to reply in kind; on both her knees and cupping her hands in a prayer and closing her eyes. Boomer in turn stood up and looked upon Buttercup, surprised by her actions.

"Oh god, please hear me out for I have something to confess; there is a poison in my heart. This poison made me doubt for the world is cruel and ugly. That made me bitter, and distrustful of the fact that people can change if they put their heart into it." Buttercup smiled in a melancholic manner, causing a cooling effect on Boomer's state of mind.

"But then an incident proved me wrong. A person from the cruel and ugly part of the world came out and repented, so to speak. He showed that people do change, and indeed he had came to my rescue once. And I started to learn of who he is, and what he is capable of. He is flawed, but in a good way. Something in him became an antidote to the poison in my heart, and that made me believe in him. No, that won me over. But the poison still clouds my mind, causing me to doubt." Buttercup opened her eyes, and her light green eyes are now focused on Boomer.

Buttercup stood up and she walked down the steps of the bema, and Boomer watched as the Powerpuff Girl stepped down the bema elegantly like an angel descending from the clouds to grace its presence among mortals. It was not long before Buttercup is now standing before Boomer, looking at him with saddened eyes. Boomer gazed into the lime-green emerald eyes and his heart, for wanting of better words, is now entrapped in the vast tranquil greenery of Buttercup's eyes.

Likewise, Buttercup gazed into the vast blueness of Boomer's cobalt eyes and she is engulfed by the ocean that is Boomer's eyes. Boomer gently hold Buttercup's shoulders and turned her to face him once more. Buttercup watched attentively as Boomer held on her shoulder, and she did not resist Boomer's advances. Her heart started pounding as she wondered what will happen next.

What happened next is not what anyone expected.

 _SLAP!_

"Idiot!" Boomer slapped Buttercup in the face, causing Blossom,Bubbles and the archdeacon to gasp. But the person that was taken aback by this sudden action took a few seconds to realize that she was slapped in the face.

"That's mean! You didn't have to hit me like that!" Buttercup cried out before slapping Boomer back in the cheek, causing his head to turn sideways.

"Says the one that had been doing all the damn stupid submission moves on me for no reason at all!" Boomer said with anger as he slapped her back.

"That's because you do stupid things!" Buttercup barked before she slapped him back.

"I may be dumb, but that doesn't mean I deserved to be a test dummy for WWE wrestling moves!" Boomer slapped back.

Buttercup slapped Boomer back, followed by Boomer slapping back in return. This particular exchange continued on for a while as both teenagers went all out at it. It is to the point where both their cheeks are utterly rosy red from the slapping and a thin line of blood is drawing itself from the corner of their mouths. The Rowdyruff Boy and Powerpuff Girl soon stopped as they grabbed each other's wrist in midair before their slap hit their mark.

"Can we just agree that we are both idiots and just be honest?" Boomer suggested before letting go of Buttercup's wrist.

"Yeah...my cheeks hurt." Buttercup conceded before looking away from him.

"So our confessions...you think He will listen?" Boomer asked the raven-black haired girl.

"Most likely not." Buttercup admitted.

"Well, here to that. Amen." Boomer acknowledged Buttercup's comment.

Buttercup's eyes opened wide before Boomer embraced her head and her body close to his body. To add to the atmosphere, the sudden toils of the bells of the cathedral with its many colors and moods, from the big bells as loud as a thunder to the little bells as soft as a psalm, as if to officiate the union between the two. Buttercup was startled by both the sound of the bells and Boomer's action, instinctively pushing Boomer away from her with eyes wide in disbelief and shock.

"Wh-wh-wh-what was that all about?" Buttercup stammered, not expecting Boomer to be so bold.

"Is that what you wanted to see Blossom and Bubbles?" Boomer called out and from one of the pillars, a pair of girls and a rotund man in a white robes appeared. Buttercup is now turning redder than before as she recognized two of the onlookers as her sisters. For her sisters to be here, that means they must have tailed them both since Townsville.

"That is so adorable~" Bubbles' sighed at the sigh.

"Adorable indeed." The priestly man smiled. Blossom on the other hand had nothing to say, for she is taken aback by the situation. Indeed Blossom appeared to lose all semblance of reason. Bubbles noticed her sister and nudged Blossom with her elbow, snapping the red-haired girl out of her stupor for a moment.

"Yours will be really steamy as compared to these two. Please use protection, Blossom." Bubbles whispered in Blossom's ear.

"No you didn't go there!" Blossom shot back at Bubbles.

"Hm...steamy huh?" Boomer pondered before his face lightened up.

"Wait what are you-" Before Buttercup can finish what she said, a loud slap echoed throughout the cathedral.

Buttercup's body felt a sudden unexpected surge of complex sensations coursing through her body, electrifying her body in ways she never thought she could experience. The outburst of emotions in her mind in turn flooded her entire body, intermixing with the complex sensation she felt. The overwhelming sensations and emotions caused Buttercup to instinctively react by elbowing the Rowdyruff Boy in the stomach, causing him to shrimp a little before Buttercup moved behind Boomer and did a German Suplex.

"You idiot!" Buttercup yelled.

But for Boomer, it is worth the trouble. The pain from the blow only served to reveal to Boomer that this is all really happening to him. Buttercup's protests fell on deaf ears as Boomer's vision started to blur into black. But a thought flashed in Boomer's mind as he fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.

 _Slapping Buttercup's ass is so worth it._


	93. Chapter 93: Tonton Macoute

Chapter 93:Tonton Macoute

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, 11.05pm]

Brick looked up towards the skies of the moonless night before looking down once more to focus on walking down the dark fog-covered streets. The echoes from Brick's footsteps only served to give the impression that the Ghetto is a ghost town, and it is odd that there is not even a single soul anywhere on the streets. The streets are particularly silent, but Brick knew that eyes are now upon him and the information network that is in place in this part of the city is now being relayed like wildfire.

 _Not bad_ , Brick commented in his mind as he had walked for about a mile in the Ghetto and there is no response of any kind to his intrusion.

To be fair, Brick is once again in disguise and perhaps the watchers are just not too bothered about him. However, the watchers are watching his every move to know what a stranger like himself is doing in this side of the city. Blue contact lenses, black-dyed hair, and a brown cap that hooded his eyes and hide his long ponytail. Not the most subtle of disguises, but dressing more casually than he usually do is enough to give him the cover he needs.

Brick is here for a simple reason, and that reason is enough for him to do his things more subtly. Brick walked into one of the dark alleyways and his eyes spotted a figure standing in the center of the alley. Brick smirked as he saw the hooded figure, knowing well the identity of the person standing before him. Brick walked up towards the figure wearing a dark green hoodie and dark blue jeans, before stopping a feet from the person.

"Been a while." Brick greeted the person first.

"Seriously, you ain't right in the head. You gonna get me shot."

"Well, you're the one snitching Jerome. So what do you have?"

"You right 'bout one thing; something's serious coming up. Looks like something's coming to life. They ramped up the shit, and looks like there's a free for all down on the streets. Everyone's gutting all the snitches and rats, both sides. Ugly stuff. After this one, I'm busting my ass outta town."

"Yeah, you better as your fart is real bad." Brick joked.

"Oh shit." The man known as Jerome expressed his fear and Brick soon picked up on the sudden change in the conversation.

"Hello." A voice surprised both Brick and the informant and they turned back to see a man standing at the mouth of the alleyway, his appearance being cloaked by the moonless light. The sunglasses-wearing man appears to be wearing a straw hat of some kind, and the unusual denim-clad figure's presence raised a flag to Brick that whatever it is that they are facing is bad news. The denim-dressed man walked slowly towards them in a rather stiff and draggy movement with the man's hand holding a machete. Brick decided to make a preemptive strike and dashed forward in a low stance to do a palm strike towards the man's kneecap. The cracking sound of the man's kneecap announced to Brick that his strike made his mark, but something is wrong.

No yelp of pain.

No resistance from the man's musculature at the point of impact.

Brick's moment of hesitation is enough for the man he attacked to swing the machete down towards Brick and missed him only by the virtue of the man collapsing due to his own weight. The slash grazed the clothing of the Rowdyruff Boy and he immediately jumped back to see that the man's face is not even contorting in pain as the man's face slammed face first to the ground. Brick watched as the injured man looked up and started crawling towards Brick and the informant as if the pain of the fall and the broken kneecap is not impeding its purpose.

"Shit!" The informant yelled.

 _High on something_ _perhaps,_ Brick assured himself. It is common for thugs to get shot up on drugs enough that they felt no pain.

However Brick soon spotted more men entering into the alleyway, all dressed in the same straw hat and denim-shirt attire. The men all walked into the alleyway with the same unusual gait, and Brick felt a certain amount of unease as he watched them marched closer. Brick wondered why these men are making him uneasy as he slowly stepped back. Brick is not used to the sensation of such primal uneasiness, and he wondered what it is that uneasy over a group of men in matching outfits.

"WHAT THE FUCK! THEY'RE ALL THE SAME BLACK PERSON!" The informant yelled.

 _He's right_ , Brick's eyes scanned the men and to his horror the men are all the same person.

Same height, same body structure, same face. To make it worse, Brick is now finally able to see the man's face in better detail. The man's eyes are glass-like and almost lifeless, as if possessed by something. Brick's body soon emanated a dark energy and Brick heard the informant standing behind him collapsed. However, Brick is shocked to see the group of men before him did not collapse at all, but they are all staring at him with those glass-like eyes. The group of men all raised their arm that wields the machete up and the stiff walk soon became a thunderous charge. Brick decided that he will not stand by and be swarmed by the horde. Brick turned around and grabbed the hand of his unconscious informant before he bolted towards the sky, not bothered to look back.

 _The hell is with that?_ , Brick wondered as he sped into the starless night skies.

* * *

 _The City of Townsville._

 _A city that is abused by crime elements to such an extent that it is a miracle that it still stands._

 _However, things are about to get much more worse._

 _A group of seven men of African descent, all wearing aviator sunglasses, dark purple denim clothing, off-black jeans and straw hats looked around in search of something. Despite their shades, their eyes are as sharp as a pack of wolves as they looked for their prey amidst the blocks of Downtown Townsville._

 _One of them pointed out to the others, spotting something that they are looking for. All eyes are now pointed towards a restaurant, a simple restaurant. Like an organized pack of wolves, the group of men in dark blue denim entered into the restaurant. The chiming sound of the bell informed the patrons and the employees of the restaurant of the newly arrived group. Their peculiar outfit caught the attention of everyone within the restaurant, but that is not the concern of the group of seven denim-dressed men. One of the denim-dressed men walked up towards a group of five individuals sitting at one of the tables, pushing aside a waitress that was taking their order._

 _Let us see how this scene unfolds..._

* * *

[Pablo's Restaurant, Downtown Townsville, 12.30pm]

"Hail there." The man of African ethnicity greeted the men at the table, his accent marking him out as a foreigner from the Caribbean.

"What the hell do you want?" A tough-looking bald man in a plaid shirt with a stubble is visibly agitated by the presence of this peculiarly-dressed stranger.

The stranger is wearing aviator glasses and a dark-blue denim clothing along with a straw hat. Everything about the tall African man disturbed the bald man, and his instinct as a special force operator is screaming within the back of his head that this is situation critical. This uneasiness is shared by everyone else at the table, for they are all part of the same squad as the man. The bald man slowly reached for the gun hidden in his jacket, knowing that he will not hesitate to use it on this stranger with an agenda.

"Hail Maja Wachowski of Phantom Force?" The man in the denim shirt asked, causing the other men at the table to rise up. The men immediately took out their handguns and aimed it at the tall African man, causing the other patrons of the restaurant to scream and seek cover. The other men in purple started looking at each other before breaking out in a hysterical laughter. The African man smiled wickedly as he noticed the number of guns being aimed at him.

"Shoot me." The African man dared. The men did not hesitate and fired their weapons, but immediately they knew something is wrong.

"What the hell?" The man known as Major Wachowski expressed his surprise and horror that the bullets are embedded in the man's body with no blood stains.

The denim-wearing man opened his mouth in a wide grin. The men had no other course of action other than to fire even more shots to the towering abomination. Each bullet that was fired just embedded itself in the man's body.

"Son of a bitch!" One of the men cried out. The men immediately tried to move, but found themselves unable to move. No, they felt that their arms and legs are constricted by something else that they are unable to see.

"What the-What the hell?" The bald man is clearly fazed by his immobility. The sinister manner in which the monster patted his head caused the bald man to enact an act of defiance by spitting at the abomination's face. The abomination wiped the spit from its face, and it started to laugh.

"What's so funny fuckface?" The bald man known as Major Wachowski asked, knowing well that something bad is about to happen to him.

"You'll see Major Wachowski, you'll see." The denim-clad man patted the bald man on the head.

* * *

[Pablo's Restaurant,Downtown Townsville, 1.30pm]

"I don't like this one bit." The raven-haired Powerpuff Girl voiced her unease to her sisters.

"Neither do I, Buttercup." The copper-red haired Powerpuff Girl agreed with her sister.

"I think I'm going to be sick." The last Powerpuff Girl, a girl with light blonde hair covered her mouth and nose and a tinge of green showing up on her otherwise fair face. Blossom and Buttercup knew that when Bubbles looked as ill as she is right now, something gruesome had happened in the scene.

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup were called in to the scene of the crime via the Powerpuff Hotline, and though they were briefly informed of the crime by Ms. Bellum, they had no idea what happened. Blossom felt that is trying to be kind by not informing them of the gruesome crime, but that inadvertently made it worse for the girls.

 _It is better to feel the shock of the crime earlier by word than to feel the shock by seeing the crime scene_ , Blossom reasoned, and this will not be a good day at all. The Powerpuff Girls descended down towards the scene of the crime and noticed that the crime scene had the hallmark of a superhuman crime scene due to the disproportionate amount of force present to guard the scene. The three girls touched down and one of the soldiers guarding the scene walked up to the three Powerpuff Girls. Blossom breathed inwards before exhaling out, knowing well that the next few minutes will not be good in any way whatsoever.

"Powerpuff Girls." The soldier saluted the three girls.

"What's the situation officer?" Blossom asked as she looked at the severity of the rose-colored eyes looked around to see several people were wrapped with towels and sobbing while being comforted by the soldiers and medical workers.

"Our orders is to show you the scene before forensics enter in." The military officer informed and Blossom is now perplexed and also worried. When they are supposed to enter in before forensics, that often means that their particular talents are required to scour the crime scene.

"There blood isn't it?" Bubbles asked, causing her sisters to look at her with alarm. Bubbles is never the one to point out such a grim idea, let alone talk about death.

"Yes." The soldier revealed, causing the color to disappear from all the girl's faces.

"I can smell it. I'm going to be sick." Bubbles covered her mouth before walking away. Blossom sympathise with her sister, for her senses are always more acute that the rest of them.

"Okay." Blossom noted, and now she smelled the stench. The smell caused her stomach to try and stage a revolt, but she held it in.

"So... Who is going in?" The officer asked, knowing well that his inquiry is not the most emotionally sensitive question he can ask.

"I'll go in." Buttercup suggested, knowing well that her sisters are not strong enough to see things that are disturbing to say the least. That is not to say that Buttercup is immune to such gruesome sights, but she is the only one that is resilient enough to see a crime scene without fainting.

"No, I will come along with you." Blossom answered.

"Sorry." The soldier apologised, knowing well that young teenagers such as themselves should not be subjected to such a scene.

"Don't be. Lead us in." Blossom answered. Blossom felt her hand being held tight and she turned to her green-eyed sister.

"Let's go." Buttercup assured her sister with a nod. Blossom smiled weakly, and her sister's assurance is much needed in this situation.

The soldier walked ahead of them and the two Powerpuff Girls soon trailed behind the soldier towards the entrance of the restaurant. What greeted the Powerpuff Girls is a sight that they are not prepared for. Blood is found everywhere, staining the seats, tables walls and ceiling. Buttercup said nothing as she tried to put up a strong front, but even she felt her legs trembling at the sight of the bloodbath. Buttercup felt Blossom's grip tightening around her own hand. Buttercup turn to see that her sister is as pale as a sheet of white paper and her eyes is shocked by the sight before her. Blossom covered her mouth, knowing well that it is the only thing holding back her gagging reflex.

"Oh god." Blossom expressed her shock, but she knew that whatever she had just said is an understatement.

"Bubbles definitely can not see this." Buttercup advised Blossom, to which Blossom nodded her head.

"Yes, she should not." Blossom knew how sensitive Bubbles is to certain types of brutal violence, especially when it involves human beings. Throughout their time crime-fighting, they had seen many people getting hurt and every time Bubbles is the one most taken aback by such acts of violence. Bubbles had grown into the acts of violence, but deep down she is still the same soft little girl.

"At 12.30pm this eyewitness account mentioned that a group of men wearing aviator sunglasses, dark blue denim clothing and straw hats entered into the restaurant. Eyewitnesses saw one of the group of men in straw hats walked up to the group of our five missing persons. The suspect said something to the group causing the five men to aim their handgun at the suspect. The suspect agitated the men, causing them to open fire at the man. However the suspect took the hit like it was nothing and the men appeared to be frozen or something. The suspect said something to the lines of the victim before...he made an example of the men." The soldier hesitated for a moment, but the Powerpuff Girls understood what happened.

"The suspect then passed a tablet to the waitress and informed her to pass it to the TOCTSEF and the Powerpuff Girls." The soldier stopped to allow the Powerpuff Girls to express their surprise.

"Us?" The Powerpuff Girls answered together.

* * *

[TOCTSeF Headquarters, Downtown Townsville, 3.00pm]

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup sat in silence as they wait for the TOCTSeF team to prepare the tablet that was intended for TOCTSeF and the Powerpuff Girls to watch. The wait is excruciatingly long as the TOCTSeF team need to do the necessary precautions before they are allowed to watch what is within the tablet. Bubbles is deeply distraught by the situation, and both her sisters understood the reason. Despite their best efforts to not let Bubbles see the crime scene, Bubbles's ability to understand the language of all living things turned against her as the animals and the eyewitnesses described the scene in great detail. Blossom and Buttercup only came to realize this as they exited the restaurant to see Bubbles closing her ears and shaking her head to take it off her mind.

"Anyone wants some tea or coffee?" Blossom asked, trying her best to distract her sisters from the tension building within the room they are sitting in. However, Blossom knows when her attempts are failing, and this moment is one of those times.

"No thanks." Bubbles politely refused with a soft-spoken voice,devoid of her usual cheery disposition.

"I'm good." Buttercup refused the offer as well, but as compared with her blonde sister, her voice is more of a simmering anger.

"Alright. I'm going to get some coffee. Be right back." Blossom informed her sisters before getting up from her chair.

The red-haired girl made her uneventful walk towards the coffee machine, and it took her only about two minutes to reach the machine. Blossom checked the options offered by the coffee machine and she decided that she wanted her coffee black today. Blossom took one of the cups and placed it in the machine before pressing the option with a simple press of a button. The liquid started pouring into the cup and Blossom's mind started to drift away to the unsightly scene she saw earlier today. Blossom wondered how could humans be so cruelly creative in hurting their fellow men without even flinching.

"If you keep that frown on your face, it will become permanent y'know?" A woman's voice snapped Blossom out from her thoughts. Blossom found herself in the company of a bespectacled woman with silver gray eyes and a black hair that appear a little blue under certain reflective lighting.

"Ms. Morningstar! " Blossom recognized the woman, and a smile instinctively crept on her face.

"Hello Blossom." Ms. Morningstar greeted the Powerpuff Girl with a wave.

"What are you doing here?" Blossom asked the district attorney.

"Please, call me Lilith. I am one of the TOCTSEF executives y'know. The others should be entering right about now. "Ms. Morningstar gestured towards the entrance, and soon enough several individuals started entering into the room.

The first person to enter into the room is a slender, well-build woman with hazel brown eyes in a business suit, with curly dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Her well-sculpted facial features and light olive skin reminded Blossom of a Greek sculpture, and it was not long before Blossom realized that she is staring for far too long. The woman waved back at Blossom, causing the Powerpuff Girl to wave back instinctively in response.

"Good afternoon Special Agent Anastas ." Lilith greeted the other woman, who in turn greeted her back.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Morningstar. Looks like those bastards really want to show us something huh?" The woman is clearly not pleased by the developing situation.

"Any idea where the other two are?" Lilith asked, and the other woman shrugged.

"With those two, you'll never know. For all I know Collins is doing some shady thing, while Colonel Remington could be in D.C briefing the Secretary of Defense on the present situation."

"That briefing is done this morning Special Agent Anastas." A stern voice cuts through the conversation, and everyone's eyes are now on a middle-aged man with dark brown eyes in an camouflage combat uniform with light olive green undershirt. The stern and stoic man watched the room as he took off his cap, before the man combed his blonde cropped hair.

"Colonel Remington, glad that you could join us." The Grecian woman greeted the soldier.

"I need to. This had bearings on both my forces and also Collin's." The colonel answered, and Blossom noticed that both Lilith and are frowning when they heard the name of this 'Collins' fellow.

"So everyone's here I assume?" Everyone's attention turned towards a gruff-looking man dressed in a bright orange Hawaiian aloha shirt with a military harness worn over the shirt. The man appeared to be more at home in a vacation resort in Hawaii more than the operational headquarters of TOCTSeF, especially given his shorts and also flip-flops. Two other men flanked the casually-dressed man, each men carrying equipments that Blossom assumed to be a display rig of some kind.

"Yes, Special Agent Collins. Is the tablet cleared?" Colonel Remington asked the gruff-looking man.

"Appears to be clear, but I'm taking no chances. Made a rig that will play the images remotely so that there is no chance of them hacking us or doing anything worse." The man showed everyone the laptop he is holding in his hand.

"Very well." Colonel Remington agreed, and all of them moved towards the table where the other two Powerpuff Girls are currently seated.

The two men started setting up the display rig and the laptop, and the setup is done in silence. There is no conversation between the four executives of the TOCTSeF council and the Powerpuff Girls, but the Powerpuff Girls understood that everyone in the room had no time for such pleasantries for now. The situation is such that whatever is about to be shown to the council and the Powerpuff Girls will significantly change the present situation, and everyone know it will be for the worse. The only question on everyone's mind is how bad it will be.

"Sir, the rig is set up." One of the men informed Special Agent Collins.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Play it." The gruff man instructed his men.

An image flashes itself on the screen;an image of a sigil of a skull wearing a top hat, with four pairs of spider legs popping out from the skill and one of the legs holding a knapsack. Everyone in the room had not seen such a sigil before, and it made everyone uncomfortable. A voice soon started playing over the image, and everyone noticed the monotonous synthetic nature of the voice.

 _"_ _We are the lurking predators in the shadows._ _We are the webweavers that trap our foes in our webs._ _We are the ones taking our threats to be disposed in a sack._ _We are the ones that will be the nightmares in your dreams._ _We are the Tonton Macoute, we are the bogeyman that all fears."_

The image faded away, and the gruesome sight of several bodies suspended in the air with their bodies being scored like a piece of tightly tied-up piece of meat. Despite the bloodsoaked clothing, blood continued to drip out from the scored flesh and a line of blood droplets is visible on what appeared to be almost translucent thin strings holding the body in place in the air. The glassy eyes of the mutilated bodies stared back at the screen, their eyes and mouth wide with shock and horror.

"Stop the video now!" Colonel Remington roared.

"Sir, the video can't be stopped! It is a live feed!" One of the men called out.

Bubbles immediately screamed at the sight of the video, and Blossom immediately held her blonde sister in her chest shielding her from the video. Bubbles is now sobbing in her sister's chest, while Blossom is now holding on her blonde sister as tightly as she can while looking away from the screen. Buttercup is the only one among the Powerpuff Girls still staring at the footage, expressing her disgust at the gruesome display.

"God..." Lilith said with a twinge of disgust in her voice.

"Son of a-it's a live feed! Find out where the hell this footage is being broadcasted! And I want this place stormed immediately!" Special Agents Collins is infuriated as he commanded his men.

But it was too late. The Powerpuff Girls had seen the footage, and it had scarred them.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 7.00pm]

"It's okay Bubbles, it's okay..."

Blossom tried to calm her sister down, but her voice betrayed what she felt over her own opinion about the situation. Blossom felt the wet feeling in her chest as Bubbles continued on crying in her chest. Buttercup sat beside her sisters while patting Bubbles' back, knowing well that her sisters will appreciate her presence beside them. But Buttercup is also affected by the violence in her own way. For one, she felt a constant nauseous sensation in her stomach that she is unable to get rid off, and her mind is replaying the image of the constricted, scored bodies.

 _There goes my mood for eating meat for the next few days_ , Buttercup thought to herself.

"Girls?" The manly baritone voice called out gently to the Powerpuff Girls.

"Professor?" Blossom answered, and her rose-colored eyes spotted the square jawed man entering into their room. Bubbles and Buttercup turned their attention to their father figure and saw a worried expression on his face.

"Professor." Buttercup called out weakly. The man walked towards his daughters and sat beside them.

"Heard about it from Lilith. She is apologizing to me about what happened, and honestly I couldn't blame her. No one expects such a thing to happen."Professor Utonium revealed, giving his girls some reprieve from explaining themselves.

What Professor Utonium did not reveal to the girls is that he had given the other TOCTSeF executives a piece of his mind for making his girls miserable as they are right now. But that is not the most important point right now for the middle-aged man, for he knows what the girls need right Utonium allowed the girls some time before they speak to him, as it is best to lend an ear to their plight.

"It is horrible Professor. It is just horrible." Blossom tried to express herself, but something felt stuck in her throat.

"Yeah, never knew you could do that to people." Buttercup chimed in, and her voice lacked her usual spirit.

Professor Utonium listened as Blossom and Buttercup continued on telling what they saw at the scene of the crime and how the footage showing the bodies were revealed at the end of a challenge to the TOCTSeF and the Powerpuff Girls. Bubbles is just sobbing all the way through the whole thing, and Professor Utonium sensed that Blossom is also emotionally exhausted from comforting her sister. Professor Utonium tapped Bubbles on the shoulder and the reddened light blue eyes of the Powerpuff Girl are now focused on the professor.

"Come here Bubbles." Professor Utonium gently asked for his blonde daughter to come to him, but instead he felt a thud in his chest and a wet sensation soon started to soak into his clothing along with a sobbing sound. Seeing his daughter in such a state broke his heart, and he started consoling his daughter with a pat on her back.

"Thanks professor." Blossom thanked the dark-haired man, who in turn gave Blossom a warm assuring was at that moment that he noticed his rose-eyed angel's eyes started to water, and he knew what he must do as a parent.

"Come here, Blossom. It is alright." Professor Utonium gently beckoned his red-haired daughter to join in the embrace. Blossom is initially hesitant to join in, but Professor Utonium watched as Blossom's lips quivered and before long she joined her blonde sister.

" How about you Buttercup?" Professor Utonium asked. Buttercup is often the most stubborn when it comes to such overt expression of emotions, but he knew that Buttercup is just as vulnerable as the rest of her sisters.

"I...I...Alright." Buttercup sighed before joining in with the rest of her Utonium felt Buttercup grabbing on to his shirt and he felt the tremor from her hands as the dark-haired Powerpuff Girl buried herself into Professor Utonium's embrace.

 _That was easier than I thought_ , Professor Utonium sighed as he felt the warmth from his three daughters and also how vulnerable they are right now. The Powerpuff Girls may be some of the strongest entities in the world, but deep down their are still young sensitive maidens. The world is cruel, and the world is wicked, but there are times and people where the world is not and at its cruelest, and it is the only world they got. Professor Utonium need to show them that even as the world burns around, there is always someone that will welcome them with open arms and be an anchor of kindness and love in this world.

"It's alright girls, I'm here for you. I'm here for you." Professor Utonium said in a soothing gentle voice, knowing well that is what is needed right now for the girls.


	94. Chapter 94: Message

Chapter 94: Message

 _A total of forty-nine individuals were executed by the Tonton Macoute and their bodies were found in various locations throughout Townsville. All the bodies bear the particular hallmark that will soon be recognizable to all as the signature execution style of the Tonton Macoute; bodies being suspended and wrapped by a mysterious wire, cutting into the flesh in a web-like manner._

 _Such was the sudden appearance of the Tonton Macoute that dark rumors started to spread throughout Townsville. The rumors came in two flavors depending on how inclined you are to a particular point of view._

 _The first version speaks of the Lunatics hunting down TOCTSeF forces or moles within their own organization to make an example for trying to betray the organization. The fact that the Tonton Macoute's executions were done in such a spectacular manner is proof that it is meant to intimidate and submit the wayward elements within the crime coalition.  
_

 _The second, much more sinister rumor speaks of_ _TOCTSeF forces taking justice into their own hands in order to prevent, investigate and punish crimes, real or imagined. Indeed the word on the street is that the Tonton Macoute allegedly receive support and cooperate with TOCTSeF forces in order to hunt alleged criminals. The rumor is only made worse by TOCTSeF's apparent reluctance to reveal the identities of the deceased, further igniting the rumors even more._

 _Informants, soldiers, agents. Those were the rumors being spread around on the identities of the bodies, but none can deny that the message is clear; The war against crime is turning much dirtier._

 _However, tonight_ _is a peaceful night in the Townsville suburbs, and_ _let us zoom into the Morningstar home and watch the events unfold, and hopefully the city of Townsville will not be burned to the ground in a fiery inferno._

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00pm]

"Stealth, time for dinner."

Brick called out to his pet tabby cat in a calm and gentle voice as he puts the bowl filled with cat food on the floor in the dining room. The small orange cat came out from under the table and headed straight for the bowl. Brick smiled as he watched the little kitten started gorging itself on the meal. Stealth's initial introduction to the rest of the family is somewhat odd, given that Brick is considered to the the coldest of his brothers. However, the rest of the Morningstars decided that the kitten can stay and since then the kitten had made itself at home in the Morningstar's home.

The sound of a door opening up informed Brick that Lilith is back, and he walked up to the living hall to greet her. Brick had no idea when he picked up on the habit to greet the woman when she returned, but he had always made it a point to do so. Brick always see the dark-haired woman returning home tired but whenever he greeted her she always smiled back. Some smiles are weaker than others, but never once failing to smile back.

"Welcome back." Brick greeted her, but this time it is very different.

Lilith returned home with a darkened expression and Brick immediately knew that something had gone terribly wrong. The woman immediately walked towards the kitchen and immediately headed towards one of her liquor rack and took out a bottle of bourbon. Brick watched as Lilith searched for something and Brick returned into the kitchen to observe the woman. Brick watched as she struggled to search for what she is looking for, and Brick can see the frustration building on her face. The carnelian-haired boy decided that he had seen enough and walked towards one of the racks and took a glass from it.

"Looking for this?" Brick queried, and Lilith turned around while shooting a glare for a moment before realising that it was just her adopted son.

"Ah... Thanks Brick." Lilith's expression softened, but the strain on her face had not left.

"What's wrong?" Brick asked, but he knew that she may not answer him. Instead, he took a seat at the dining table and placed the glass on the table as if inviting Lilith to come over and drink before him.

"Really bad day." Lilith breathed out with a heavy sigh and she soon approach the table. The woman pulled the chair closest to Brick and placed the bottle of bourbon on the table.

"I'm all ears." Brick offered and pushed the glass towards the spectacled woman.

"Your ex-mother's men just made an example of some alleged informants and operatives and hung them in public spaces. Send us a video feed for that, announcing that there is a new group in town." Lilith revealed as she poured the liquor into the glass. Brick tensed up a little, as he know who Lilith is referring to.

"I see." Brick said without a single hint of emotion in his voice. Brick is usually as cold as a stone and nothing ever fazes him.

"Unfortunately, the Powerpuff Girls saw the footage along to us." Lilith explained before drinking the entire glass in one gulp. Brick felt a dip in his mood and his crimson ruby eyes are now directed towards Lilith, who is now pouring herself another glass.

"The girls saw it, and... Bubbles... Well she's shocked by it all. Tears and all. But I can see the other girls are also affected by it. We messed up as adults." Lilith helped herself to another glass. Brick listen silently as his hands tightened into a fists.

"These Tonton Macoute...just plain monsters." Lilith decided to drink from the bottle instead.

 _The Tonton Macoute_ , Brick remembered the name.

* * *

[World History Class, Townsville High, 10.00am]

Brick is now particularly concerned about the network of informants that Brick had slowly cultivated within Townsville and he will have to check if his remaining informants are still alive. Brick is aware of the presence of the Russian, Chinese and French secret intelligence services in Townsville thanks to his intelligence network, but for a death squad to go out of the way to hunt down informants and agents in broad daylight is something that Brick did not expect. That makes things very complicated for Brick's own intelligence gathering.

Brick had cultivated his network in order to know what is going on in the city, and how they fit in the whole picture.

Is this Him's plan to destroy the girls? If it is the girls that Him want destroyed, then Him is doing a very bad job at destroying them. Indeed, Him's actions had so antagonized both superhuman groups to go up against the demon itself. So far, the Rowdyruff Boys had fought with Him, and yet that is somewhat within the operational parameters that Him had set for the Rowdyruff Boys. Whatever Him took out from Brick is part of the puzzle that is Him's final plan, and whatever conflicts the demon planned had so far did damage to its own organization as much as its opponents.

Brick remembered how a few months ago they were whisked away from Mindanao to Townsville and are adopted by Lilith. Then loads of other things happened and somehow the Rowdyruff Boys and the Powerpuff Girls are now allies of convenience. Then something happened and now Brick and Bubbles are more or less together and the two groups of superhumans are now closer than they once were. Brick wanted to say that it is a good thing that both groups are now less antagonistic to each other (indeed more friendly with each other), but something felt a little too quick for Brick.

 _Or is that what Him wanted in the first place?,_ Brick wondered. Brick knew that Him wanted something and Him usually get what it wanted.

"Mr. Morningstar, I will appreciate it if you paid attention in the first place." The peculiar accent snapped Brick out from his thoughts, and Brick looked up to see a pair of dark green eyes watching him. The man's dark and deep almond shaped eyes informed Brick that he is in his thoughts a little too long for his own good.

"Sorry, ." Brick apologised.

"Good to know that you are back with us. Now, If we were to speak about the history of the ancient civilizations of the Middle East, we can see that..." The man continues on with his lesson once more. Brick is reminded that he is still in class, and he is in Mr. Reisz 's class.

Brick looked at the blonde Powerpuff Girl paying attention to 's lesson, and he clenched his fist. Even though his rational mind is informing him that Bubbles is being a good student and is just paying attention to the lesson, but his more animalistic side is utterly livid that she is paying that much attention to the man. The two-legged rat is not worthy of her attention. The heat in his head is slowly heating up as he observed every single action is doing, and each one irritated Brick to the point where he can hear his muscles tightening up. Something does not sit well with Brick about him, just as much as Him's unknown agenda. Brick soon felt an irritation in his eyes, and he knew what is going on.

"Excuse me , I'm not feeling to well. I would like to go to the infirmary." Brick raised his arm and called out to the teacher.

"Please, go ahead Mr. Morningstar." The olive-skinned man allowed Brick to take his absence from his classroom.

"Thank you." Brick gave his courteous reply before getting up from his chair and made his way out from the classroom, not bothering to look back at anyone.

As soon as Brick got out from the classroom, Brick immediately took out his peculiar contact lenses and he felt them to be particularly hot and dry. Brick started resting the top of his hands on his head and he felt his forehead being particularly hot. Brick make his way towards the closest restroom and he pushed the door open without even caring if he had controlled his strength. The door slammed to the wall and Brick rushed towards the sink and he saw his crimson irises glowing in a bright iridescent flame. Brick touched his carnelian-dyed fringe and the dye crumbled to show the strands of bright glowing crimson beneath. Brick sighed, knowing that it is not easy to cover back the glowing strands of his hair without expending a significant amount of effort to dye it back.

 _Looks like I'm gonna skip school today,_ Brick justified to himself.

* * *

[The Ghetto, Downtown Townsville, 2.00pm]

Brick entered the most messed up neighborhoods of Townsville sporting a black hoodie and long dark grey jeans, his long crimson ponytail hidden inside his clothing and he had worn a pair of sunglasses to hide his diabolic eyes. Brick is here to answer some very important questions, and him sneaking out of school after his alleged rest in the infirmary is the least of his problems.

Who are they? How did they come to be here? These are particular questions that need to be answered or else Brick will lose his eyes and ears on the ground. Brick had checked upon all his sources in the town, only to find that half of them are already either leaving town for their own safety or are not reachable. Worst, some of the footages shown on television or the internet showed some of his contacts being strung like bound meat hanging from a butcher's rack. Brick is not pleased at all by the turn of events and he needs to find someone that can tell him what is going news that he heard from Lilith about the Tonton Macoute's activities and what they had done to Bubbles did little to shake away the pragmatism of his actions, and indeed he is now here to find out more about the Tonton Macoute.

That and cooling his own head.

"Hey pipsqueak,looks like you're at the wrong side of town." A voice called out to Brick. Brick sighed, and he knew that these minor crooks had no idea what they are about to face. Brick turned around to see a group of six men, and Brick did not even bother to take note of what they had on their persons nor how they even looked like.

Contrary to what the media is telling the public, Brick knew that not all the criminals are directly involved with the Lunatics. Some of them are just opportunists that are taking advantage of the chaos to get whatever scraps that they can find. Some of them are subcontractors to the big gangs affiliated with the Lunatics to do some of their minor dirty works. Some are even profiting by providing services that these organized crime syndicate needs to placate their underlings. The question that Brick need to ask himself regarding this minor gang he is about to take out is where do they fit in the bigger picture.

Brick decided that he will keep one of them for his interrogation.

"I believe that you're at the wrong side of town." Brick answered as he took out his sunglasses, causing the men to become pale at the sight of Brick's eyes. Brick pulled back his hoodie to reveal his crimson glowing hair, and the other men froze in fear. Brick immediately grabbed the closest one and held the gang member by the collars of his shirt with one hand. The others are unable to help their fellow gang member, and they watched as Brick interrogated the man.

"Tonton Macoute. Know anything about them?" Brick asked, his eyes being red orbs resting in a pit of darkness where eyes are supposed to be.

"I dunno man, I dunno!" The man shouted in fear.

"Not an answer I'm looking for. Try harder." The carnelian-haired Rowdyruff Boy threatened, causing the man he is threatening to whimper.

"I swear to God, I don't know about this Tut Tut Market you're talkin' about!"

 _"Tonton Macoute_." Brick said coldly, chilling the blood of the person that he is holding up in the air with one arm.

"Please, I really don't know!" The man is now in tears.

"Then tell me someone that _does_." Brick snarled.

"I'm a dead man if I ever dare snitch out!" The man pleaded.

"Fine, be a dead man now." Brick's eye glowed brightly and the black veins around his eyes started to branch out. The teenager's hair started to glow into a menacing red as a dark sinister atmosphere started to make itself present.

"I didn't expect you to be out here threatening small-time thugs Red." Brick heard the voice and immediately turned around to see a busty, short shoulder -haired Hispanic woman leaning on the alleyway wall.

"Carmen Ninety-nine, just the person I'm looking for." Brick let go of the man, dropping him down on the ground. Seeing that there is a lull, the group of men started to make a run for it. Brick looked at the scampering men, and Brick decided that it is not worth the hassle to chase down the minor crooks.

"That's one mean look you have there. Send shivers down my spine." The Hispanic lady commented on Brick's look.

"Why are you here?" Brick asked, knowing well that Carmen Ninety-nine is here for a reason.

"For decades, the Agency like to sponsor regimes that suited the US Government's interest. One of this groups are the Tonton Macoutes, personal hounds of Francois Duvalier, the dictator of Haiti. Trained by Uncle Sam themselves." Carmen took out a cigarette and rested it in her mouth. Brick is familiar enough with Carmen that he knows when she is avoiding a question, while answering another.

"Great, another one of those groups." Brick is all too familiar with the paramilitaries that America supported all in the name of 'democracy' and 'protecting human rights'.

"But they're suppose to be gone since the late eighties. It seems that the group is now in Uncle Sam's own backyard, hunting Uncle Sam's own people. If anyone knows how Uncle Sam works, it will be them. And who better to hunt Uncle Sam's shadow soldiers than those trained by them?" Carmen lit the cigarette and started puffing away.

"Sounds like America is having a taste of its own medicine." Brick had no sympathy in his voice.

"Then why are you here Brick if it is not to stop the Tonton Macoutes in their track? " Carmen asked.

Brick decided to not answer Carmen's question and figuring that she will not have her fun with Brick, the dark-haired woman sighed. She passed him a piece of paper and Brick reached out for it. Brick brought the piece of paper back and opened it up, only for his eyes to open up as he realized what is written on the piece of paper. Brick looked up towards the hazel-eyes of the Latina, perplexed by what is written on the paper. Carmen did not answer the young teenager, and she puffed her cigarette once more. Brick looked back at the paper before turning up once more, his raised eyebrow now turning into a frown.

"Seriously? A word and a bunch of numbers" Brick asked the Hispanic woman.

"Yeah. Seriously. Add some alphabets to that. " Carmen threw the cigarette on the ground before stepping on the cigarette.

"That is why you are here isn't it?" Brick highlighted the situation as he kept the piece of paper into his pocket.

"Oh no, I'm never here." Carmen smiled and winked before walking away, waving as she disappeared from view.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 7.00pm]

Brick is familiar enough with Carmen's methods that he knew that whatever he received from her is particularly important. Carmen Ninety-Nine had the tendency to make her information more cryptic the more sensitive it is, and the message is particularly cryptic. When he searched for the keyword in Google, it led him to a particular novella about a mystical puzzle box and the horror it wreaks on a family that is unfortunate enough to come across it. He decided that he will need to order the book to even understand why is she referencing to a particular book.

"Well, the book's here." Brick said to himself as he looked at the book on his study table. The book appear to be much thinner than most novels, and indeed it looked more like a notebook than a novel. Brick picked up the book and flipped through the pages to reassure himself that it is a novel.

"Yeah, lots of words. It's a novel alright." Brick assured himself and he proceed to open the pages of the book and get on to reading the book.

As the time passes by, Brick find himself being immersed into the book far more than he expected. It is a change of pace from the usual things he read on. Brick corrected himself; This is the first time he read for the sake of reading rather than for some research or some briefing. For almost his entire life, the usual things he often read are intelligence reports and battle plans, with a sprinkle of military treatise for flavor. This is in contrast to his present reading materials in Townsville is almost factual in nature, consisting of textbooks and literature meant for his literary courses.

In other words, all of the things he read before is not meant to be fun or entertaining.

However this particular book is a first for Brick, and although he admittedly bought this book because he wanted to crack Carmen's code, he had inadvertently forgotten his goal and is enthralled by the complexity of the story. It is meant to be a horror novel, but it appear to brick as a story of unconditional love. A tale of time without any remorse but with dark consequences. A twisted romance and the chase for everlasting thirst and exploration of pleasures unknown to man, ultimately destroying those that delved too deep into their hedonistic desires.

"Shit." Brick realized that he had just finished the novel in one sitting, and he felt a particular uneasy sensation growing within him.

It is heating up for sure, but is a rather slow burning heat of sorts. Brick felt that he lost his breath for a moment, and his eyes become rather heavy. Something about his mind started to shut down, and Brick sensed that his morality center, which is lacking in the first place, is now utterly void. However, something else is now in his mind, focusing the heat within himself and his attention. His thoughts is soon focused on Bubbles and he is soon reminded of the time where Bubbles hugged him in her lingerie during their first date. Brick's mind soon remembered the warmth and the the sensation of her body pressing on him, especially her soft bosom pressing on his abdomen. Something flipped within himself, feeling the compulsion to do something about it. But before Brick can even act upon it, a voice within stopped him.

 _Snap out of it Brick, you're making me really uncomfortable._

"Break?!" Brick is startled by the voice in his mind, causing him to fall down from his chair.

The resulting fall did a minor concussion and Brick felt a little dazed as he soothed the pain by rubbing on his head. Brick is once more reminded that he is never truly alone, for the dark passenger in his mind is always watching and always ready to take over when the situation calls for it or when Brick loses his sense of control. In this case, Brick is willing to bet that Break's presence this time is because of the latter. But what exactly is the trigger is beyond Brick's comprehension, and he reasoned that Break will inform him (if he did at all).

 _Please don't pull down your pants and do your funky thing._

"Shut it." Brick is not pleased of the dark entity's implication.

 _If you do need to clean yourself, you_ _can always use the paper and clean it off. Who knows, you might have a hidden message popping out or something haha._

"Wait...wait." Brick immediately pulled out his drawer and pulled out the piece of paper that he had gotten from the female informant.

 _Whoa there, whatever I said is a joke._

"No, not that." Brick took out the piece of paper that he had gotten from Carmen and started reading it once more. The red-haired teenager placed the piece of paper on the table before he started to pull his drawer and took out a piece of paper with one hand while opening the novel with the other. Brick reached for the pencil and started to write on the piece of paper as his eyes moved back and forth between the novel and Carmen's 's mind is focused in understanding the way the alphabets and the letters are clues for something and he started counting.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.30pm]

It took Brick the better part of the night to decipher the cryptic message and Brick is pleased that he managed to get something out of it. Even the dark passenger in Brick's mind extended his compliments to the Rowdyruff Boy's determination and ingenuity.

 _Not bad._

"Thank you voice in my head."

 _And for that you get a date with Rosie Palms. You worked your ass for it. Don't worry I will give you room and hide._

"Fuck off." Brick snapped.

 _Feisty._ _Anyway, time to read what the message is._

Brick picked up the piece of paper and started to read through the particular things he had scribbled on the paper. Brick will have to admit that the encryption is not what he expected and it is just by the virtue of Brick's particular attention that he figured out what the code is trying to highlight. The first digit shows the page number while the alphabet show along with the next few numbers show the direct placing of the phrase used to construct the message's content. Brick decided to not read it out aloud just to be particularly safe, and he wondered what on earth requires Carmen Ninety-nine to spend so much time reading books to find a particular one that suited the present message being delivered. Even though it is a little disjointed, but Brick is able to find out a few key points from the message.

 **There were two revelations.**

 **There was no time left for prevarication or regret.**

 **The Engineer will arrive should the moment merit.**

 **There's no going back. You do understand that?**

 **It seemed there was no end to this, but madness. No hope but to be lost to hope.**

 **It's not quite what I expected.**

 **T** **o come round like this, but I don't think there's much you can do just at the moment**

There is two part to the situation, and the first one involves what the Lunatics are planning right now. It appeared that a particular engineer will be key in the plans but now the question then goes to what is the engineer 's role in the overall situation. Right now the engineer is something of an oddity and Brick recalled of her investigation on the scientific pursuits of the Lunatics and he will have to wait for more information.

 **It was a disaster, she said; everything had been parceled up and put into the tea chests in the wrong order.**

 **The workman, whoever he'd been, had done a thorough job.**

 **She had succumbed to his charm within hours.**

 **It happened thus that Saturday, the day of the blood.**

 **The subject was closed there.**

Carmen second point is something that took Brick by surprise. Carmen points out a 'she', and Brick immediately know the identity of the person, or to be exact, the organization implicated.

The Department of Intelligence is compromised, and whatever it it is working and someone has broken and affected its operations to such an extent that they can do nothing about it. From what happened it appeared that it happened during the Little Tokyo incident. Perhaps the Little Tokyo incident happened because of this compromise, or the incident acted as a distraction for the compromise.

 **This time there seemed to be some pattern to the sound; a primitive code.**

 **But the next spectacle showed her the error of that assumption.**

 **Out of sight he might be, but not out of mind.**

 **He had given her the solution plainly.**

 **To solve the puzzle is to travel, he'd said, or something like that. The box, it seemed, was not just the map of the road, but the road itself.**

 **There was a further sophistication to the torture, devised by a mind that understood exquisitely the nature of suffering.**

 **Pleasure was pain there, and vice versa.**

 **It was enough to have him like this-**

 **But there was more.**

 **It ticked away, indifferent to the apocalypse that had overtaken its owner.**

There appears to be a pattern to these incidents and it appeared to be a clear one but something unexpected showed up while the 'Agency' is investigating. Despite their attempts to hide it, but the information gleamed by the Agency is that there is an sophisticated operation underway. But the plan requires some particular framework, and it needs to be done in a certain manner. Brick is hazy about the next part, but he would assume that it is an intricate plan that plans to bleed out its enemies, and it will have benefits despite the pains of implementing it. The plan will move on even if all the leaders are gone.

 **What's the problem?**

 **He was a travesty. Not just of humanity, of life.**

 **In that brief time he had changed out of all recognition.**

 **There was worse to come.**

 **This is the most dangerous time.**

 **The storm crept closer.**

 **To resist at this juncture would only inflame him afresh.**

 _As if I didn't know that_ , Brick commented in his mind. Him's plans is gaining momentum and it will endanger everyone standing in their path. However, Brick frowned as he read on the message, as the next part of the message is much more personal.

 **He almost found you, damn it.**

 **It was an easy mistake to make.**

 **This was no time to wait and watch.**

 **One way or another it was too late for appeals.**

 **It came in a raging pursuit.**

 **We had the Devil's own job getting it out of your hand.**

 **It has been cleaned.**

 **You did it in ignorance.**

 **But take care with him, will you? He's not feeling very well.**

 **I'll go to the authorities, when I feel a little stronger. Try and find a way to make them understand.**

 **The respite was all too brief.**

 **That too was a fruitless effort; it had no intention of compliance.**

 **Get out of here.**

 **Go.**

Brick read the last phrases and crumpled the paper in his hand before throwing up in the air. With a minute control of his eye beams he torched the paper in midair to soon felt a chill down his spine.


	95. Chapter 95: Questions

Chapter 95: Questions

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _It is the end of the day for the students of Townsville High, and all the students are eager to do activities other than studying. Some of the students are planning to engage in after-school activities. Some are planning to hang out in malls or some other places that strike their fancy. Some even just want to go back home and play video games or whatever it is that they do at home._

 _One teenager however is not sharing the joy of the other students that the school day is over._

 _Who is this odd teenager? Let us take a look-see._

 _Ah...but of course._

 _Sitting right there, right over there, is an almost unapproachable teenage boy with an orange-red hair known to everyone else as Brick. The teenage boy is so deep in his own thoughts to even notice that he is making his other classmates particularly uncomfortable. Perhaps the fiercest-looking among his brothers, Brick's ill mood is also rather contagious due to his particular abilities and those two particular traits combined to form a rather uneasy atmosphere._

 _Let's see what happens next..._

* * *

[Townsville High, Downtown Townsville, 2.55pm]

Everyone has a part of themselves that they do not show to anyone else. Not to friends, not to lovers, not even to fake smiles and bluffs, they hide their true thoughts, and in essence their true is how the world glosses over things for a fragile peace. Hence this is why information is king, for those who know the truth knows the way the world work. And a master of information always know how to hide his own tendrils of information.

Brick is such a person, and to have his tendrils being cut from him is an affront to his pride.

The orange-red haired teenager need to get his information, but the recent wrench in his surveillance network is making him particularly livid and anxious. Ran away, in hiding, missing or worse, his web of informants that he had cultivated in the city of Townsville are slowly being whittled down and even his best informant is warning him like a canary in a coal mine that his network is almost compromised is of great concern to him. Somehow, the Tonton Macoute are doing the devil's work, figuratively and literally, by targeting his entire chain. Brick rested his elbows on the table before placing both his hands firmly together. Brick touched his forehead on his firmly held fingers as if to brace himself before he started to delve into his thoughts.

 _More things to worry about_ , Brick assured himself of his miserable situation.

"Ur...Brick? Sorry, but...um..." A voice broke Brick's concentration and Brick instinctively shot a glare at the voice that talked to him. A whimper greeted his glare, and the brief flash of fear in the female classmate's eyes is enough to inform Brick that his action is unwarranted. Brick's expression softened and as he looked around, he noticed that his bad mood is slowly affecting the class he is in. Everyone is looking at him with great unease, and indeed some of his fellow classmates are now breaking out in a cold sweat.

"It's alright. I'm leaving anyway." Brick informed before he got up from the chair and moved along.

Brick clicked his tongue, knowing well that he is losing his grip on his emotions. Brick knows well that if this situation kept on going as it is. it will invariably lead to a downward spiral of descending madness overtaking the minds of those around him. As he was about to exit the classroom he felt a bump on his body and a yelp is heard. Brick looked down only to see a fiery copper-red teenage girl with a dark red ribbon holding her hair in one place. Brick knew who it was, and his recognition is justified as the young woman looked up to him with her pair of rose-red eyes.

"Sorry Blossom."Brick said preemptively in order to prevent any backlash, and also to put himself in a higher moral ground by apologizing first.

"It's alright, I didn't notice that you're going out." Blossom replied.

"Now...will you step aside?" Brick asked curtly.

"Could you at least help me up?" Blossom curtly responded.

Seeing that Blossom has a point, Brick extended his arm to help her up. If it was a few months ago, Brick would had kicked her down or do something to make sure that she is down on the ground. However, the times had changed and it is in his best interest to be on amicable terms with the Powerpuff Girl. There is merit to be on her good side, for she is perhaps his equal in terms of intellect, and her planning skills are formidable enough to warrant respect for a battle-hardened individual like Brick.

"Ah." Brick voiced out his realization.

"What?" Blossom frowned, knowing that Brick is up to something.

"Are you available today Blossom?" Brick asked Blossom, and immediately that raised Blossom's suspicion.

"Um...I am...why~?" Blossom asked back.

"Wanna hang out and have some coffee?"

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 4.00pm]

Blossom is not expecting Brick to ask her out for a cup of coffee, and this alone smells fishy for the red-headed Powerpuff Girl. For her rival to call her out like this is always a sign of something greater than the sum of its parts, and this made her rather unease to say the least. No, that would be an understatement for Blossom as Brick has one of the most cunning minds she had ever known. Every dirty trick that she knew about, she grudgingly learned it from Brick. And Brick will always have something up his sleeve. To make it worse, he had just bought her a cup of coffee.

"Here you go, your Latte." Brick placed the cup of hot latte on her table, before taking a seat with a cup of Chai latte in his hand.

"Thanks." Blossom thanked the Rowdyruff Boy, before she noticed that he is drinking what is essentially a rather feminine drink.

"I like the taste of it. Bubbles introduced me to this thing." Brick answered, informing Blossom that she had perhaps looked at Brick in a particular way.

"Sorry." Blossom apologized, despite her reluctance.

"Anyway Blossom...I heard that you're there when Lilith got the Tonton Macoute's video." Brick waited a moment before Blossom gave him a reply, and Blossom's distress is apparent based upon her stiffening body gesture.

"What about it?"

"What did you make of the video?" Brick asked, as he had heard from Lilith that the Powerpuff Girls had seen the video.

"Horrible and inhumane." Blossom informed, not bothered to hide her disgust.

"I see."

"Why are you asking about it Brick? What do you have in mind?" Blossom asked.

Both teenagers sat in silence as Brick takes a sip of his coffee. Blossom sensed that Brick is setting the tempo of the conversation with his well-timed pause, and allow himself. Blossom had always been reactive, and she felt uneasy about how Brick is controlling the situation. Brick placed the coffee cup on the table, and Blossom sensed that he is about to strike with something that she will not like. Brick's crimson red eyes met with Blossom's rose-red eyes and as both of them stared at each other, Blossom wondered if this is another ploy for the Rowdyruff Boy to mess with her mind.

Once again, it appeared that the joust for control of the situation between the two red-haired teenagers had begun in earnest. Such is the usual mind games Brick and Blossom often engaged themselves when they face off against each other. Both individuals knew that the reason why it is hard for them to get together is because of the mutual distrust they often had of each other and how they may undermine the other's effort. However, both Brick and Blossom are not blind to the benefits of them working with each other. The advantages often outweigh the disadvantages, as their strengths compliment each other very well, and they will be a very formidable team.

However, both individuals are too proud to admit that their cooperation will be beneficial, let alone that they needed one in the first place. Or at least that is what Blossom is often led to believe.

"I want to propose that we team up." Brick asked, causing Blossom to raise an eyebrow.

"What's in for you?" Blossom asked, knowing well that the teenager is already plotting something behind the scenes without her knowing the full picture.

"Is it that important for you?" Brick asked a rhetorical question back to Blossom.

"If it is going to hurt innocent people, then yes, it is important."

"Alright, it will not hurt innocent people."

"That is an obvious lie if I've ever seen one Brick."

"Blossom, I am not lying." Blossom watched as the crimson-eyed teenager is now staring at her with his crimson eyes, like a panther set on its prey.

"But you are not telling me the whole truth either." Blossom answered as her rose-red eyes met with the Rowdyruff Boy's eyes.

"Do you want to play a game of questions? Answers can be in yes, no, or maybe with some explanation." Brick asked, stunning Blossom into silence. Blossom is taken aback by this request, and Brick smiled knowing that she is not expecting him to play a game.

"Don't you want to know why I called you out?" Blossom soon realized that the ball is now in her court, and Brick is playing on her competitive inquisitiveness. Blossom will not fall into this situation, as Brick always tend to goad her or her sisters into doing something foolish to his benefit.

"You don't want to answer the question don't you?" Brick asked.

"Yes." Blossom realized that she instinctively answered to Brick's question, and she cursed herself inside. Blossom looked at Brick, but Brick is now smiling, putting her in a spot.

"Seriously, I really got no time for this Brick." Blossom expressed her annoyance, but Brick did not answer her. As the silence grew, Blossom sensed that something wants her to speak up, and she bit her lips as she sensed that she is now reacting to Brick. Walking out on him may trigger the response she needs from him, and she decided to do just that.

"I'm leaving." Blossom pointed out.

Silence.

"Fine." Blossom said before getting up from the chair.

Silence once more.

Blossom proceed to walk, but she noticed that Brick is not even paying attention to her. Something in Blossom felt slighted by the sudden lack of attention that Brick is giving her. Blossom started to think to herself if this is what Brick truly wanted from her, but at the same time she wondered if this is just a layer of psychological warfare being waged on her very mind. She decided to walk away and Brick said nothing as she went past him, and that in itself is particularly unusual. The distance between the individuals grew before Blossom's mind egged her to search on her person. Blossom checked her bag if anything is missing, and her mind is immediately triggered when she found out that something is missing. The young woman with the knee-length copper hair walked back towards Brick and she opened her mouth.

"Give it back." Blossom demanded.

Brick looked at her with rather condescending eyes, but expressed no words from his lips. Blossom felt her head becoming a little warmer than usual, and the blood is now flowing into her cheeks. Blossom understood that she needs to keep it cool, and not fall for Brick's trick. The Powerpuff Girl extended her hand with her palms facing up, and Brick looked at her palm for a moment before turning his attention back to her.

"Give me back my wallet." Blossom demanded once more, but Brick is impassive. Blossom is now particularly irked by Brick's childish behavior, and she knew that he will not play ball until she does. Blossom sighed before she conceded that money is more important than pride.

"Will you give me back my purse?" Blossom asked.

"No." Brick finally answered.

 _He is seriously pressing my_ _buttons_ , Blossom is not pleased by how Brick is playing her for a fool.

"Are you annoyed that you have to play this game?" Brick asked.

"Yes." Will I get back my wallet if I play this twenty questions with you?" Blossom replied

"Yes. Shall we go on?" Brick asked.

"Yes." Blossom sighed once more, before letting out a groan. Blossom is careless enough to forget that Brick is an ex-criminal and all criminals have some sleigh of hand tricks up their sleeves. Blossom sat back on the chair before Brick, and she rested her head on her palm before securing her elbow on the table to support her head. Blossom stared at Brick for a moment, and knew immediately that Brick is doing this because of some perverse reason in his mind.

" So Brick, your proposal...is it because it endanger your brothers?"

"No. Does it need to be threatening my brothers for me to suggest it to you?" Blossom is now particularly perplexed, as Brick's answer is surprisingly odd; the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys is not doing this for his brothers. That only deepens the intrigue behind the proposal to work together. Blossom thought hard about her next line of question, and she decided that she will probe him for details to help her find out Brick's agenda.

"No, of course not. This proposal...you're doing this because it is affecting, no, _threatening_ you somehow?"

"Yes. Are you surprised?" Brick answered, and Blossom will admit that she is surprised.

"Yes. Brick, did something went wrong?"

"Maybe. This will be something you are interested in knowing right,Blossom?"

"Yes, yes it is. Brick...do you know why these people are doing the things they do?" Blossom asked.

"Yes, they are doing this to flush out rats that will sniff out their real plan. Haven't you noticed that the people that got strung up are informants or intelligence agents?" Brick pointed out.

"No. Are you linked to those murdered?"

"Maybe. I know that you are not surprised Blossom by my answer, right?"

"No, I'm not. Are these people only linked to you?"

"No. Will it change anything if the answer is something else?"

Blossom paused, knowing that it changes nothing at all. There are so many questions that Blossom she will never get answered. Like why do cops need search warrants and thieves do not. And why do all criminals considered innocent until proven guilty and the burden of that proof falls on law enforcement agencies. Blossom will never understand such questions, and her sense of justice will not understand it either. Blossom started at the Rowdyruff Boy, her breathing becoming a little shorter and the blood rushing to her head. Yet, Blossom managed to control her emotions and answered brick with every control she can muster.

"No. Will it become worse?"

"Definitely yes Blossom. With this in mind, do you want to flush the rats out?" Brick asked, and Blossom hesitated to answer Brick.

Blossom had no idea of what Brick had in mind when he is proposing to flush out the 'rats'. Being a Rowdyruff Boy, it can range from beating a person senseless to something far worse. Blossom hated that Brick had crafted the question to such an extent that her answering 'maybe' or 'no' will equate to her being complicit in the Tonton Macoute's plots. Brick is really crafty and he had used her ethics and morals against her, for she know that she will not allow for crooks to do whatever they please. But now she is being tricked to answer in a way that forced her to be complicit in whatever he had in mind. Blossom closed her eyes and take a deep breath, knowing that she will hate the answer that will be coming out from her lips.

"...Yes. This is what you wanted isn't it?" Blossom asked, knowing well that Brick is taking advantage of this situation.

"Yes. I assume that you dislike what I am proposing to you?" Brick asked, and Blossom felt that Brick is digging the dagger deeper into her wound.

"No. Will I know what are you planning for this nonsense?" Blossom stared at Brick, knowing well what his answer will be.

"Maybe, maybe. Are you mad?" Brick asked, knowing well what Blossom will say to his cup and walked away from Blossom, waving farewell to her before exiting the cafe.

"Yes. Please leave my sisters out of this will you?" Blossom answered, livid that she is forced to cooperate with Brick. Brick paused for a moment, contemplating on the next word he need to use to get Blossom to work with him.

"Yes, I will Blossom. Now, this is what you are looking for yes?" Brick soon produced a small pink purse and Blossom snatched it away from Brick's hands.

"Yes. Anything else?" Blossom rose-pink eyes stared at the Rowdyruff Boy.

"No. See you soon Blossom." Brick got up and walked away from Blossom with his chai latte in his hand. Blossom turned around to see Brick waving back at her without looking back. The red-haired Rowdyruff Boy exited the cafe and Blossom watched as he disappeared from sight.

"Asshole." Blossom cursed.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, 4.30pm]

Brick strolled down the streetwalk as he formulate a plan in his mind. Brick did not expect his bluff to work and for Blossom to fell into it made him a little giddy of his ability to improvise the situation on the fly. However, as with every one of Brick's plots, he will not have to make a string to connect the dots and make it a workable concept. However, something else came up that Brick need to do before he can go about planning his next move.

 _Someone's following me_.

Brick did not expect himself to be followed and wondered if he can make this swing to his advantage. Brick decided to walk calmly down the walkway and observe for a little while before taking the appropriate action, violently if need be. Brick's senses started to hone itself on his stalker, and he is surprised by the information he is receiving from his senses. The person is about twenty feet away from him, and each of the person's step is calm and stiff, and those contrasts made Brick particularly aware that his stalker is not normal.

 _He is limping._

Brick calmly continued on walking, knowing well that there will be a point where the person trailing him will reveal himself. Brick moved towards the direction of Townsville hall, and he prepared himself mentally to retaliate if needed. Cripple or not, the person following him should not have done so. The urban jungle became more sparse as Brick made his way across several blocks and Brick knew that he is closing in on one of the urban parks of Townsville.

 _Well, gonna smoke that cripple out._

The concrete jungle soon gave way to an urban park, with tall pine trees and elms forming a stark border between the urban walkway and the park. Brick turned into the park and walked into the forested area. To his surprise, Brick heard the branches and twigs breaking from the weight of the person trailing him. Brick calmly penetrate deeper into the park knowing that the time for action is sooner rather than later. The hustle and bustle of the city gave way to the tranquil peace of the park, and Brick stopped in his tracks and decided to turn around to face the person trailing after him.

"Look asswipe, you better-" Brick's attempt to threaten his pursuer was cut short as Brick took a good look at his stalker.

An apple-faced Asian man in an impeccable business attire stood before Brick, consisting of a black trenchcoat over a black business coat and pants,white shirt and a black tie with a white scarf draped over his shoulders. The man's eyes are covered by aviator sunglasses and he is holding a black cane in which he supported himself. The man smiled before taking out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth before lighting it up.

"Is that how you greet an old friend, my boy?"

"Oh, Hi Mark?" Brick answered in surprise, causing the man to chuckle.

"Glad that you remembered me." The man said as he puffed the smoke from his cigarette.

"Who doesn't know? It will be foolish for me to forget. To what do I owe this honor Mark?" Brick stared at the man uncomfortably, and Brick wondered about the man's agenda as the Asian took a puff.

For the man to willingly trail Brick despite his disability showed either the man's ignorance at Brick's strength, or the man's utter arrogance at his own abilities to stay Brick's response to those that tailed the Rowdyruff Boy. Brick reasoned it is more to the latter, as Brick knew the personality of the man before him. Brick leaned on one of the pine trees and continued observing the man, and it appear that the man is taking his sweet time keeping the Rowdyruff Boy at edge. The silence only grew longer, and Brick's uneasiness only grew despite the impassive facial expression.

"I heard you are in town, and I figured I should meet you at least once." The man finally spoke, breaking the silence between them.

"You're rarely venture out of your den, what are you doing here Mark?" Brick asked, knowing well who the person standing before him really is.

Mark Gor, or to be known by his proper name Gor Wah Heong is the Dragon Head of the Red Dragons Triad, a Hong-Kong based triad that is one of China's most powerful and elusive crime organizations. The man's reputation as one of the most honorable and at the same time most ruthless crime bosses in China is known throughout the shady underworld.

But Brick knew that Mark Gor's illicit crime activities is a front for something much darker and convoluted. Unbeknownst to his brothers, Mark Gor is one of the chief spy handlers for the Chinese government. In return for his continued service to the nation, the Chinese government is willing to close an eye to Mark Gor's illicit activities. Indeed, the crime elements of Mark Gor's greatly complemented his subterfuge activities and he would not have it any other way. The man is elusive almost to a fault and for the man to willingly appear before Brick is almost unprecedented act for a Chinese crime boss cum spy head.

"Here for business unfortunately." The Asian man informed.

"That is bad if you're here." Brick continued on with the conversation, but knew that there is a reason why Brick is being approached by the man.

"Take this." The man threw something to Brick, and Brick barely catched it with his hands. Brick looked at his hands and noticed a phone is in his hands.

"Thanks for the phone I guess."

"Right. I will call you when I call you. See you boy." The man smiled before throwing the cigarette bud on the ground and turned away from watched as the man disappeared into the forest, and Brick looked at the phone once more. Apparently, his past had a habit of making itself known when it is the least convenient and sticking on him like glue.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 9.00pm]

Brick could not believe his luck that he will see an old face face from the past. Brick looked at the phone nervously, and he wondered if this is Mark Gor's idea of a joke. However, somewhere within the cosmos had decided that it is the time to play around with Brick and the phone immediately buzzed. Brick stared at the phone uncomfortably before Brick decided to pick up the phone and read the note. Brick's eyes opened widely as he read the message.

 **Hello Brick my boy,**

 **It is very nice to see you after all this years, and please send my regards to your brothers. My business requires my presence here to manage things, and things are a little complicated.**

 **Now the reason for me being in Townsville is very simple; I got a kitty that escaped, and it is causing me a lot of headaches. My little kitty is very temperamental and it will cause a lot of problems if it goes into the wrong house and mess it up. My brothers are in town with me to find my pet, and the last I heard where my little pet went is Townsville. Specifically Townsville High.**

 **So, if you are studying there you may be able to spot my little kitten. A lot of people find it adorable and they may come over the school to visit.**

 **Perhaps we can all have tea together sometime soon as I will be staying in Townsville for a while.**

"Great...just great." Brick groaned as he realized that once more he is being drawn into another web of questions that he will need to find answers to.


	96. Chapter 96: Concerns

Chapter 96: Concerns

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _Today our scene will be located in the-_

 _"Excuse me sir, but this is the library! It is much appreciated if you don't speak out loud in the library!"_

 _Oh, sorry._

 _The Townsville Library! A place of learning and knowledge, where the citizens of Townsville can often rely upon its trove of knowledge to assist them with many things. From using the research journals for scientific research, to improving upon one's comprehension and grammar skills, there is nothing bad that can result from using the library. Indeed this place can also be a place where people can have peace and quiet and enjoy the silence of the library and..._

 _And..._

 _And..._

 _Ur...And...ur..._

 _*Noticed two couples kissing each other in a hidden corner*_

 _Doing many other activities, though..._

 _*Continue watching couple making out*_

 _I will...I will not say that you should...never mind._

 _Anyway...moving on._

 _It appears that one of the people using the facilities of the Townsville Library is none other than our cheerful heroine, Bubbles! What is she doing here, I wonder? Bubbles usually like to read comic books and stuff, and rarely read anything that requires a lot more effort to-_

 _*Bubbles glaring angrily at the narrator*_

 _Oh...ur...sorry._

 _Anyway, it appears that she is really deep into whatever it is that she is reading and I wonder what book is making her frown that hard to begin wi-Wait a minute, she's holding the book upside down! Now this is utterly bizarre..._

 _Let us see what on earth is going on with our dear sugary little blonde Powerpuff Girl shall we?_

* * *

[Townsville Library, Downtown Townsville, 4.00pm]

A book is open in front of a particular platinum blonde girl with light sky-blue eyes with curly pigtails, but she is not paying any attention to the content of the book. Let alone the fact that she is holding the book upside down. Her face is frowning as she stared at the book, and her thoughts is focused on something else entirely. However what that is proved to be something elusive even for the Powerpuff Girl. For Bubbles, it felt more like a bunch of gauze wire zigzagging within her mind and being lit on fire. Such chaotic and pointless movements within her mind made the platinum blonde very uneasy. The uneasiness soon crawled beneath her skin, and she knew what is the reason for such uneasiness.

 _This is because you're not prepared Bubbles_ , the young blonde teenage girl answered in her mind.

To be exact, she is not prepared for her new reality.

Bubbles is not hardened enough to face villains of such caliber as Murcielago. Or for that matter, the Lunatics. They are utterly something else entirely and unlike the villains she knew and fought with. Well, except one, but that particular villain is the one orchestrating these other villains. In fact, what shocked her more than anything is these villains knew how to pressure her in the right spots. That in turn made her had the unreasonable thought that she is the main target of these actions.

Bubbles knew that it is selfish and foolish of her to think of Him as her particular archenemy, for Him is the Powerpuff Girls' enemy. But Him had always focused its attention to her, and always seek to weaken the Powerpuff Girls through her. That thought alone had haunted her ever since she found out that Him is behind this rogue gallery. Too many things are happening at once and she had kept it within herself to not let her sisters be worried about her. Besides, their hands are already full with Him's goons running around causing havoc. That and the Rowdyruff Boys.

 _Ah, the Rowdyruff Boys._

Bubbles will admit that she is the first one to befriend the boys to a degree, and indeed she is slowly learning to know one of them a little more than the rest. However, a voice in her mind is always barking at her to be careful with the boys, for they are created to defeat and destroy them in the first place. But Bubbles is not willing to listen to that voice, for she believe that everyone deserve to have a second chance. For the boys, it is more like their third chance, since they were blown into oblivion before by their kisses and only recently did they did anything resembling decent human behavior.

"What's wrong?" A voice appeared from behind causing Bubbles to jump for a moment and let out a squeal. The voice behind also voiced out a verbal surprise which caused Bubbles to turn around to see the source of the voice. An olive-skinned man with dark, black hair is standing behind her with a pair of dark forest green eyes looking at her with apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry for giving you a fright." The man said in his accented voice.

"Oh Mr. Reisz, it's just you." Bubbles breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's alright, thought I should check up on you. You looked...constipated." The teacher's choice of words caused Bubbles to blush.

"I'm...I'm just deep in my own thoughts." Bubbles answered meekly.

"Mind if I take a seat here?" Mr. Reisz asked politely for him to sit at the same table as Bubbles.

"Sure, please do." Bubbles permitted the teacher to sit with her.

The man pulled the chair and took a seat in front of her before putting a book on the table. Bubbles saw the title as 'The Day of the Jackal' printed on a stylized circle and she noticed that there is a bookmark placed in the book. Bubbles watched as the man opened up the book where the bookmark is placed and proceed to read the book in silence. Bubbles is now distracted by the activity of the World History teacher reading his book in a tranquil bliss, and indeed she is surprised why is she staring at the man.

"Is there something on my face?" Mr. Reisz asked, alerting Bubbles that she had perhaps stared too long.

"Oh no, just wondering what it is that you're reading. Looks like it is a really good read."

"This book? It is about an assassin hired by a French dissident group to assassinate the French President. It's a really old book, but it is a really good read."

"Wow, you must have read it a lot of times for you to remember the story."

"Yes, yes indeed Ms. Utoni... Sorry, mind if I call you Bubbles? I am also teaching your sisters in their World History classes as well and it is always hard to know which Ms. Utonium I'm speaking to." The Levantine teacher scratched his head, as if embarrassed to not remember his students' faces and names.

"It's alright. That happens a lot. And I mean a lot." Bubbles emphasized.

"If you get a penny for that, you'll be a very wealthy person Bubbles." Bubbles giggled at Mr. Reisz' comment, only for her to recall that she is still in the library. Bubbles immediately covered her mouth.

"Sorry about that." Bubbles apologized, but the older man chuckled.

"Don't be Bubbles. Laughter should never be held in."

* * *

[Townsville Library, Downtown Townsville,5.00pm]

Robin Snyder.

The stalwart friend of the Powerpuff Girls.

Confidant.

Recuperating victim of the Little Tokyo incident.

Well, she is not hurt physically, but she is scarred psychologically. Still she had no memory of what actually happened. She remembered everything turning white and things having outlines like an artist's sketch and then suddenly finding herself in the hospital. It is frightening to have a portion of her waking memory to disappear like that without her blacking out or anything. She had always heard of the stories of how people do not have a recollection after having a date rape drug, and now she knows how it feels like.

Such was her desire that she had decided to come over to school to seek answers.

Robin wanted to find Bubbles to ask her what happened, as her friend is the only witness of what happened to her to an extent. Robin was informed by Blossom that Bubbles had went to the library and she figured that the library is the perfect spot to ask her friend in relative peace and quiet. However, she is taken by surprise when she saw her friend talking to a man with dark, raven hair and charming almond-shaped eyes. Robin decided to hide among the book shelves and spy on the two individuals talking to each other.

 _Who is that guy, and he is gorgeous!_

Robin decided to get herself closer to eavesdrop on the two individuals. As she drew closer, she can see the man is a much older gentleman, with a tanned skin that gave the man an almost Arabic look. The voice of the man is now much more audible, and Robin is swooned by the particular British accent the man is sporting. However that also sparked a tinge of jealousy within Robin as she watched the two individuals conversing with each other.

" Oh...and where are you actually from Mr. Reisz?"

 _So the guy's name is Mr. Reisz,_ Robin made a mental note on the man's identity.

"Actually, I was raised in Townsville when I was a child before my family and I returned to Nottingham."

"You're from Townsville? Wow that is a surprise!"

 _They're particularly friendly to each other_ , Robin observed. The fact that they knew each other by name is already suspect enough and this is a cause of concern.

"So why come back here and teach World History?"

"Because this city needs all the help it can get." The man answered.

 _He's a teacher? Damn, and I though missing school is_ _fun_ , Robin regretted that she did not go to school for a few days.

Robin decided that snooping around is enough and it is time to make herself known. She walked up from behind the bookshelves and head towards the two individuals. Both of them are still deep in their conversation when Robin pulled the chair and joined them.

"Bubbles, if you want to flirt, please choose a more secluded spot." Robin teased her friend.

"Rob!" Bubbles yelled out in surprise. Several people are staring at Bubbles and some of the people even shushed her.

"Sorry!" Bubbles apologise in a whisper to the other people.

"By the way, I'm Robin." The brown-haired girl extended a handshake to the man, both as a means of introducing herself and also getting a chance to hold the hand of such a charming hunk.

"Ah, so you're Ms. Snyder. Nice to finally meet you. Hope to see you in class soon. Hal Reisz, your new World History teacher." The Levantine man introduced himself with a natural charm that made Robin's heart to skip a beat.

"Nice..." Robin did not even bother to complete her greeting as she is already melting before this Adonis.

"Robin?" Bubbles called out to her friend as the mahogany -haired girl is holding on Mr. Reisz's hand for far too long, causing the man to smile uncomfortably. Bubbles decided to politely but decisively pull her friend's arm from Mr. Reisz' arm while trying to control her strength. Robin's hand separated itself from Mr. Reisz' hand, allowing the man to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." The teacher thanked his student.

"It's alright, and it is about time we make our leave anyway." Bubbles said with a smile.

"Wait, but!" Robin protested, but she was met by a glare from the Powerpuff Girl. When Bubbles make a death glare, people take heed. Robin went quiet and Mr. Reisz learned that a livid Bubbles is not someone he want to mess with. Even if Mr. Reisz is her teacher.

"Time for us to go. See you when I see you Mr. Reisz!" Bubbles' expression changed quickly to an amiable one, and she waved farewell to the dark-haired man.

"Well, see you soon." Mr. Reisz smiled, impressed by how quickly Bubbles switched from a livid expression to an angelic expression. The World History teacher waved farewell as his two students got up from their seat and walked away. Bubbles waved at Mr. Reisz once more and the man smiled as he finds the attics of his particular students to be quite entertaining.

"Looks like you're having fun, _Mr. Reisz_." Mr. Reisz did not even turn back to face the voice that spoke to him.

"Yes, yes I am. So what do you have for me?" spoke as he continued on waving to the two teenage girls before both of them are out of his view. There is a long pause before the voice spoke once more.

"There is some difficulty." The voiced admitted.

"Give all of them their flowers while they can still smell them." Mr. Reisz commanded, and he is met with silence. Mr. Reisz turned his back towards the source of the voice, but there is no one behind him. The smile on the face of faded away, and a more dour expression formed on his face.

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 6.00pm]

"Seriously he is such a dreamy person..." Robin cooed, causing Bubbles to shake her head.

This always happens when Robin found someone she had a crush on, or find particularly attractive. Of course, as a friend Bubbles is willing to entertain her friend's attics. After all, Robin is a rock in amidst the turbulent river that is her life and she is glad for it. The least she can do is to listen to the rambling of her childhood friend.

"Well, you are the latest addition to the fanclub that is slowly forming around ." Bubbles joked, thought the blonde Powerpuff Girl knew that the group does exist.

"And you better not let that fanclub see you talk with that way. I'm cool with you, but the others? They will fight with Mojo Jojo himself if they wanted to get a piece of that fine ass."

"Rob!" Bubbles did not appreciate Robin's vulgarity, but she also managed to laugh it off at the same time. The mixed reactions is understood by Robin and she patted her friend on the shoulder.

"You know I'm just kidding right? Besides, you already got a bullseye on you from the Brick fanclub anyway."

"Wait what?"

"You didn't know? The boys have their own adoring fans as well, and there are quite a few that confessed to them before. So far no one really took the offer from their fans of course." Robin informed the Powerpuff Girl before taking a sip from her mocha.

Bubbles is reminded of an incident where Brick ran away from one of the girls that confessed to him, and she had not thought too much about it until now. Bubbles played with the curls in her pigtails as she pondered about the possible people that will be trying to date him. Or worse. So far, no one had found out about their fledgling relationship, but that in itself is a risk in itself that Bubbles never considered. Bubbles is taken by her naivety and her obliviousness, and her mood darkened.

"What's wrong Bubbs?" Robin noticed the change of mood in the Powerpuff Girl.

"Hey Rob, do you think that something bad will happen if I continued on with Brick?" Bubbles asked, causing Robin to almost choke on her coffee.

"What is with that line Bubbs?" Robin asked with concern as she placed the coffee on the table.

"It is just that the situation is a little messy right now, and somehow I feel like I am just putting everyone in danger or-"

"Don't be stupid!" Robin smacked Bubbles on her head, causing Bubbles to yelp.

"Ouch!"

"Seriously, don't think too much about it." Robin sighed.

"I see..." Bubbles had nothing to say, but at the same time she is relieved by the support her friend is giving her.

"Speaking about thinking, I really had no idea about one particular thing." The sudden change of conversation topic cause a flag to be raised in Bubbles.

"Rob?" Bubbles asked her friend, concerned about her friend's wellbeing.

"I honestly don't remember what happened on that day when you and Boomer fought that villain." Despite her candid manner, Bubbles can sense that there is an underlying problem within Robin. Second flag raised.

"Rob...are you-" Bubbles wanted to ask her friend if she is alright, but it seem that it felt on deaf ears as Robin continued on talking.

"The last thing I remembered is just us trying to get out, and then my view from the bed of the hospital just appeared without me even blinking. Funny isn't it?" Robin's voice started to have a certain urgency to it, as if she needs to tell Bubbles everything before something stops her.

Bubbles is now worried for her friend, and she prepared herself mentally for any particular emotions that will come out from her friend, or particular physical actions if that is the case. Bubbles watched for the cues to enter in to comfort her friend, and her friend having such a long pause is already a cause of concern for her. Robin is always a gregarious person, and for her to be particularly quiet is the sign for another flag to be raised.

"It feels like I..." Robin tried to express herself, but her voice appeared to be jammed inside her chest.

Bubbles watched as her friend placed her hand on her chest and she sensed the shortness of her friend's breath. Bubbles recognized the signs of a panic attack about to happen and before Robin can even finish her words, Bubbles leaned forward and hugged her friend. Bubbles soon felt a hug replying her gesture, and the reverberation from Robin's trembling is now resonating throughout her body.

"Robin...breathe. Take deep breaths."

"Bubbs I-I-I!" Robin tried to speak but Bubbles stopped her friend.

"Shh...don't speak. Just take in a deep breath." Bubbles said in a calm and nurturing voice.

Robin stopped talking, and Bubbles soon heard her friend taking in a deep breath. As Bubbles felt Robin's chest pressing on her own as she took in her breath,Bubbles is once again reminded of her burdens, the burdens of being a protector.

"Now breathe out." Bubbles instructed, and Bubbles felt her friend's chest contract, and the sound of Robin exhaling allow Bubbles to confirm that her friend is listening to her.

"Now breathe in again." Bubbles calmly instructed her friend, and Robin's expanding chest informed Bubbles that she is following what her friend is saying.

Bubbles is used to these kinds of situations, and indeed it is more akin to a trained response by now for Bubbles. Many times she had seen many people having panic attacks or overwhelming anxieties attacking them in highly stressful situation. Bubbles felt the need to help them relieve their fears, but the frequency of it happening had in essence cause this to become a burden on Bubbles' mind. A burden that she always struggled to bear on her shoulders. Right now, Bubbles felt her worries are both secondary and yet important as compared to her friend's fears and traumas, and she had no way of answering the worries within her heart.

 _Just because she's weaker doesn't mean that I'm stronger,_ Bubbles thought as she tried to console her friend.

* * *

[Alder Residence Apartments, Uptown Townsville, 9.00pm]

 _Someone's in my apartment._

A man with dark hair and olive skin stopped before the door to his apartment, knowing that something had just entered into his apartment. Whoever it is, the person will regret trying to break into his home. The man turned the knob of his door slowly and allowed the light from the hallway to climb towards the living hall. The man slowly stepped into the apartment, his shadow slowly reaching up towards the height of the light that had entered his residence. His dark green eyes looked towards his living hall and spotted a figure sitting on one of his couches. The cover of darkness had done well to shroud the features of the person, to the point where the person's gender is ambiguous.

Rather than being shocked, the man glared at the figure before entering. His eyes kept contact with the figure as he closed the door behind him. Even the light failed to reveal any features as the darkness from the being's body absorbed all the figure appeared to be of light build and average high, its most striking feature is that it is completely shrouded in shadows, appearing entirely black. It wears a large hat, one side folded over its top, a coat over which sports large rings serving as shoulder pads, a stylized belt, and a trouser decorated with braces around the ankles. Its face is shown to have an arrow-like mark underneath what seems to be a large, empty eye. A terrifying sight for sure, but Mr. Reisz is not impressed, let alone showing any expression.

"What are you doing here?" The man asked, not appreciating the intrusion.

" _Coming by to say hi Ms. Reisz_." The person answered with a nasal accent, sounding both eloquent and yet menacing.

"You could have just rang the doorbell or left a message like any other person." Mr. Reisz is not pleased by the presence of the being in his home.

" _I could, but where is the fun in that? Surely someone like yourself would like a sense of adventure._ " The person reasoned.

"...How did you find me?"Mr. Reisz asked, his voice filled with contempt.

" _Everyone is marked. Just need to find the place where the stain is the darkest._ " Mr. Reisz walked towards the sofa opposite the couch and took a seat. The dark figure turned its head, as if to acknowledge the presence of man.

"I do not appreciate being tracked like this. Make this quick. ..tell me what do you want to know." Reisz glared at the dark figure with his dark green eyes, filled with repulsion. The figure chuckled, before leaning back on the couch.

" _Phantom Blood_." The dark figure asked, and Mr. Reisz' glare became significantly colder and harsh. For a second, the temperature of the room appeared to drop a few degrees colder.

"Get out. Now." Mr. Reisz commanded his unwanted and clearly overstayed guest. Taking the hint from the Levantine man, the figure chuckled before it got up and walked towards the balcony. The dark figure opened the sliding door to the balcony and proceed to climb on the balcony, but is not surprised by the person's action. What surprised the Levantine man is the dark figure waving farewell to him.

"Mark my words, Halliburton Reisz. It will get worse. Good night." The dark figure advised before hopping off the balcony in a seamless continued on staring at the balcony for a few moments before he got up from the sofar and walked towards the switches.

"I need a drink." uttered to himself as he placed his fingers on the light switches.

With a gentle push, the man flicked the light switches on and illuminate his residence. With his dark green eyes, the man looked around to reconfirm that there is no one else in his house and his unwanted guest did not leave anything behind. The visibly annoyed man took out a bottle of whiskey from one of his kitchen cabinets. The man looked at the square bottle for a moment, registering it as a Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and took the cap off and taking a long gulp from the bottle. Mr. Reisz slammed the bottle on the table, shattering the bottle. The man's dark green eyes watched as the amber contents of the bottle spread and dripped from the sides of the table, and the shards from the whiskey bottle embedded itself into the table.

"... Damn." The dark-haired man cursed.


	97. Chapter 97: Blues In the Night

Chapter 97: Blues In The Night

 _The City of Townsville._

 _Brick had gathered his brothers today for a meeting after school._

 _For the three Rowdyruff Boys to be together to discuss something is a very unusual situation, for the boys are individualistic enough to not gather together for any proper meetings unless if it is for meals or to create mischief. Butch and Boomer knew as much and this means that it is a serious meeting. Brick waited on the rooftop before he heard the voices of his two brothers._

 _Now let us take a look-see shall we?_

* * *

[Townsville High Rooftop, Townsville High,3.00pm]

"Brick... Seriously can't you choose somewhere warmer to meet up?" A boyish voice complained as the gust of cold wind blew over the rooftop. Brick spotted his brother, Boomer is hugging his own body to warm himself up.

"Here's quiet Boomer. Besides you need to burn the fat down." Brick answered.

His brother clearly did not take too kindly to Brick's comment, but Brick had noticed that had gained some weight while he was over the Utoniums' to recuperate from the Little Tokyo incident. Clearly, Boomer had a particularly good time there when it comes to the food.

"Try to say that to Buttercup's cooking." Boomer retorted and Brick will have to admit that Buttercup is a particularly accomplished chef. The red-haired teenager turned around to see Butch is holding a beef jerky in his mouth. Brick knew that his brother's attention spans are surprisingly short at times and he decided that he will need to make the purpose of the meeting clear to everyone in the most direct manner. It will also save him the time of any bigger explanation, and allowed his brothers to focus any questions they had in mind much better.

"So, dear leader what's the big idea?" A husky tenor inquired.

"Mark Gor is in town." Brick answered.

"Mark? Like...Hong Kong's Mark?" Butch raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, that Mark." Brick said.

"Wait...how? I thought he was a goner during the Kowloon incident." Boomer asked, an expression of bewilderment making an appearance on his face.

"He's in town Boomer. And apparently, he survived with a limp." Brick shrugged.

"I wonder what's he doing here." Butch pondered.

"One of his 'pets' escaped." Brick answered, draining the color out of Boomer's face immediately.

"Oh, that's really bad. That means he is gonna paint the town red isn't it?" Butch asked, his jadeite eyes filled with concern.

"No...I think he needs to be discreet and that is why he had to personally supervise." Brick answered.

"So...he wants to hire us for the job Brick?"

"No Butch, I sure hope not. Not at this moment. But I think whatever 'thing' he is looking for, it will be the same as what we are looking for." Brick sighed.

"That's worse isn't it?" Butch is not pleased by the development, and Brick knew it as well.

"Yeah, especially when his 'pet was last seen in Townsville High."

"Fuck." Butch cursed out loud.

"But what does his 'pet' had to do with us anyway?" Butch asked.

"Anyway, keep an eye out." Brick warned his brothers, and his brothers knew what Brick meant.

The Rowdyruff Boys are always the playthings of fate, for no one can truly claim of the unbelievable series of unfortunate events that had plagued their lives. Being created by a mutated monkey in a prison to fight against the most powerful little girls in the history of mankind, only to be obliterated by them with a kiss. That was soon followed by a hermaphrodite drag demon resurrecting them from the dead to battle those little girls again. Then the psychological mind games that they are forced to play with the demon before the demon willingly let them go into the dark and cruel world where they experienced even more bullshit in their lives. And now that same demon had pulled them back to Townsville again for god knows what reason. And their lives are once again intertwine with all the things from their past.

"Right." Butch nodded his head, knowing what the demon had done to him to relive his most painful moment in life.

"For all we know, there are some forces sending their agents into the school, masquerading as one of the-."Boomer noticed that Butch's jade green eyes are rolling before the dark-haired teenager interrupted the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

" Oh no... Is this whole crap about Mr. Reisz? " Butch asked.

" Wait, what? No!" Brick expressed surprise and denial, but Butch is not convinced.

" You hate the guy, but you don't need to frame the guy with such a farfetched plan don't ya?" Butch said as he stretched his arms.

"Damn it Butch, I may hate the guy but I'm talking about something else here!" Brick is not pleased that his brother is blaming him of being an unreasonable and delusional person.

"Sure... But who else could be the spy but the guy who just entered into our school recently? Surely this is all in our dear leader's calculations." Butch said in a very condescending manner.

"Us." Boomer voiced out, and both Brick and Butch turned towards their blue-eyed brother.

"How the hell that make any sense Boomer? Don't be an idiot!" Butch is annoyed that his blonde brother is not getting his jab at Brick, and at disbelief for Boomer's airheaded comment.

"No... Not in the sense that we are spying to infiltrate the school. We are here to compromise something I guess." Boomer's suggestion drew stares from his brothers. disturbed and at a lost for words.

"So finally you found out why we are here. If you can infer what the hell we are here to compromise, it will be much appreciated." Butch pulled the piece of jerky from his mouth, his sarcasm slipping out.

"Not sure, but I can infer on what is going to happen next. It's going to be a real big mess." Boomer answered seriously.

* * *

 _Later that night..._

 _It is a dark night, with only the light of the blueish moon shining upon the city. The suburban part of Townsville is eerily quiet, for no one in their right mind would dare venture out in such dangerous times. That saying, the neighborhood where the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys called their home is a particularly peaceful neighborhood. The presence of six superhumans acts as a deterrent for all those who dared to disturb the peace.  
_

 _Let us focus our attention upon the Utonium Residence, and see what is going on with our resident crimefighters..._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 1.00am]

Bubbles looked up to the night skies and noticed how blue the moon is tonight from the edge of the window she is sitting on. It is rare to see a blue moon, and the atmosphere made the late autumn nights gloomier as it transitioned to winter. Her sisters are already asleep, leaving her as the only one being awake. Bubbles is unable to sleep tonight for some inexplicable reason, but that allowed her to further reflect upon the events that had happened so far. The appearance of the Tonton Macoute had escalated something beyond what the town is even capable of withstanding, and a great many people are now conquered by the fear that they will be next on the Tonton Macoute's list. Bubbles knew that the Tonton Macoute only seek certain groups of people, but they had done enough to spread the disease among the populace.

"This sucks." Bubbles sighed. The past few days has been surprisingly gloomy, and she wondered if Thanksgiving will be a sombre event instead of the festive event it is supposed to be. Bubbles sighed as she combed her flowing platinum blonde hair, before looking down towards the streets in front of her home. However something caught Bubbles' sky-blue eyes; a hooded figure walking on the walkway in front of her home.

"That's odd, no one's supposed to be out this time of the night." Bubbles said to herself out aloud, surprised that someone is defying the curfew placed upon the city.

Her light-blue eyes watched as the person walked past her home, and usually she would have ignored the situation. However, something in her called upon her to not let this peculiar character leave her sights. Bubbles got up and looked around for a moment before she saw her white coat hanging from one of the coat hangers. Bubbles grabbed her coat without hesitation and soon made her way towards the window.

"Right...seriously I really had nothing better else to do." Bubbles shook her head before opening the window.

The gust of cold wind blew across her face and she shuddered for a moment before climbing out from the window. Bubbles soon took a step in the air and hovered as her other leg left the ledge of the window. The platinum blonde teenager turned around and closed the window before she descended down on the ground.

Bubbles hovered above the ground with the grace of cat and soon she make her move. Without the need to step on the ground, every movement she took is quiet and light, and each movement she made blends in with the darkness and the immediate moved stealthily but quickly among the houses of the neighborhood, trying her best to not be spotted by the person she is stalking. Bubbles is reluctant to admit it, but she is able to trace a scent very well and she is often teased by her sisters about it. However, as compared to what Boomer can do, her abilities paled in comparison. The person suddenly turned backwards, causing Bubbles to hide behind one of the trees growing at the front of one of the lawns in a hurried fashion.

 _That was close_ , Bubbles thought. The person scanned around before turning forward and continuing on his journey.

 _Right,_ Bubbles emerged from the bushes and continued on tailing the person. As the walk continued on, Bubbles noticed a few other peculiar things about the person she is tailing.

Firstly, the person is male. Despite the clothing, Bubbles is able to pick up on the the pheromones emitted by the person. However, the person does not have a typical mle-like scent and somehow to Bubbles' surprise, the person smelled has a scent unique to them, but this person's scent is wrong. Indeed, it has a certain familiarity to her and she wondered where she had scented it before.

Secondly, the person is particularly cautious. The person is always breathing lightly, breathing out only as the winds blew by or when the surroundings are making rustling voices, as if to mask any other sound the person would make. The person also only when the winds is not blowing towards Bubbles' direction, and that in turn made the person's movements a little bizarre. The person often turned around to scan his surroundings and Bubbles had to hide a few times to hide her presence.

 _Real suspicious_ , Bubbles thought to herself. This particular tailing took a good thirty or so minutes until the figure entered into a park and went straight towards the playground. Fortunately for Bubbles, there were several trees littered around the park and Bubbles took the necessary precautions to not step on the withered leaves and branches and snuck closer. The person took a seat on one of the playground's swings and Bubbles stopped a few feet away and watched on, wondering what is the person doing in this place at this ungodly hour at night.

The hooded person sat on the swing for a while, and it appear that the person is waiting for someone. Bubbles watched in silence as the minutes turned to hours, and she wondered if the person is just hanging out in solitude. However, the presence of another figure dashed Bubbles' initial thoughts. Bubbles watched as the new person entered into the sights of the hooded person sitting on the swing. An apple-faced Asian man in an impeccable business attire consisting of a black trenchcoat over a business suit and a white scarf draped over his shoulder. The Asian man sat beside the hooded figure, his eyes shaded by a pair of sunglasses. The man appeared to be lame, for he is relying on a cane to walk.

* * *

"Been a while, boy." The man speaks with a surprisingly accent, which a mix between a British English accent and a Chinese accent, to be exact a Cantonese accent. The man took out a stick of cigarette and placed it in his mouth before lightning up the cigarette.

"Hi Mark." Brick answered.

"So...what are we here for?" The Asian man spoke once more.

"Your pet. I need to know what the hell is going on less I accidentally killed your pet."

"Brutal and to the point. Well, my pet is a tough one."

"Is it a living thing to begin with Mark?"

"Yes and no."

"That is not helping much Mark. This feels like Kowloon all over again Mark."

"Will it be fair enough to say that it is something that should not exist?" A long pause soon descended upon the scene once the Asian man formed the question.

"...what did you do this time Mark...what did you do this time." Brick's apprehension is apparent in his voice.

"At least I did not plunge the city into a warzone like your _Mou Gwai_." The Asian man pointed out, causing Brick to pull back his hood and revealing his subtly glowing crimson hair.

"No, you're making it worse." Brick turned towards the Asian man and glared at the man with his near otherworldly eyes. The crimson iris burned with a radiant light as the Rowdyruff Boy's sight seared through any defenses the Asian man had made.

"That is quite a look you have there, boy."

"Comes with being in hellish situations beyond your understanding." Brick said coldly.

"Alright...I'll tell. Your _Mou Gwai_ and friends are looking for it. It is key to their plans." The man took a puff of his cigarette, the vapors appearing for a moment in the cold, dark night.

"How did that happen per se? You need to throw me a bone here Mark."

"Idiots everywhere. But you will know what it is when you see it my boy."

"That's very vague Mark."

"If it helps, here's something that will help you spot it my boy."

* * *

The Asian man handed Brick something and the Rowdyruff Boy immediately took it and hid it in his hoodie. Bubbles wondered what was handed to the Rowdyruff Boy, but her question will have to wait as the Asian man got up from the swing and walked away. Surprisingly Brick did not stop the man nor inquire about the device, and the man disappeared as mysteriously as he came. Bubbles watched as Brick sat for a moment in the swing, before he got up and flew off in a bolt of red lightning.

"So you saw it huh?" A voice called out to Bubbles, causing her to jump. Bubbles panicked, for she did not even sense the presence of the person behind her. Her senses would had picked up the person from a mile away, and for this person to sneak up to her is almost unbelievable. Bubbles was about to do what she always do in such a situation when the voice coming from behind her continued on speaking.

"Can't blame you. My brother did walked in front of your home when you're looking out from your window." The voice revealed, and at that moment Bubbles recognized the owner of the androgynous voice.

"Boomer?!" Bubbles turned around to see a sand-blonde teenager with dark blue eyes clad in a black hoodie with blue flames decorating the sleeves of the hoodie revealing himself from a large tree behind her.

"The one and only."

"How'd you-"

"From the beginning."

"That's creepy, y'know that right?" Bubbles said, disturbed that she failed to sense Boomer tailing her as she tailed his brother.

"You are just horrible at tailing a person." Boomer poked, and Bubbles was about to retort when she realized that there is a main difference between both individuals. The hard-earned experiences that Boomer had earned through the various battlefields and conflicts he had participated over the years had turned Boomer into the ultimate infiltrator.

"But to be fair, Brick let his guard down. Surprised that he did not pick up your scent of vanilla extract mixed with cinnamon, combined with the the indescribable smell of Chemical X. How did he ignore it?" Boomer answered and Bubbles felt a flush of warmth on her cheeks. It is not everyday a person was informed how they smelled like, and it is an oddly embarrassing experience. However, something more pressing needs to be addressed first.

"...What is _that_ all about?" Bubbles asked her Rowdyruff Boy counterpart.

Boomer did not respond to Bubbles, at least not immediately. Bubbles noticed a dark expression appearing before Boomer's face and she understood that this is a demon from their past, and the Rowdyruff Boys had a lot of skeletons hiding in their closets. Boomer walked past Bubbles, only for him to grab on Bubbles' wrist and pulled her towards the swings. Utterly taken by the sand-blonde teenager's assertiveness, Bubbles allowed herself to be led towards the swings. Both individuals stopped short of the swings before Boomer let go of Bubbles' wrist.

"Sit." Boomer suggested, and Bubbles allow herself to sit down on the swing. Boomer followed shortly after, the rattling chains of the swing being the only sound audible in the dark and blue night.

"So..." Bubbles wanted to spark the conversation, but she held herself back. Bubbles is not sure how to even lead the conversation in a way that will not cause an awkward situation.

"It is already awkward Bubbles." Boomer answered, as if reading the blonde Powerpuff Girl's mind.

"Sorry." Bubbles apologized.

"Don't. Not your fault. It's ours."

""I honestly don't know how to start..."

"Allow me. That guy is Chinese Triad, Dragon Head of the Red Dragons Triad." Boomer noticed Bubbles' raised eyebrow and he wondered if the Powerpuff Girls had faced the Red Dragons before.

"Red Dragons? My sisters and I kicked them out from Townsville a long time ago." Bubbles is surprised to hear the name of the triad once more.

"You must have fought against one of his Red Poles." Boomer reasoned, causing further confusion to appear on Bubbles' face.

"Red Poles?"

"If a triad is a corporation, Red Poles are middle management managers. Dragon Head is like a CEO. You had seen something not a lot of people seen before, so consider yourself honored to see a Dragon Head." Boomer pushed himself on the swing and letting it rock a little.

"Blossom _was_ right.. That guy is not the last guy." Bubbles had a very concerned look on her face.

"Relax Bubbles, if they really hated you they would have sent in their best, or worst... They will send in their _worst_ to deal with you. Anyway, the triad head is here on business and told us something really bad is about to happen to Townsville. And based on the conversation just now, it appears that whatever they are looking for is also what Him is looking for."

"Then we should work together to-"

"Brick is not that stupid. I would say that Brick had spoken to Blossom about it. Or at least I think he is about to.". With much difficulty at that." Boomer interrupted the Powerpuff Girl.

"But why-"

"It must take a whole lot of swallowing up his pride to get her help, and I hope he ain't dumb enough to put his pride before reason. But what will be the deal between them is something I'm not sure about. Can be something as stupid as not involving Buttercup and yourself, or-"

"Or something like not telling the real situation and making my sister unable to go against her principles." Bubbles completed Boomer's sentence, causing Boomer to clap his hands.

"Sounds about right. But I will say this, whatever it is, it will be one hell of a rollercoaster ride." Boomer posited, and Bubbles nodded.

"Yeah, Blossom always keeps things to herself to protect us. Real annoying at times."

"Brick can be a prick too. Surprised you saw something in him." Boomer jested.

"Likewise with you and Buttercup." Bubbles responded in kind, causing Boomer's cheeks to turn a light shade of red.

"I'll be honest, I was thinking of her as a really close friend until she asked me about a kiss." Boomer shrugged.

"Kiss? A _kiss_?" Bubbles is now looking at Boomer with wide-eyed shock.

"That is the reason why I chased her the other day. You remembered the chase right?" Boomer tried to remind Bubbles about the incident at the cathedral.

"Ah...I was wondering how did you guys escalated to begin with. I always knew you guys are really close for some odd reason." Bubbles said with a sudden realization on her face.

"Well, there were other reasons for that, but that is the one that really made things a little more...complicated." Boomer said nervously as he scratched his head.

"I'd say... Buttercup keeps her secrets really close to her heart. Never seen her that flustered before in my lifelife. She must be trying to deal with those newfound feelings she had inside of her."

"Speaking about flustered...Butch had been a little slightly out of tune these days."

"Out of tune?"

"Yeah, ever since our time in the dream place... He's been calmer and a little more friendlier. But at the same time, he is also somewhat confused." Boomer pointed out, and he is surprised that he is now talking to Bubbles about his family issues.

"Have you asked him why?"

"You think he'll tell?" Boomer gave Bubbles a doubtful look, and Bubbles knew the answer to her own question.

"No, of course not."

"Exactly. To be exact he is confused about something, and now he is bothered by it. No clue what that is, but I will find out."

"Sounds like what Blossom is going through to be honest. Something happened and now she's a little scatterbrained. Add that with the stuff people are putting on her and she's really stressed out." Bubbles started swinging on the swing, and Boomer watched the Powerpuff Girl moved back and forth.

"Right now, I think our siblings are really cracking. Hard. The Reds are really deep in some weird things they are not telling us, the Greens are confused over something inside of them, and that leaves us as the sane people... As much as I find that the most depressing thought I've got." Boomer sighed, and Bubbles chuckled as she decelerate on the swing.

"And we Blues are supposed to be the ditzy ones. "Bubbles answered as she grinds to a halting stop.

Both of them looked at each other's blue eyes before snorting and broke out in laughter. Their laughter cracked open with an unusual energy of having something deep within their chest bursting out, finally being able to reveal itself beneath the veneer of of a fatigued cheerfulness that they wore as a part of themselves. Their heartfelt laughter continued on with tears coming out of their eyes, without the pretenses of needing to provide a bastion of support for other people. Before long, both blonde teenagers needed to take a breath less they became unconscious. The laughter died down as both blondes calmed down, and the silence of the dark blue night descended upon them once more.

"Not easy being the heart of the group huh?" Boomer spoke out, wiping the tear from his eye.

"Yeah, not easy at all." Bubbles answered as she wiped the tear off her eye as well.

"Seriously, our siblings are a little way too serious. They need to really cheer up a little to take some of the burden off us. We can't be cheerful for three people damn it." Boomer complained in a lighthearted manner.

"Can't fault them at times. They chose the way they wanted to interact with the world." Bubbles smiled weakly, her smile filled with a sad burden of not being able to do more for her sisters.

"Well, they are idiots for doing that. And they always call us the idiots..." Boomer jested, a tint of resentment visible in his voice.

"Sometimes we need to play a certain role, or else they will lose their way Boomer." Bubbles reasoned, thought she understood why Boomer felt the way he did.

"Well, they really need to know that we can only play the role so much before we crack like they do."

"Yes... That is also true. Anyway... I think it is already really late. Let us arrange for another time and day and we can let all our frustration with our siblings out."

"Sounds like a deal." Boomer extended a handshake to Bubbles.

"Yeah." Bubbles extended her hand as well and as both their hands made contact with each other, she wondered if they would be the best of friends much earlier in life fate had not thrown so much nonsense at them during the early years.


	98. Chapter 98: Deep Red

Chapter 98: Deep Red

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGGGG!_

 _Well,well,well!_

 _That is the sound of the end of classes for the day in Townsville High, and look! The students are heading out from their classrooms, each student leaving for various reasons. From going back home to participating in after-school activities, most students are just glad to get out from their classes. However, it appears that a particular student is sitting at his desk all alone even as his fellow students are leaving the classroom._

 _Surprise, surprise, the student sitting all by his lonesome self is Brick, the leader and commander of the Rowdyruff Boy. It is quite unusual to see the Rowdyruff Boy having such an uneasy look upon his face, and it seems that he is stuck in a bind of some kind._

 _Let us watch and see this situation unfold._

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 3.14pm]

"How is this going to help me in any way?"

Brick looked at the object in his hand, utterly confounded by its purpose or how to use it. The circular thin disk is slightly larger than his palm, and at the center of the object is a small shallow bowl containing a short, thin dry-pivot needle. Surrounding the bowl are seven concentric rings, each divided into segments and marked with either symbols or Chinese characters painted in gold and red. The first row is divided into eight sections, each with line-like designs. The second row is segmented into twenty-four parts with each segment contains one Chinese character and the characters in this row alternate black and red.

Mark Gor had given him this peculiar object for his use to find where the 'thing' is, but why this thing requires this stupid little disc to find it is beyond his comprehension. The orange-haired teenager wanted to Google it up, but he had no idea what to even type into his search engine to find out what the object is. Brick's frustration is building up within him, and he is very tempted to throw the stupid object as hard as he can to the ground.

"That's a very nice _Luopan._ " Brick turned around to see a pair of rose-red eyes looking attentively at the object in Brick's hand.

"What are you doing here?" Brick did not appreciate the sudden presence of the Powerpuff Girl, but at the same time he is also rather surprised that the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl recognized the ridiculous object in his hand.

"I noticed that you're in the classroom and you are staring intensely at the object in your palm." Blossom pointed out, and Brick figured that he should be more aware of his surroundings these days.

"Right. That saying...you know what this is?" Brick asked as he showed Blossom the object.

"Yes, I do actually. It is a _Luopan_ , otherwise known as a Geomantic Compass." Blossom answered in a matter-of-factly manner.

"A Geomantic...Compass?" Brick stared blankly with his crimson red eyes , and Blossom knew that she will need to explain herself.

Blossom walked past Brick and took a seat opposite Brick's desk and she took the object from Brick's hand before he could even react. Brick wanted to protest, but he knew that he needs to swallow his pride and allow the Powerpuff Girl to explain the object. Blossom placed the object on the table, and she pointed towards one of the rings on the surface of the object.

"At its most basic level, the _luopan_ serves as a means to assign proper positions in time and space. A compass to know where things are meant to be in time and space. You see these rings here?"

"Yeah." Brick's attention is now upon Blossom's finger pointing towards the rings orbits within the disc.

"These rings on the surface, they are known as the _heaven dial_. The circular metal or wooden plate typically sits on a wooden base known as the _earth plate_. The heaven dial rotates freely on the earth plate." Blossom explained and she gently pushed the plate, showing how the plates are separate and independent from each other.

"...Go on." Brick figured that it is best to just let Blossom continue on and not interrupting her.

"These threads here," Blossom points towards a thread that crosses the plates and dial at ninety-degree angles on the disc, "is the _Heaven Center Cross Line._ This line is used to find the direction and note position on the rings."

"A conventional compass has markings for four or eight directions, while a _luopan_ typically contains markings for twenty-four directions."

"That's a whole lot of directions."

"This translates to fifteen degrees per direction. The Sun takes approximately fifteen point two days to traverse a solar term, a series of twenty-four points on the ecliptic. Since there are three hundred and sixty degrees on the luopan and approximately three hundred and sixty five days days in a mean solar year, each degree on a luopan approximates a terrestrial day." Blossom explained as she pointed towards the Chinese wordings around the directions on the disc.

"Alright." Brick is particularly impressed by Blossom's explanation, but Brick figured that it comes with the nerd package that Blossom comes with. An attractive nerd, but a nerd nonetheless.

"Unlike a typical compass, the needle of a _luopan_ points to the south magnetic pole. The Chinese word for _compass_ translates to "south-pointing needle." Blossom informed Brick, with an innocent and pure smile.

Brick had never interacted well with Blossom, and in general they both had their fair share of being antagonistic to each other. Yet, they are now in a conversation that does not involve any insults or mental maneuvering to prove that one is better than the other. It is a surprising change of pace for Brick and it is pleasant in a lot of ways. Now, if only Blossom will keep it this way for a while.

"But this is a very unique _luopan_. Usually they are the size of dinner plates, but your _luopan_ is really compact. Where did you get this from?" Blossom asked as she admired the intricate details of the disc-like compass.

"Um...I found it. Anyway, you know how this thing works?" Brick decided to withheld some of the information, knowing well that Blossom is a person that often play by the rules. Whatever Mark Gor is asking of him will go against Blossom's own beliefs.

"Not a master, but I know what to do with it." Blossom combed part of her fringe behind her ear.

"Okay...so how does it work?"

"Well, first we need to align ourselves to the south." Blossom took the geomantic compass and Brick watched the Powerpuff Girl as she got up from her seat. The Powerpuff Girl started to move around and her initially cheerful expression turned into a more concerned expression.

"What's wrong?" Brick asked, knowing that something unexpected had happened.

"That is not supposed to happen." Blossom voiced out her concern, and it is now Brick's turn to be concerned. Brick got up from his seat and walked closer towards Blossom, wondering what she meant.

"What do you-oh."

Brick's eyes are now tuned in on the device, noticing that the arrow had floated and turned upon its own axis, pointing downwards the ground. In addition, two of the letters at the northeast of the disc-like object is glowing bright red. The two teenagers looked up and stared at each other, with Blossom being particularly perplexed. Brick decided to take the initiative in this moment, for it gave him the justification to pull the Powerpuff Girl in the search for Mark Gor's 'pet'. Besides, Blossom's curiosity will inadvertently turn against her and combined with her particular distrust of him, she will come even if he did not ask her to.

"Let's find out shall we?" Brick sensed Blossom's mistrust at what he is suggesting, but just as Brick predicted she fell in line.

"Yeah, if only to keep you away from trouble." Blossom answered before she turned back towards the geomantic compass, eyes filled with curious excitement that she did not bother to hide.

* * *

[Townsville High Basement, Townsville High, 3.40pm]

"How...how...did we end up here?" Blossom asked.

"You're the one interpreting the compass."

Brick and Blossom are in the dark basement of Townsville High, a place where the school put its boilers and the various electrical appliances used to support the various functions that allowed the school to function. Usually, the section is off-limits to students, but Brick decided to use his criminal knowledge to pick the lock and trespass into the basement, much to Blossom's displeasure. Brick looked around the particularly silent area and wondered how is this place able to provide him with the clues he need to figure out what is it that both the Chinese and Him wanted.

 _Manipulating an innocent girl to do your bidding, what a douche,_ A voice whispered and Brick is reminded once more that his mind is haunted by a particular presence. Break had decided to make itself known, and that means that there is some merit to his trouble.

"You're the one that gave me the device Brick." Blossom is slightly annoyed that she was blamed for leading them here.

"Guilty." Brick admitted to both Blossom and the entity within him.

 _A little too impulsive on your part, but not entirely without its own benefits. For one, you like to sneak around and stuff, and if these people are around, you can't sneak too well. So it is like killing two birds with one stone_ , Break commented.

"You are a real troublemaker, you know that?" Blossom voiced her annoyance at Brick.

"You really know me too well." Brick answered them both.

 _We are one after all, and so far you are the steersman of the ship_ , Brick sensed a shrug within his mind as the entity answered him.

"Anyway Blossom, what is that compass thing telling you?" Brick asked the Powerpuff Girl, but she did not answer him back. Brick decided to tap her on the shoulder, causing her to involuntarily jerk away from his touch.

Blossom is about to about to respond to the Rowdyruff Boy, but the sudden sound of footsteps distracted them. Brick immediately hid behind one of the boilers, and he pulled Blossom along with him. The sound of the footsteps draws closer and louder, and Brick wondered about the identity of the people that decided to come down here. Soon, it is apparent to Brick that the footsteps are not from the way they came in.

"Did you hear what I'm hearing?" Brick whispered.

"Yeah. Why is it coming from within the basement?" Blossom whispered back, before Blossom noticed Brick's confusion turned into uneasiness as the sound of footsteps increased.

One person.

Two persons.

Four persons.

Eight persons.

Sixteen persons.

The footsteps continued to increase, and the teenagers looked at each other with unease. This is not a small group of people, but a shambling horde. The awkward dragging of feet in itself is disturbing enough, but what is even more disturbing to both Brick and Blossom is that the basement is not supposed to be big enough to house such a horde to begin with.

"I'm counting about a hundred and growing." Brick pointed out.

"And the luopan is pointing towards the sounds." Blossom answered, and Brick saw the glow from the wording pointing towards the direction of the sound becoming more intense. The pointer from the geomantic compass is also pointing towards the sounds, and that chilled Brick's nerves.

 _Something's wrong_ , Break warned.

 _Something is definitely wrong_ , Brick agreed. Brick smelled a sickly sweet stench and the Rowdyruff Boy recognized the smell all too well. Brick was about to tell Blossom what he smelled when Blossom preempted him. And he is surprised by her answer.

"Abracadaver."

"Come again?" Brick asked, knowing well that this something he had no idea about.

"Can't forget the smell. Why is he back again?" Blossom's expression is that of disbelief and fear, and Brick knew that whatever it is that can spook a Powerpuff Girl is worth taking note about.

"Want to find out?" Brick asked, knowing well that the situation hard turned a little more complicated.

"I think we need to get out of-" Blossom was about to finish her sentence when both of them heard something locking up.

Both of them looked back at the direction where they came from, and they moved towards the door where they came from. Blossom placed her hand on the door handle and turned it around, but to her chagrin, the door is not opening up. Blossom tried her best to open the door without breaking the door, but to no avail. Blossom soon had to admit that the way they came from is now locked.

"Are we gonna break down the door?" Brick asked.

"No, that would attract unwanted attention. Besides we are not supposed to be down here anyway." Blossom reasoned.

"So...the only way is forward." Brick stated the obvious.

"Yes. Follow me." Blossom floated a few inches off the ground and moved towards the source of the sound. Brick realized that it is better to let Blossom lead the charge in this case, and he followed shortly behind the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl.

Both of them walked towards the source of the sound, only to notice that they are now standing before a metal door before them. Brick and Blossom looked at each other before they nod their head at the same time. There is no time to bicker, and they will need to find out what on earth is going on less something bad happens. After a few moments, they found themselves facing a rather ominous metal door.

"Didn't know the basement leads elsewhere." Brick pointed out.

"Likewise." Blossom replied.

"So, we are opening this right?" Brick asked, while at the same time informing that there is no other choice other than to open this door.

"Yes." Blossom hated that she agreed with Brick's suggestion, but there is no other choice about the situation.

"Alright I will see what I can do." Brick cracked his knuckles, having a small satisfaction that Blossom had to concede to Brick's reason.

* * *

[Unknown location, Underground Sewer Complex, Townsville]

"Didn't know the school's basement leads to the sewers." Brick pointed out.

"Neither did I." Blossom agreed.

To their amazement, Brick and Blossom found themselves in Townsville's underground sewer networks and both are now observing the distance as the shambling horde walked past them. Blossom is unnerved by the presence of the horde as she noticed that they are of the same height, same body build, same face. Denim clothing, aviator sunglasses, and straw hats. To make matters worse, more and more men in the same attire started to join the initial group from the various sewer passages. The unique sickly sweet stench is now mixed with the putrid smell of the drainage system, and it stings the nose of both Brick and Blossom. As the group calmly walked towards a particular direction, Brick and Blossom decided to stealthily stalk these men.

"Alright, you need to tell me more about this Abracadabra-"

"Abracadaver." Blossom corrected the Rowdyruff Boy, slightly annoying the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Whatever. Seriously what is going on Blossom?"

"Abracadaver, the Lich-Magician. An undead zombie with reality-warping magical powers. His smell is really obvious." Blossom answered, her eyes still focused on the shambling horde.

"Wait...undead? Hold up how-zombies aren't real." Brick's scepticism is obvious in his voice.

"Well by that logic, demons are not real and you're supposed to be dead." Blossom shot back at Brick, and that comment stung Brick more than it should.

"What about these people? A special kind of identical brothers or something?" Brick shot back at Blossom, hoping to hurt Blossom's pride.

"The lich can remodel living things to whatever it is that he wants. He might had make living things into putty and shaped them into whatever form that he fancies." Blossom answered back, and Brick sensed a nauseating sensation in his stomach.

The shambling horde soon stopped at a particular duct, and like an unified legion of soldiers they stood silently and stoically in formation. A distorted, fragmented sound of a string being plucked echoed throughout the sewers, and the sound soon turned into a tinkle of sublime banality. The tinkle continues to evolve as each haunting sound is complimented with a further filigree added to the tune. Each stroke made Brick's heart pace faster and Brick never knew that he will ever feel such uneasiness grow and fester within his body. The beating sounds within his chest is soon accompanied by a rhythmic drum beating and chimes ringing, and the graveyard is soon filled with a celebratory music that is filled with as much life and dread.

 _This is some Voodoo shit_ , Brick commented as he had no other word to describe the unnerving group of people.

 _At least zombies are varied, Brick. These guys are exactly the same person_ , Break answered back.

 _Right_ , Brick acknowledged his dark persona's observation.

"Why did they stop?" Blossom asked.

Always the first to ask, and that is a trait that Brick always respected from Blossom. Brick looked up and try to use his superhuman vision to find out if there is anything peculiar above this location. He was met instead with a vast network of pipes and cabling, and nothing more can be gleamed. Brick soon turned his attention to the particular duct, and Brick saw nothing of note as well.

"Don't know." Brick answered truthfully.

"This is bad...this is really bad." Blossom started to curl her hair anxiously.

Brick wanted to say something but then he felt something grabbing at his leg. Something wet, thin and strong. Brick looked down to see a dessicated mummified hand grabbing upon his ankles from the sewage water. Brick instinctively stomped on the hand causing the hand to be broken off the wrist. The broken wrist created a loud cracking sound, and the diabolic music stopped. Brick watched as the legion of men turned around to face him, and Brick knew that his cover was blown in more ways than one. Blossom turned around to see what cause the breaking sound, but her eyes answered her as she saw the dessicated hand wrapped around Brick's ankle.

A withered, shrunken parched face given life with angry glass-like glowing red eyes emerged from the water, staring at Brick as it loosened itself from the earth, revealing a dark maroon undertaker tailcoat and with a dirtied dark purple vest under the coat that revealed part of its rotten midriff. A red cummerbund wrapped around its waist, discolored and torn. The figure erected itself to its full height, fully two heads taller than the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

"What the fuck?" Brick cursed, unable to help himself.

"Abracadaver." Blossom's eyes sharpened as she recognizes the eldritch figure.

" **It's been so long** **, little girl**. " A voice whispered with a coarse sand-like voice, causing the goosebump behind Brick's to rise up.

"Shit...you're a real zombie." Brick cursed.

" **So this little boy is the infamous Brick. Y** **ou are as edgy as what the others said.** " The dessicated monster said as it combed its shredded goatee.

The figure soon took out a dented top hat that resembled a dented tin can with its upper surface fallen, and placed it upon its exposed skull.

The corpse given life snapped its fingers, and the bricks on the walls of the sewers started uprooting itself from the wall using its own arms. Brick and Blossom watched as newly-grown chicken legs sprouting out from the bricks just as it was about to make contact with the ground. To make matters worse, the shambling horde is now slowly making its way towards the superpowered teenagers.

"Why?" Blossom's tone revealed her simmering anger, yet the dessicated abomination did not answer her.

"Why are you doing this?" Blossom asked again, raising her voice to make her lividness known.

" **I am given free rein, little girl. No one controls me, if I can take my revenge on you three little girls."** With another snap of its finger, the bricks soon raced towards Brick and Blossom. Blossom immediately fired her eye beams at the bricks, pulverizing several transfigured bricks with a sweeping motion. Brick flew up, barely missing the brick launching itself towards where he last stood. Brick did not even have time to complete his cursing when several of the men dressed in dark denim took out rectangular-shaped hand-held weapons. Brick's crimson eyes recognized what the weapons are and that split second of recognition allowed him to dodge the first of many orange-colored beams firing up towards the sky.

"Blossom!" Brick cried out.

Within seconds the entire section of sewer where they are at was frozen solid, immobilising the denim-dressed horde and the transfigured bricks. Brick did not even registered the frozen situation until a few seconds later. Blossom's pale copper hair, almost white translucent skin, and pale pink eyes surprised Brick, as he never seen her appearing in such a manner. Brick had experienced her cryokinesis powers before, but this is something different.

 _N-ice_ , Break commented in Brick's mind.

"Don't celebrate just yet." Brick knew that no battle ends that early when it comes to the Powerpuff Girls.

Blossom's attention is focused on the frozen undead sorcerer in front of her, and she knew that her cryokinesis will not stop Abracadaver entirely. Firstly, the undead will not die from being frozen to the core. Secondly, this is an undead with magical powers. Thirdly, her outburst of her cryokinesis powers are limited. In an ideal situation, Blossom prefer to end the fight with her first attack but the world is never a kind place that allows such fortunes to happen. Blossom immediately powered the beams from her eyes, aiming directly towards the head of the undead magician knowing well that the eldritch lich will need to do something if it does not want its head to be vaporized.

Blossom's vision was suddenly robbed from her, and her loss of her vision panicked her. The beams from her eyes is released immediately, burning away the thing that covered her eyes, and a burnt smell pierced her nose. Blossom immediately realized that she had just barely missed her target by a few inches, and her beam blast hit the walls of the sewer, blasting a large hole in it.

"Crap." Blossom cursed, immediately realizing that she had inadvertently destroyed an essential infrastructure of Townsville. A hot vapor of air immediately blasted from the hole towards a section of the sewers, which included the frozen undead. The sound of the ice cracking as it heated up informed Blossom that they need to make a run for it.

"Brick, we need to-" Blossom turned back only to see something flying past the corner of her eye.

Blossom watched as whatever it is that came out from the vapor hit Brick squarely in the chest, engulfing the Rowdyruff Boy in a dark purple flame before exploding in such a manner that caused him to crash down towards the frozen sewer waters. The teenager broke the frozen surface of the water, causing a pillar of vapor to erupt from where he crashed.

"BRICK!" Blossom yelled out, and the copper-haired girl immediately rushed towards Brick's location and she immediately dived in as soon as she saw a body of sewer water.

The swirling torrent of water made Blossom's attempt to reach to Brick a little harder, but Blossom's determination to reach out to the Rowdyruff Boy allowed her body to push herself further towards the red-haired teenage boy. Blossom's mind is now a mess of priorities, as there are several situations that she will need to take into account for both of them to escape with their lives. Blossom's mind is already wondering what could possibly bring down a Rowdyruff Boy, let alone what could possibly light the Rowdyruff Boy on fire. Before that thought even resolved itself, an unearthly roar reverberated through the water and Blossom knew that the undead magician had finally thawed from her cryokinesis, adding to her growing priorities. Lastly, whoever it is that blocked her vision and shot the Rowdyruff Boy down is a greater threat to their escape effort.

All these thoughts happened in a split second, and Blossom knew that all of these are important.

And not a lot of time to think about it.

Blossom reached out towards Brick, and managed to grab Brick's closest limb. Blossom cared not which limb it is, and she immediately felt a force pulling her towards a particular direction. Blossom decided that she will allow herself and Brick to be pulled by this force, her initial thoughts soon coalesced into a single thought; closed her eyes and pulled the limb closer to her and allow the fates to decide how it will all end up.


	99. Chapter 99: Moving Cogs

Chapter 99: Moving Cogs

 _As our beloved pair of redheads were engaged in their own life-and-death situation, they had no idea that their current predicament is caused by a series of unfortunate events, and their actions had caused other repercussions beyond their immediate involvement. The fates had arranged it in such a manner that all their siblings are a catalyst or are the recipients of the repercussions of their actions._

 _The wheels of fate started to churn, with several cogs of future events moved from this exact moment._

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 3.00pm]

"Annual Winter Ball? Me?"

Boomer asked as he held on his locker door, his cobalt blue eyes focused on a bespectacled ginger-haired teenage girl with freckles on her face standing before him. Boomer knew her as Vesper Dodgers, the president of the Townsville High student council and also the president of the Singing Club. Boomer had never truly spoken to her before, and despite being a member of the singing club, he had never truly interacted with her in a particularly meaningful manner. If Boomer has anything to think about her before their present interaction, she will be considered as a pretty nerd by the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy. The other students moving about are non-existent in Boomer's mind as he focused his attention on her.

"Yes, I would like you to be the opening act for this year's ball." The young woman answered as she pushed up her glasses.

"Why me?" Boomer asked, knowing well that the club had another ace up their sleeves.

"Well, for one, all of the musical clubs petitioned you. Secondly,Bubbles is doing another performance during the ball. Thirdly, you're just as good as Bubbles."

"Ah." But of course, Boomer thought . If Bubbles can't make the performance, he's the next best thing. Vesper noticed the dejection upon the sand-blonde teenager's face, and she rested her hand on Boomer's shoulder.

"We always got this problem year after year whenever Bubbles is in one of the acts. This year, you're the arts clubs' saviour." Vesper comment drew a smile from Boomer.

"Alright, that's awesome. Now, about that performance..."

"Heard that you swooned almost all the female members of the Glee Club with a good blues piece. I'll believe that you will be able to impress."

"What do you have in mind for me?" Boomer wondered as it was implied that he needs to impress a whole lot of people.

"Come by the club today and we'll discuss what we can do." The girl smiled as she walked away. Boomer watched her as she went on her merry way, only breaking contact when Vesper turned around a corner and disappearing from his sight.

"That's surprisingly hot." Boomer admitted as he closed his locker door.

Boomer noticed that he is now the only one in the class hallway, and he decided that he will take the freckled girl on her offer. He swung his backpack around his shoulders, slipping one arm effortlessly into one of the straps. Boomer smiled, surprised that this is the first time someone of his age is asking him for a favor. Not to mention that the favor is nothing resembling the dark and dirty deals that he is used to when he was a mercenary and crook-for-hire. The sand-blonde teenager thought that this is a good change of pace in his life for him, and he would like to keep it this way for as long as he can.

"I sure hope that I get to-whoa."Boomer passed by one of the classroom, only to turn around and take a peek in the classroom.

At that moment, Boomer saw a very unlikely sight; Brick and Blossom talking to each other, their attention focused on a disc-like object on the table. Boomer watched as they talked with each other, Blossom pointing towards the disc and Brick paying his undivided attention to the red-haired Powerpuff Girl. Boomer wanted to know what on earth would bring the two unlikely redheads together, but he decided that he will leave them alone today. It is a rare occurrence that they are not at each other's throats and he wants to leave it be.

 _It's not like that thing will be a compass that will lead them to trouble,_ Boomer assured himself before he heads off towards the Singing Club to find out the details of what he is supposed to do during the Annual Winter Ball.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 3.50pm]

"That's odd, why is the door to the basement opened up?"

Bubbles stared at the wide-opened door to the basement.

If it were not for the fact that the girl with blonde pigtails dropped her books on the ground, she would not have noticed the door leaf at the corner of her eye. The door leaf is distracting enough that Bubbles had taken the trouble to divert her present course of action and investigate the peculiar situation. Bubbles noticed that the padlock to the door is wide open, and she wondered if the door was picked open or was open voluntarily by one of the school maintenance staff. She peeked out from the door and look down the dark flight of stairs leading to the basement.

"Hello?" The Powerpuff Girl called out, but in a soft and polite manner. The Powerpuff Girl decided to look into the dark basement with her multi-spectrum vision, but her light blue eyes did not pick the sign of any person, at the bottom of the stairs, let alone any living thing. It is either that or the people are really deep inside the basement.

"Maybe I should go down there and find out if there is anyone down there." Bubbles said to herself and she was about to take her first steps down when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"HEY YOU! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO OVER THERE?" An wizened, reedy voice called out, causing a squeal from Bubbles.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to, I-" Bubbles panicked as she turned around, only to see an angry old man with gray wiry hair and deep wrinkle creases on his face, clad in a single piece jumpsuit.

"Oh, it is just you Bubbles."The old man's expression softened at the sight of the blonde, blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl.

"Hello Mr. Yakushkin, sorry about that." Bubbles recognizer the man as Mr. Yakushkin, the school janitor.

"Anyway... The door to the basement is open you say?" The old janitor asked.

"Yes, so I was about to check if anyone is down ther-"

"Well, time to lock it up!" The old janitor moved and Bubbles politely make way for the old man to close the door and lock the padlock.

"Wait, what happen if there's someone dow-" Bubbles protested, but the old janitor glared at her.

"If there is they would be already running up here and screaming to get out." The man shrugged before walking away.

Bubbles wanted to stop the man, but the man is already moving on to a different part of the school to dispatch his duties. Bubbles turned her attention once more to the locked door, and she watched for a moment, hoping that if there were people trapped inside the basement she will be there to help them out.

"Bubbles!" Bubbles heard her name being called out and she felt a pull from her wrist dragging her away from the door.

"Wait, there could be-" Bubbles wanted to tell the person to let go of her, but she soon recognized the mahogany-haired girl pulling her away.

"Need your help now." Robin said as she pulled a reluctant Bubbles away from the door.

 _I sure hope that they are not in trouble,_ Blossom thought at whoever it is that had opened the lock, or worse, trapped in the basement.

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, 4.00pm]

 _What was that?_

Butch heard a muffled booming sound from below the ground, and that in itself is a bizarre sound to hear. As Butch was trying to pinpoint the sound of the mysterious sound, he picked up on a scene from the ledge. It is a scene common to many big cities; a snatch thief running away with a woman's bag. The mahogany-haired woman in the dark blue trenchcoat watched in shock as the mugger ran away with a little brown-haired girl with pigtails and hazel brown eyes in her arms.

 _Tough luck_ , Butch thought to himself. Butch can see the fear in their eyes, but life's a bitch and this is just another day in Downtown Townsville. The raven-haired teenager figured that he really ought to not care about this. Besides the sound appears to be more urgent than this unfortunate common incident. However that changed his ears picked up on what the little girl asked the woman.

"Does that mean we can't go home?" That comment shook me more than it should be, and Butch sighed and frowned. The jade-eyed teenager cursed as he got up from the ledge. It sucks when little kids can't comprehend the cruel world , and judging from her age she is none the wiser. This is one of those days where Butch find himself unable to ignore what he just saw.

 _The sound will have to wait._

Butch hovered down towards the mugger, feeling a little annoyed that this mugger had made his day a little more annoying than it already is. The green-eyed teenager took a really deep breath before he stopped in midair and exhaled out before making his move. Deciding to not use lethal force, Butch took out his shoe and calmly aimed at the mugger, and fired his shoe once he is satisfied with his shot. The onlookers barely even saw the shoe leaving Butch's hand and before the mugger or the onlookers even knew it, it hit the mugger straight in the head. The man tumbled down on the ground a few ties and he skidded a little down the concrete pavement before he stopped.

 _Oops._

Butch landed down on his feet and slowly walked up towards the mugger, wondering if he had had used up too much force to bring the mugger down. Butch picked up his shoe and calmly strolled towards the mugger before stopping short of stepping over the man. Butch slid his feet into the shoe before flipping him over with his feet, and try to assess the damages done.

 _Well, at least he's breathing,_ Butch observed.

Butch scanned his body to see if there were any internal bleeding or bone fractures, and fortunately for him, there were no damages on the mugger. Butch squatted and picked up what the mugger had stole from that family before getting up again. Butch looked around and noticed that a few onlookers are watching him and in Butch's mind this is always the best time to make sure these sheep do the right thing.

"Hey, you. The one with the cap." Butch pointed towards a random figure in the crowd.

"M-me?"

"Who else? Call the authorities. And you? Yeah, you the one that looks like the cable guy. You have duck tape?"

"Ur...yeah, I do." The pudgy man answered.

"Good. Tie this guy up. You and you, help him out. All you guys stay here until the authorities arrive."

The few people Butch called up immediately went to work, and he is willing to bet they knew that if they decided to back out, the others onlookers will not let them leave a crook around. If Butch did not call these people out in the first place, everyone will not do anything. Such is the base human nature that they will not do anything until someone forced them or it is of importance to them. Butch made his way towards the woman and the little child, the woman being very surprised that a random super is helping them.

"Here you go lady, your bag." Butch extended his hand with the woman's handbag in his arms.

"Oh thank you, young man. Thank you." The woman thanked him.

"It's ok-What's the matter?" Butch asked as he noticed that the little one has a rather different expression, and it is not an expression of surprise. Somehow, it is something else entirely.

"Huh?" The little brunette with twin pigtails and a little pink coat looked up to Butch with her hazel brown eyes.

"You...ur...what's your name again?" Butch seriously need to ask the little girl or else he doesn't even know what to make of her. Starting with a name will be fair enough.

"Annabelle." The little girl answered and before Butch knew it, the little girl is now holding on to his sleeve.

"Didn't your mommy and daddy told you about being close to strangers?" Butch asked, curious about the little girl holding on to his sleeve. Butch reasoned to himself that kids don't just hold on to stranger's sleeves unless they know them or something.

"I just got parents recently." The little girl answered, and Butch looked up to the woman for answers. Instead, the woman responded to Butch's need for answers with an awkward smile.

 _Son of a bitch, she's adopted._ _Way to jab the blade into the situation recklessly_ , Butch thought. But in his defense, he is utterly clueless. Now that Butch had lost a proverbial limb in the field of landmines, he will need to ask her some more things with each question potentially triggering a landmine. Fortunately for Butch, the little girl made it easier for him to navigate through the minefield.

"But Big Sis once told me about strangers and how we should not talk to them." Fortunately the little girl helped make the situation a little less awkward.

"Well then, your big sis is a very smart girl. I'm a stranger and-"

"No, you're no stranger. You're Butch!"

"How'd you-?" Butch raised an eyebrow, perplexed to no end.

How did she know about Butch in the first place, Butch wondered. Butch recalled that he most certainly did not say his name to her at all. The woman noticed Butch's expression and the woman's confused expression informed Butch that she is just as perplexed as he is. Butch gave the woman a look, silently asking her for her consent for him to find out how her little darling knows about the Rowdyruff Boy. The woman nodded, and he turned his attention once more to the little girl.

"Um...have we met?" Butch asked the little girl. Now that he think about it, she does look really familiar. But where did Butch even meet this little kid?

"No, but Big Bro talked about you a lot. About you and him being brothers with Brick too, and even showed me your picture!" The little girl smiled.

"Big Bro?" Butch's interest is piqued as there are only so many people that had his pictures in their possession.

"Big Bro Boomer! He makes Elekitties for me!" The little girl answered innocently.

"Boomer?" With answers comes more questions. How on earth are Boomer and this little girl acquainted? Where on earth will his brother had the chance to meet up with a little-

"Oh, he did huh?" Butch went down to the little girl's eye level, giving off his best impression of being a nice guy. Not easy when Butch is the tallest and most muscular among his brothers.

"Uh huh." The girl nodded.

"How did you meet my brother anyway?" Butch asked, moving on a particular gut feeling he had.

"He always comes to visit us in the orphanage with Big Sis, and he's always there with Big Sis and although big sis always picks on him, but they are really nice with all of us. They even saved us from a bad guy before!"

But of course. Butch finally recalled why the little girl looked so familiar. A smile crept up on his face, and a mischievous idea came up on his mind.

"Y'know Annabelle...we should hang out one day. Yeah?" Butch tried not to grin as he patted her head, but his perverse mind is not allowing him to hide it.

* * *

[Townsville Pier, Townsville, Nigh time]

The tranquility of the pier at night was broken by a gasp that echoed throughout the night. A beam of pink light broke out from the ocean, and the beam soon landed, or to be exact, crashed on the dry docks of the pier. As the pink glow subsided, a drenched copper-haired girl is seen lying down on the ground, gasping for air with an unconscious carnelian-haired boy in her arms.

 _Blossom seriously that is a close call,_ the young girl said in her mind. As she leaned upwards, she noticed that the teenage boy is not moving at all and her face turned pale. The girl immediately got up and placed her ear on the unconscious boy's chest, her face turning pale when she heard what she heard.

Nothing.

Blossom immediately started to position the heel of her right hand over the center of the teenage boy's chest and her other hand on top of her first hand and she kept her elbows straight and positioned her shoulders directly above her hands.

"Come on...come on..." The copper-haired girl uttered under her breath as she pressed the teenage boy's chest.

 _Seriously this is the second Rowdyruff Boy I am doing this on_ , Blossom thought to herself as she continued with the chest compression. However Blossom was soon reminded that the first time she did this is in a dream, and this situation is the first time she had done it on a real living being.

The copper-haired girl stopped compressing the unconscious boy's chest and she put her palm on his forehead before gently tilting his head backwards and lifting the boy's chin forward while pinching his nostrils. But just as Blossom was about to breathe into the teenage boy, the unconscious teenage boy coughed and liquid immediately flowed out from his girl breathed a sigh of relief as she rested the teenage boy's head back on the ground, but her mind is also preoccupied with another thought.

 _And now what do I do with Abracadaver?_ , Blossom herself, but the Powerpuff Girl is unable to answer her own question.

"Went for a swim?" A husky woman's voice asked, causing Blossom to look up to see a raven-haired Powerpuff Girl standing before them with crossed arms.

"Buttercup!" The girl with the copper-red hair and rose red eyes looked up to her with an expression of surprise and relief.

"Honestly what are you doing, and...ur...", Buttercup further observed the situation, "what happened to him?"

Buttercup and her sister stared at each other for a moment, before the rose-eyed Powerpuff Girl closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. The deep breathing of her sister as she sighed signaled to Buttercup that something important just happened. Whatever just happened to her sister and the Rowdyruff Boy, it will be a very long and complicated story. Not to mention that it will be significant enough to impact her life. It is now Buttercup's turn to breathe in deeply, as she mentally prepare herself for the bad and complicated news that will be spilled.

But there _is_ something Buttercup can control at the present moment, and she had decided to exercise her right to control the particular thing she can control. Buttercup raised her hand pointing her palm towards her sister before she can even begin.

"What's wrong Buttercup?" Blossom asked the dark-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"Before you ramble on... I think we need to help that idiot up." Buttercup pointed towards the weakened Rowdyruff Boy with a head gesture.

"Right..." Blossom agreed.

* * *

[Townsville Sewers, Townsville]

" **You shouldn't intervene, Ananse.** "

The undead magician turned back, not appreciating that someone had intervened in his fight. For him to lose the chance to take on the Powerpuff Girl is an insult to his being, for the Powerpuff Girl is the reason why he was brought back from the dead once more. The Powerpuff Girl bearing a close resemblance to the little girl that made him an undead is all grown up, and this time he will not need to care if he hurt her more.

"Eff mi nuh intervene yuh head wud be gaan." The voice answered back, a tone of displeasure apparent as its help is not being appreciated. Three pair of lavender eyes appeared from the darkness, and a tall, lanky individual with dark red skin three times the height of a man appeared from the darkness. Each one of the insectile abomination folded its arm around its body like a cocoon.

" **I can function without my head. Also don't speak to me with that fake accent of yours.** " The undead lich spat on the ground, a piece of frozen flesh chipping the concrete walkway.

"Ah, you knew." The tall, lanky monstrosity appeared to be amused by the undead seeing through its ruse.

" **The demon may play along, but** **I am not as accommodating.** "

"Well, no point keeping up my appearance around you. This will be our little secret."

" **This, or the fact that you are here not out of the goodness of your heart?** " The undead sorcerer rearranged the broken hat on its head, its pair of red eyes staring back at the Lunatic.

"Nonsense." Ananse brushed the allegations aside with the ease of an experienced dissambler.

 **"You can lie to yourself, but I am not fooled.** " Abracadaver mocked the spider-like Lunatic. Both eldritch nightmares stared at each other, trying to assert their dominance over the other.

"So what is the purpose of the great Abracadaver being here in these sewers, bringing along the flesh golems with him?" Ananse asked in a condescending manner.

" **The same reason why you are here. Or to be exact, this is why you let me out.** " Abracadaver's response is met with Ananse's sinister rows of needle-like teeth.

* * *

[Unknown Location]

A pair of sky-blue eyes watched as several large levitating orbs moved along a fixed orbit, with several smaller orbs orbiting around the larger orbs. At the center of the levitating orbs is a triad of dark red glowing orbs within a large vat that is positioned at the center of the chamber and as tall as the entire chamber. Each orb glowed ominously, illuminating the entire area with its malevolent light. Several people are engaged in various tasks, ranging from typing on several computers to turning dials and knobs. The owner of the blue eyes watched the other people at work, a woman with dark mahogany braided hair dressed in a sleeveless dark Prussian blue turtleneck, matching Prussian blue beret and a winter-themed camouflage pants.

"So how is it?" The woman inquired as her sky-blue eyes observed the orbs in the vat. As if to answer her, the triad of orbs pulsated, its beat resonating throughout the entire chamber.

"It is good, Fennec." A bespectacled bald man in a white labcoat answered the woman.

Fennec watched the orbs float within the liquid and a sense of apprehension and concern clouded her heart. The orbs' glow is such that it had pierced through the concentrated liquid Red Candy, and it appears to be nourished by the drug. To make matters more disturbing, there was initially only one orb. It had multiplied over the past few days, and with each orb the glow only grew brighter with every passing day. The legion of researcher that they had gotten to allow this development to happen is almost unbelievable, given that the Lunatics are a coalition of crime organizations pulled together by an infernal demon.

 _This Trinisphere is something else_ , Fennec thought to herself as she observed the pulsing light of the triad of orbs.

"Boss." A voice interrupted her, and Fennec turned around to see one of her many henchmen coming up to her. The henchmen whispered to her ear, and her eyes perked up at the news.

 _The Spider let the Zombie out_ , Renee thought.

Abracadaver, the undead magician is best described as a wild card and at worse a monster that will turn against them in its pursuit of revenge against the Powerpuff Girls. The monster is unable to move out from its ward unless someone turned down the ward, and it is the Spider that allowed it to prowl. Alone among the five remaining Lunatics commanders, Ananse the Spider is the only one that had kept a low profile and his role in the organization is a mystery to Fennec. The dark eyes and ears of the organization, Ananse rarely appear on the field and prefer to work from the shadows and manipulating things from behind the scenes.

 _That spider is up to no good_ , Fennec thought to herself.


	100. Chapter 100: Thanksgiving

**Author's Note: Wow, I never thought I would ever reach 100 chapters and with this chapter, I managed to reach to the mark of 580, 000 words and counting! I know that I'm not a pro by any chance, but writing stories has been something I honestly like. A milestone for sure, and thank you once more for the reads!**

Chapter 100: Thanksgiving

 _The final weeks of November are closing in and as the city prepares for winter, there is a day where everyone is looking forward to._

 _Thanksgiving!_

 _A time where people give thanks and blessing of the year, surrounded by food and family. And this festive mood is also felt in the homes of the Utoniums as the family of our crimefighting heroines are having Thanksgiving dinner. And lookie here, it appears that they have family over already sitting at the dining table. Perhaps it is Eugene, Professor Utonium's brother and-_

 _Hold up._

 _That is weird._

 _Why is Lilith Morningstar here?_

 _And for that matter, the Rowdyruff Boys? They are all dressed up quite nicely at that too! Wow, seriously the boys sure looked nervous, like fishes out of water._

 _How did this came to be?_

 _I think we need to see how this situation came to be. Excuse me, can I flashback to when it all begins?_

 _*Thumbs up*_

 _Cool. Now let us look back and see what happened._

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville,9.00am]

"Urgh... This again." Lilith Morningstar woke up to feel her heart pounding like a jackhammer pounding on asphalt.

Lilith had been surprisingly busy for the past few months, and thanks to the mess of Townsville she had not been resting very well. It is even to the point where her subordinates have asked her to take a few days off or else she will collapse from exhaustion. Even though she had resisted the idea, but the TOCTSeF Council had agreed that she is far too important for her to collapse from exhausting. Thus she was forced to stay home at the forced threat of house arrest if she does not take her rest.

As she got up, she looked around her room with her silver-gray eyes, and wondered why it is particularly quiet in the house. She decided to get up from her bed and make her way towards the kitchen. The journey towards the kitchen is uneventful, but yet again Lilith is not expecting anything to happen within the sanctum she called home. As she approached the kitchen she heard the sound of people bickering.

"Looks like they're awake." Lilith noted as she poured herself a glass of water.

"Morning." A voice alerted Lilith to the presence of one of the Rowdyruff Boys, and the owner of the voice revealed himself before Lilith. A teenager with a waist-length braided carnelian ponytail with crimson red eyes walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes with one of his hands.

"Good morning Brick, you're up early. Are the rest awake?" Lilith asked and Brick placed his hand over his ear as if to listen in on something.

"It happens. And those idiots should be down any moment now. Seems like the cosmic elements aligned itself that we are awake this early when there's no school today." Brick answered before he yawned. As Brick walked past the dark-haired woman, the sound of two individuals bickering as they descended down the staircase announced the presence of the other two Rowdyruff Boys.

"Don't just borrow my stuff without telling me!" A sand-blonde teenager with androgynous features yelled towards a well-muscled dark-haired teenager.

"Then don't leave it around in the open." The jade-eyed teenager with the charcoal hair rolled his eyes, causing the sand-blonde teenager to give him a glare with his cobalt-blue eyes. The Rowdyruff Boy's take their seats at the dining table, and Lilith puts out the cereal box, a carton of milk and a few bowls in front of the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Any coffee or tea for you boys?"

"Coffee." The three teenagers answered at the same time.

"Anyway, breakfast is gonna be cereal today. I'm a little pooped to cook today." Lilith said lazily.

"Sure." Brick answered.

"That's okay." Boomer gave the woman a thumbs up.

"Whatever." Butch folded his arms around his torso, his eyes looking upwards towards the ceiling.

Lilith took a seat among the Rowdyruff Boys, who were already preparing their cereals. Living with the boys for the past three months had enlightened Lilith on their peculiar personality perks.

Brick, the de facto leader of the group has a particular edge to him that made him particularly hard to approach. Most had described Brick as a panther given form, and Lilith will agree that Brick's particular abrasive personality and sharp eyes makes people particularly uneasy around the Rowdyruff Boy. Combined with his particularly sharp intelligence and cunning, most people are often intimidated by the teenager's presence.

In contrast, Boomer's soft, almost-feminine appearance and large, sparkling blue eyes gave off a much more gentler and even friendlier outward appearance. Among his brothers, he is the most outgoing and friendliest, and indeed his goofy attics often made people forget that he is formerly one of the most feared superpowered criminals in the world.

Butch, the third brother and tallest of the boys, is not as friendly as Boomer nor as unapproachable as Brick. If anything is to be said about charcoal-haired green-eyed individual, it will be how emotional he is. Despite his usual outwardly tranquil expression, Lilith is aware that his temperament is perhaps the most volatile among his brothers. Combined with his superpowered attributes, it is a potential recipe for disaster. However, that is also a factor that allowed Lilith to understand him more as Lilith had always find Butch to be the most honest among his brothers as he had nothing to hide.

The interaction between these individuals, known to the world as the Rowdyruff Boys, is always interesting to Lilith as they are very diametrically different individuals in both appearance and personality. Yet, these three individuals are able to get along and have a bond unlike any other. Once the boys had taken their fill of the cereal, Lilith took the cereal box and poured the cereal into her bowl.

"So, what's the plan for tonight? Everyone's home and there's nothing to do." Boomer asked Lilith as he munched on his cereal, knowing well that she is rarely at home due to her duties as the District Attorney of Townsville.

"Ordering Chinese takeout? Heard that from one of my classmates that Jewish people do that on Thanksgiving as a sort of tradition." Butch suggested.

"Butch, that's Christmas." Brick corrected his dark-haired brother.

"Huh, whatever." Butch shrugged.

In context, the Rowdyruff Boys never celebrated Thanksgiving before and Lilith understood that they never had anything to celebrate about except for those fleeting moments when they pulled off something. The only thing they really commemorate are the day they are born, and the day they were reborn (April 7th and November 6th, respectively) and she only found out about it when she returned home to see the Rowdyruff Boys celebrating their second birthday, with a whole lot of pizzas and candles stuck on said pizzas a few weeks ago.

"Actually we do have something to do tonight Boomer, and no, we are not ordering Chinese takeout. Tonight, we're having Thanksgiving dinner at the Powerpuff Girls' home." The three Rowdyruff Boys stared at Lilith, the color in their faces fading away.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

"What?" Professor Utonium is visibly uncomfortable by the looks his daughters are giving him. The dark-haired man gulped as he instinctively felt that he is about to get bombarded by a storm of very mixed emotions. Those emotions being the three 'Diss's: Disbelief, displeasure and disquiet.

"What!" Bubbles is the first to erupt, her expression mainly that of disbelief.

"Great...I need to get even more food prepared! " Buttercup is visibly displeased, being the one responsible for their dinner tonight.

"Girls, I-I-ur..." Professor Utonium turned towards the last Powerpuff Girl, expecting a lecture on how he should inform them ahead of time or so. The other two Powerpuff Girls are also expecting the same thing as they turned their eyes on her. Instead, they got something they did not expect.

"They can come over." Blossom said calmly.

"Wait. What." Now it is Professor Utonium's turn to be surprised. Both Bubbles and Buttercup looked at each other, each trying to elicit a response from the other about their sister's peculiar laid-back attitude. However the response they got from each other amounts to dumbfounded confusion over Blossom's out-of-character moment. .

"The other Utoniums aren't able to come over this year so I don't see why not." Blossom answered and suddenly she noticed that Bubbles is placing her palm on her head.

"What are you doing Bubbles?" Blossom asked, annoyed that she is being checked up upon by her platinum-blonde siste.

"Nope, she's not having a fever." Bubbles announced to her dark-haired relatives, causing further confusion to warp on their faces.

"Check again." Professor Utonium and Buttercup said in unison.

"Seriously guys?" Blossom is not entertained by her family's attics and she decided to get up from the chair and walk away.

"Are you really alright with the boys coming over tonight?" Buttercup asked her sister.

"Yes. Please just grow up." Blossom rolled her eyes before making her way out of the dining other Utoniums looked at each other, and they wondered if they were just over-complicating the issue.

However, unbeknownst to her family, Blossom's mature response is a lie. Right now, her mind is fritzing itself with the idea that Butch is coming to her home and she had no idea what to expect. Ever since that time where she rested on his lap, her perception of the Rowdyruff Boy had been chaotic at best, and utterly mind-blowing at worst. Blossom felt her heart beating, and she had no way of stopping the fact that the boys are coming over for dinner.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville]

 _Professor Utonium called a few days ago, and he asked if he would like to join them for Thanksgiving. I figured that is rather sweet and nice of him, so I said yes._

Lilith's explanation for the Thanksgiving dinner played back in the minds of the Rowdyruff Boys as they sat around in Brick's room in silence. They understood that the silence will not last, for they know well that they need to talk about their upcoming trip to the Powerpuff Girls' home for dinner. No one expected that they will be having dinner with the Powerpuff Girls, and each Rowdyruff Boy had something on his mind regarding this particular dinner.

"Now what?" Butch asked, knowing well that he will not be the one coming up with the best ideas.

"I say we just go for the dinner." Brick leaned on his bed, looking up to the ceiling with his crimson eyes.

"Seriously?" Boomer is surprised by the lack of resistance or scheming from his red-haired brother.

"I mean...it is not like we will die if we went over and eat dinner right?" Brick asked his blonde brother.

"You're right." Boomer said while scratching his head nervously.

"Sounds like you got something you're not telling us Boomer." Butch's eyes are now focused on his sand-blonde brother's body language.

"Like?" Boomer turned towards Butch, his cobalt blue eyes meeting with his brother's jade green eyes.

"You and Butterbutt perhaps?" Butch prodded.

"What are you trying to say Butch?" Boomer snarled, not appreciating his brother's tone. That snarl caught Butch a little off-guard, as Boomer rarely expressed any signs of aggression unless they struck a particular nerve of his. Boomer's blue eyes are cold as they glared at Butch, and Butch felt as if he stared into a Siberian river in the winter; he will get hypothermia and die.

"Cut it out you idiots." Brick growled, stopping the banter between his brothers before it sparked.

"Alright, I'll stop." Boomer raised his arms, surrendering to the leader of the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Says the one dating the Puff." Butch snarked back at Brick.

"At least I am not gonna do a slap-slap-kiss with one of them." Brick riposted, causing Butch's face to turn red from his rising temper.

"Alright,alright. Stop." Boomer cuts in the conversation between his brothers, knowing well that when the boys are agitated they are more likely to pick a fight with each other.

"Right, I'll stop." Brick closed his eyes and planted his face into his palms.

"...Fine." Butch groaned.

"I'd say we get something for them for tonight, like a pie or something. How'd about that?" Boomer suggested to his brothers, but noticed that their attention is elsewhere.

"Guys?" Boomer raised his voice, trying his best to snap them out from their own little thoughts.

"Let's do that." Butch relented as he breathed out loudly.

"Better than being cooped up here." Brick agreed.

"Right, let's go." Boomer said as he walked towards the window.

* * *

[Utonium Residence]

"With a little salt and pepper on the outside and stuffing the turkey with a lemon, sage, and thyme inside the cavity." Buttercup said to herself, smiling as she took out the turkey from the oven. This is how she preferred to make turkey; not brined, not deep-fried, and not stuffed with stuffing. It makes the turkey cook faster and better, as Buttercup always find the stuffing prolonged the cooking time and the gooey stuffing makes for a really unsavory meal. With the ease of a superstrengthed human, Buttercup placed the turkey on the kitchen aisle to cool down, and looked at the kitchen aisle, filled with various foods.

What was a meal for four people had became a meal for eight people, and she is glad that she is able to make even more varieties of meals despite all the extra work. Casserole stuffing, cream cheese mash potatoes, maple syrup roasted carrots with pistachios, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, sweet potato and butternut squash mash, creamed corn, gravy and just in case, cranberry sauce (For there is always that weirdo that likes cranberry sauce).

"Good job, Buttercup."Buttercup congratulated herself for a job well done, and she looked at what she is wearing. It is not what she usually wear; a loose plain white shirt and short blue denim pants, with a lime-green apron covering the front. She preferred sweatpants to be honest, but for today her sweatpants are in the laundry. Buttercup looked down into her apron and noticed something.

 _I'm drenched in sweat_ , Buttercup thought as she noticed her skin showing through her wet white clothing. Buttercup figured that a good bath is in order before their guest arrive.

 _Ding-dong_ _!_

"Ah, must be Bubbles!" Buttercup thought, for the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl had went out to the nearest Walmart to get some more drinks to accommodate their guest. Buttercup heads to the entrance of their home and within seconds, she is already turning the door knob open.

"Hey Bubbs, did you get me that Gato-oh." Her initial smile on her face when she opened the door subsided as soon as the lime-green eyes realized four pair of eyes are looking at her.

"Whoa, nice assets." A tall, charcoal-haired teenage boy with a green hairband holding his hair looked at Buttercup with his jade green eyes, his hand holding a tray of pie.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-!" Another teenage boy stuttered as he look at Buttercup with his sapphire blue eyes.

"Sorry about that." A third teenage boy with a waist-length braided orange-red ponytail and cinnabar red eyes apologised before slapping both the sand-blonde boy and the charcoal-haired inthe back with a loud slaps are soon accompanied by yelps of pain. However Buttercup noticed that the red-haired teenager is also trying to avert his eyes away from her, the signs of blushing on his cheeks being very apparent.

Buttercup looked down and realized that the loose part of her round collared shirt is drooping down, showing a little more of her body than she wanted. An incomprehensible expression began to form on Buttercup's face as she realized she had just involuntarily show the Rowdyruff Boys a little of her breasts. To make it worse, she's not wearing any bra. Buttercup immediately covered her chest with her hands and her crooked lips, frown and reddened face showing the telltale signs of being embarrassed.

"Boys!" A stern and disappointed woman's voice chided the boys before the cry of three teenage boys having their heads slapped is heard.

"Ouch! I didn't do anything!" Brick cried out,

"God damn it!" Butch yelled.

"Boobs!" Boomer yelled out the only thing on his mind.

"Sorry for their behavior. Go up and change, we'll sit at the living room while you get yourself a change of clothes." The gray-eyed woman beckoned the Powerpuff Girl, and Buttercup nodded her head meekly as she allowed them into the Utonium home.

"J.E.E.V.E.S!" Buttercup raised her voice, and an accented, distinguished artificial voice answered.

" _Yes, Miss Buttercup?_ "

"Why didn't you tell me that _they're_ at our doorstep?"

 _"I did not receive any instruction from Professor Utonium that I need to inform anyone about their arrival._ " J.E.E.V.E.S answered.

"Seriously...Get them something to drink as I...ur...I..." Buttercup did not complete the sentence and disappeared in a flash of lime-green Morningstars allowed themselves into the home, with Boomer still trying to steal some looks much to the chagrin of the Powerpuff Girl.

Butch looked around the house, but his sight always returned to the kitchen. The smell and the sights of the food made him particularly famished, and he finally understood why his brothers are really fond of the food in the Powerpuff Girl's home. His sense of smell informed him that the food will taste good, and he is already looking forward to eat her food. Butch can only imagine how it feels like to be Boomer, as his sense of smell and taste is hyperdeveloped to the extent he can discern the ingredients and how it tasted in his mouth as if he is feasting on it. Not to mention that Butch sensed that Boomer had something going on with Buttercup, but he had no idea what it is.

"Anyway boys, I'll be going to the restroom. Just stay put alright?" Lilith instructed before heading towards the restroom. The three Rowdyruff Boys waited for a little while, and only conversed with each other once the restroom doors are closed.

"Seriously, I still can't imagine her being a cook." Butch voiced out as he laid back on the backrest of the sofa.

"That's what I first thought to." Brick answered as he took off his maroon red newscap.

"Any news from our brother?" Butch pointed his eyes towards Boomer, and Brick shook his head.

"Seeing what he saw broke him or something." Brick sighed as he looked at the sand-blonde Rowdyruff Boy. Boomer is utterly dreamy-eyed, his mind is now somewhere else entirely.

"To be fair, she does have a nice pair." Butch chuckled as he elbowed his carnelian-haired brother.

"Yeah." Brick agreed.

"Never thought that the roughest of the lot will be attractive at all." Butch said truthfully, and Brick nodded his head.

"Buttercup came out as a surprise to be honest, but they were made to be perfect little girls. It stands to reason that they will be perfect little women when they grow up." Brick rested his cap on his lap, and his eyes are also now drawn to the food in the kitchen.

"Lilith's still in the restroom right?" Butch asked Brick about their adoptive mother.

"Been there for a while. Figured that it must be makeup or something."

"Ah, welcome to our home." A young, demure woman's voice interrupted Brick and Butch. The two Rowdyruff Boys looked up to see a delicate, pretty face looking down at them with bright rose-ruby eyes.

"Pinkie...hi." Butch answered as he is taken by the grace and poise of Blossom's simple and attractive appearance; a white, long-sleeved top and flared black pants, her long, red flowing hair let loose. Blossom flipped over the railing and hovered down towards the Rowdyruff Boys, landing gracefully like a cat.

"Just heard from Buttercup that you've just arrived." Blossom took a seat on one of the couches, crossing her long and slender legs as she did so.

"So, where's the Prof and Bubbles?" Brick asked, knowing that it helps prevent an awkward atmosphere with their host for tonight.

"They went out to get some drinks, and they'll be back soon."

"Cool." Brick answered.

"The three Rowdyruff Boys, in my home having thanksgiving with my family. Never thought I'd see the day." Blossom smiled as her eyes observed the Rowdyruff Boys.

The boys were dressed rather differently for Thanksgiving, and it is a surprisingly nice change of pace for the Powerpuff Girl. Butch's dark green turtleneck matched well with his dark green eyes. Brick has opted for a black-collared shirt with a dark red tie, along with black pants instead of his usual turtlenecks. Last but not least, Boomer is wearing a light-blue checkered long-sleeved shirt with a dark-grey pants, his usually spiky hair replaced with a much more cleaner and combed look. If the boys were to clean themselves up more often, they will get even more attention heading their way.

"Sorry about that Blossom, there was a little traffic and-Oh!" Brick and Blossom turned around to see a platinum blonde girl with sky-blue eyes holding several bags of groceries in each arm entering into the living room. Blossom noticed that Brick's eyes lit up in a dim amber, and a small smile crept up on his face. But what surprised Blossom most is how gentle the smile is, for she had never truly seen Brick smile in such a peaceful manner, if at all.

"Heya." Brick waved before getting up from the sofa and walking towards Bubbles. With a smooth motion, the teenage boy took some of her grocery bags and heads towards the kitchen. Bubbles looked back at Blossom, and Blossom in turn beckoned Bubbles to follow the Rowdyruff Boy.

"Go on, I'll be fine." Blossom gestured with a thumbs up, and Bubbles replied with a smile. As the pigtailed Powerpuff Girl heads into the kitchen, Blossom noticed that Professor Utonium and Lilith had made eye contact with each other.

"Oh! You're here already!" Professor Utonium exclaimed with surprise.

"Yeah, and you're late to your own Thanksgiving." Lilith chuckled.

"Blossom dear, where is Buttercup?" Professor Utonium asked the red-haired teenage girl.

"She's taking a bath right now." Blossom informed the professor.

"Alright, I'll get these groceries in and once she's down, just guide her and the boys to the dining area will you?" Professor Utonium instructed Blossom and she nods. Seeing that all is well, Professor Utonium entered into the kitchen along with Lilith.

"I wonder if they will ever be an item." Butch commented in his husky tenor voice.

"Who?" Blossom was taken a little by surprise over Butch's comment.

"The Prof and Lilith. Looks like they got something going on."

"More like they aren't so different after all, Butch. Having superpowered humans as their kids is something unique so to speak."

"Right."

"Still...it is weird to see you guys over here having Thanksgiving with us. Few months ago, we would be at each other's throats and we would make a whole lot of rotten judgments." Blossom smiled as she watched Lilith helping out the Professor with the groceries.

 _If there is a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that,_ Butch thought but before he knew it a grin drew itself over his face.

"And I'll light your house on fire too." Butch joked in order to disguise his grin a little better.

 _What's wrong with_ me?, Blossom wondered to herself as she realized that she is smiling back as Butch grinned back at her. Is this because she is _that_ comfortable around Butch? It's too cliche and Blossom tried to get a grip on herself, however something in her making her particularly elated, and she got it bad.

"Seriously?" A voice snapped both Butch and Blossom from each other and they turned around to see a pair of peridot eyes staring at both of them, with the owner of said eyes folding her arms beneath her breast.

"Wow." Boomer finally snapped out from his mind, only to focus on another mesmerizing sight. Buttercup did not style her hair with her usual highlights, leaving her raven-black hair unblemished. The form-fitting, sleeveless light-green blouse emphasized Buttercup's fine frame, and showcasing both her lean arms and also her fine shoulders. The black slacks complimented the rest of her looks, and Buttercup realized that Boomer is looking at her with such admiring blue eyes.

"Alright...that's enough now." Buttercup felt a little uncomfortable that she is wearing something that she is not used to wearing, but at the same time she felt a little flattered that Boomer is looking at her in such a manner.

"Right...cos I'm gonna eat you up." Boomer blurted out, causing Buttercup to react belligerently in an instant.

"YOU PERVERT!" Buttercup immediately smacked Boomer's head, causing him to yelp.

"Wait, hold on! I mean eating your food! I seriously do!" Boomer apologized as both Butch and Blossom burst out laughing.

"Dumbass!" Butch cried out loud.

"Eat you up! She's gonna be real tough to chew!" Blossom teased as she laugh.

"HEY!" Buttercup did not appreciate her sister's teasing, turning red with embarrassment .

"What's going on?" Bubbles came out along with Brick by her side, and both of them noticed that Buttercup is wearing something a little more feminine for once.

"She is rather beautiful indeed. She took a while putting on some makeup too." Melchior commented, and Buttercup immediately looked at her silver bangle cum sentient armor.

"Wait, her bracelet just spoke to her?!" Butch realized the situation, and he stared at Buttercup's bangle.

"Melchior!" Buttercup called out on the sentient armor, her face turning redder.

"Not a bracelet mind you. A bangle. You really need to know the different my boy." A young voice with aristocratic bearings lamented, the voice appearing from the earrings around Bubble's earlobes.

"Oh shoot, there's more of those things!" Brick turned around in a panic, only to realize that he accidentally touched Bubble's breast with his elbow. The Powerpuff Girl gasp, causing Brick to move his elbow away from the Powerpuff Girl's chest like it was a searing hot iron.

"This never gets old." A middle-aged regal voice sighed, causing Butch to turn his attention to the pendant resting in the middle of Blossom's chest.

"What's going on boys?" Lilith came out from the kitchen to see the Rowdyruff Boys screaming around.

"Nothing's wrong lady, just them finding out about-oh." Bubbles turned around to see the color draining from Lilith's face as she looked at Bubble's earrings. Blossom and Buttercup started laughing out loud, and tears soon welled up in their eyes.

"How many of these things are there?" Butch's panicked expression is surprisingly entertaining, and now Bubbles started to Powerpuff Girls started laughing non-stop, and seeing the panicking Rowdyruff Boys is a treat in itself for the boys rarely get frightened. For the girls. this moment is priceless.

* * *

[A few minutes later]

It took a while for Lilith and the Rowdyruff Boys to calm down, and now they are all gathered around the dining table, filled with the food cooked by the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl. Professor Utonium stood up and rolled up his sleeve in preparation for carving up the main course of the meal; the baked turkey. Professor Utonium noticed that the Lilith and the Rowdyruff Boys are now staring at his arm.

"Um...is everything alright?" Professor Utonium asked.

"Those muscles..." Lilith pointed towards Professor Utonium's surprisingly well-muscled arms.

"Oh, this thing?" Professor Utonium pointed towards his bicep.

"Professor Utonium used to kick some ass back in the day. Saved our asses too at one time with Mojo." Buttercup said, causing both Blossom and Bubbles to chuckle.

"Language!" Professor Utonium voiced his disapproval at Buttercup's language.

"Seriously? Never knew you had it in you." Butch voiced his surprise, expecting Professor Utonium to be a weak nerd.

" _Indeed, I was there when he fought Mojo Jojo_." J.E.E.V.E.S answered.

"Wait...J.E.E.V.E.S,you're there too? I thought you're made like three years ago?" Bubbles voiced her surprise.

" _At the time, I do not have a voice. I just manage the combat systems."_ J.E.E.V.E.S explained.

"Huh...didn't know that." Buttercup said as she placed the stuffing casserole on the table.

"Anyway, I will be carving the turkey now." Professor Utonium chose not to dwell on the topic, and he took up the cutlery to carve the turkey.

Brick, Butch and Boomer are sitting at the table nervously as they watched Professor Utonium carve the turkey. Somehow, something in them made their brain unable to function well enough for any rational thought. Instead, their thoughts are clouded by their own insecurities. They all may have different insecurities, but they are insecurities nonetheless.

Brick's crimson eyes watched Bubbles intently, and he wondered if he will be pulled into a world that will bring him to a really...shall we say, hormone-driven place. Butch felt a tightening sensation at the back of his head only served to make him aware of a more primal, indescribable emotion within him. Watching Blossom helping Professor Utonium to pass around the slices of turkey only made Butch more uncomfortable about himself.

Boomer had it the worst among his brothers for his earlier 'sneak preview' had made him particularly conscious about Buttercup and he needed to find out something to help alleviate the tension within. But every time Buttercup appeared in his vision, his mind went back into a fight-or-flight mode. Boomer decided to bury his face into his meal, only to realize that the meal was cooked by Buttercup. This caused the sand-blonde teenager to choke a little before he reached for the glass of cider to gulp down.

 _Get a grip dude, you really got it bad_ , The Rowdyruff Boys thought at the same time to themselves.

Of course, the boys are not alone in their nervousness. The Powerpuff Girls are also feeling the same nervousness within them, but they are just better at hiding them.

 _He's particularly off-key_ , Blossom thought to herself as she handed the turkey slices to Lilith, while pretending to not notice Butch looking at her. That made her particularly conscious about herself, and indeed she had been particularly conscious about herself around Butch ever since they escaped the dream world.

 _Adorable, but too intense don't you think,_ Bubbles is a little nervous about how Brick is staring at her, and she felt like the red-haired boy is stripping her with his crimson stare. Bubbles kept a strong front as she poured the cider in Brick's glass.

Buttercup, Buttercup, Buttercup. Among her sisters, she is perhaps the one in the worst state of mind. The raven-haired teenager had no idea why she is dressed the way she did. Usually she never paid much attention on her appearance or her clothing. But yet, here she is, wearing something she never thought she would wear. Is it because of what happened in the cathedral?, Buttercup wondered. No, it started when the raven-haired teenager misinterpreted Boomer's action and blurted out. No, Buttercup corrected herself. It had started earlier, but she did not think too much about it. But now, she can not hide it. No man is worth the aggravation, yet she knew that she can not conceal about her own realizations of what Boomer means to her. Buttercup took a few glances at Boomer's direction before turning away.

Lilith on the other hand, noticed what is happening between the boys and girls. They are not very good in hiding their feelings, but the girls are doing it much better than the boys. The little glances here and there, the body language, and the sudden silence between the two parties as compared to their earlier, more animated conversations pointed to one thing and one thing only. Lilith watched with her silver -gray eyes and wondered why they want to play these games with each other.

 _They really ought to face it_ , Lilith thought but yet this is the beauty of youth. Of course, Lilith's own issues of being one of the Phosphori Witches, a clan of witches bound to Him and that of being the District Attorney of Townsville are heavy, but she had decided to park it away for the night.

"Thank you Blossom." Lilith took the plate of slice turkey from Blossom's slender fingers.

"The pleasure's mine." Blossom replied with her best polite smile.

"Anyone wants the drumstick?" Professor Utonium asked, oblivious to the whole situation happening at the dining table as he happily carved the turkey up for the dinner.

"Sure, I'll take it!" Boomer answered, being the first among his brothers to bury the thoughts plaguing his mind.

"Alright, here we go." Professor Utonium placed the turkey drumstick on Boomer's plate.

"Thanks, Prof!" Boomer answered.

"Anyone else want the other drumstick?" Professor Utonium asked, looking around to see if anyone wants the other piece of the turkey.

"Not me." Blossom replied.

"Nope." Bubbles shook her head.

"Buttercup?" Professor Utonium asked his dark-haired daughter.

"Nah, I'm good. Pass that to Butch I guess." Buttercup pointed with her eyes towards the charcoal-haired Rowdyruff Boy. Professor Utonium carved out the piece and skewered it with his carving fork and attempted to reach towards Butch's plate. However he is unable to reach the plate and despite his best efforts, Professor Utonium will require some help.

"Butch!" Brick noticed the piece of turkey and he nudged his brother with his leg. Butch snapped out from his daydreaming and noticed the professor trying his best to reach his plate.

"Sorry." Butch apologized, and extended his plate towards the professor. Butch soon felt the weight of the turkey drumstick resting on his plate and he withdraw the plate only to place it in front of him.

"No worries, it is a lot of food." Professor Utonium chuckled.

"Brick, could you please pass me the mashed potatoes?" Bubbles asked, and Brick realized that the mashed potatoes are in front of him.

"Right, here you go." Brick passed the bowl of mashed potatoes to Bubbles, eliciting a smile from the Powerpuff Girl. Brick felt a little of the weight in his heart lifting away, and he appreciated that the weight in his heart is alleviated.

"Alright, you want anything Butters?" Boomer asked the Powerpuff Girl, and the raven-haired Powerpuff Girl observed what is in front of the Rowdyruff Boy with her lime-green eyes.

"The brussel sprouts." Buttercup pointed out, and despite her impassive expression, deep down she appreciate that Boomer asked her if she wanted anything.

"Gotcha, coming right up." Boomer took the plate of roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and passed it over to Buttercup with a grin on his face.

"Thanks." Boomer's grin took Buttercup by surprise, and she felt a warmth feeling inside of her.

"Pinkie, pass me the carrots." Butch spoke to the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl, sensing that he needs to make some kind of interaction.

"You didn't say the magic word Butch." Blossom frowned, and Butch raised his eyebrow.

"Seriously Pinkie?"

"Yeah."

"Urgh...fine. Please pass me the carrots." Butch rolled his eyes but he willing conceded, and Blossom passed the carrots over to Butch with a thin smile revealing itself on her face.

"Buttercup, pass me the cranberry sauce will you?" Brick pointed out, and Buttercup's face lit up.

"No way, you're one of them cranberry guys?" Buttercup teased Brick, causing Brick to roll his eyes.

"Shut up." Brick answered back.

"Here you go Butch, have some stuffings!" Bubbles placed some of the stuffing casserole on Butch plate.

"But I hate stuffings." Butch answered.

"You clearly haven't tried Buttercup's stuffing yet." Bubbles winked, and Butch looked at the stuffing casserole on his plate. Reluctantly he poked his fork in the stuffing and placed it on his tongue. Butch's skeptical jade eyes immediately glowed, and Butch turned towards Bubbles' direction.

"Told ya so." Bubbles gave Butch a thumbs up. Butch turned his attention back at his plate of food and soon took a bite from the turkey and the carrots. Butch swore that he had discovered a whole new world of flavors opened up to him.

"Sonofabitch...You guy's weren't kidding when you said that Buttercup's cooking is kickass!" Butch roared, and the other people at the table turned their attention towards Butch.

"What are you trying to say, Butch?" Buttercup did not like the way Butch talked about her cooking.

"Was expecting a gorilla like you to cook crappy, but I was wrong!" Butch answered, not realizing that he had also inadvertently struck Buttercup's nerve.

"Who are you calling a gorilla, you damn elephant!"

"What did you just call me?" Butch stood up.

"GUYS!" Brick and Blossom yelled out, stopping both Butch and Buttercup in their tracks and both green-eyed teenagers turning their attention at their red-haired sibling.

"Well, this is what I expected anyway." Bubbles shrugged as she placed a piece of turkey into her mouth.

"You planned this didn't you?" Boomer asked his Powerpuff Girl counterpart as he tried to reach for the sweet potato mash.

"Well, he's the only one that haven't tried Buttercup's cooking yet right?" Bubbles passed the bowl of sweet potato mash to Boomer.

"You're evil y'know that?" Boomer took the sweet potato mash from Bubbles before scooping some of the mash on his plate, watching as Brick and Butch started raising their voice with each other. Honestly Boomer decided to shut out what his brothers are talking about with each other.

"Not evil Boomer, just bored. Mind passing me the creamed corn Boomer?" Bubbles watched at she noticed her siblings are bickering with each other. Unlike Boomer she decided to take a listen on what her siblings are fighting about.

"If you want to fight with Butch take it outside! Just don't burn down the house!"

"What the hell, he started it Bloss!"

"Buttercup, he started it but you don't have to stoop down to his stupidity!"

"The worst kind of evil, Bubbles." Boomer replied as he passed Bubbles the creamed corn, noticing that Butch took offense to something that Blossom said to Buttercup. Before long, the initial conflict between Butch and Buttercup soon was abandoned in favor of Butch picking a fight with Blossom.

"What did you just say Pinkie?" Butch's voice is a rumbling tenor as he turned his attention to the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"But that saying Boomer, this is the most noisy and lively it has been for a while." Bubbles pointed out, a rather genuine and grateful smile appearing on her face as she watched Blossom and Butch started their banter with each other.

Bubbles sensed a warm atmosphere emanating from Butch and Blossom as they spoke to each other, and somehow they appear to be at ease with each other even as they bickered with each other. In fact it appear that this is the first time that Blossom is not putting up an act to hide herself from other people as she is wont to do when she interact with people other than Buttercup and herself.

"Yeah, first time they are this relaxed around other people." Boomer noticed that Brick and Buttercup are now shaking their head as they watched Butch and Blossom aggressively bickering in a fashion that best resembled flirting with each other without themselves realizing it. The two adults in the room did not even bother to stop Butch and Blossom, and they went on having their meal and sparking a conversation among themselves.

"Yeah, if Professor Utonium is not worried, this means that everything is alright. Even if it is Blossom fighting with your brother." Bubbles pointed out, raising her glass in a toast.

"Yeah,everything's alright if Brick abandoning Butch to his own devices." Boomer saw his red-haired brother taking a seat while conversing with Buttercup.

"Yeap, we should give thanks that the house is not in fire when our brothers and sisters decided to fight." Bubbles raised her glass in a toast.

"Right." Boomer reciprocated.

* * *

 _Ah, look how lively and warm the Thanksgiving dinner is at the Utonium household. Everyone knows that despite their differences, they all should give thanks that they are able to celebrate with family, friends, and 'loved' ones. These people had gone through a lot and they honestly needed a break to take their minds off the really heavy stuff and just enjoy themselves._

 _Looks like I will leave them alone and let them have a peaceful night without me narrating what's happening during this time. They deserve a night where they are left to their own devices, and there will be plenty of time where I can come in and narrate stuff.  
_

 _Happy Thanksgiving, and happy holidays!_


	101. Chapter 101: The Dragon's Daydream

Chapter 101: The Dragon's Daydream

 _The City of Townsville._

 _It is a dark and cold night in the streets of Chinatown, the epicenter of the Chinese community where both old migrants and new called home. The red lanterns hanging above the streets gave it both a warm and noble hue to the enclave. However, red is also a color associated with aggression and war, and the dark night gave the red lanterns a much more ominous sign of the events happening tonight. In particular, a lone red-colored building signalled itself as the scene of tonight's chapter._

 _The Oriental Dragon Restaurant._

 _A restaurant almost as old as the enclave itself, the restaurant is known to be a gathering place of many sorts of people. From businessmen to politicians, it had catered to its customers every needs. Indeed, in this cold night, the restaurant is packed with customers and the bustling business and the other patrons of the restaurant are unaware of the presence of a particular individual that had placed himself into one of the private banquet rooms...  
_

* * *

[Oriental Palace Chinese Restaurant, Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 6.00pm]

An Asian man sits alone in a private banquet room in the Chinese restaurant known as the Oriental Palace. The Asian man sports a well-combed hair, aviator sunglasses and dapper business suit with a white scarf draped over his shoulder, exhibiting a stylish and charismatically powerful appearance. The square face with soft rounded angles and wide nose of the man exhibits an air of authority that comes to him as naturally to him as breathing or blinking, so much so that his overall demeanor is smooth yet jovial. Like a bored king sitting on his throne, the Asian man leaned lazily on one side, with his head resting on his palm and a lit cigarette in his mouth. If a person is not aware of the slight facial differences, one would mistaken the man for Chow Yun-Fatt, the Hong Kong actor.

Mark Gor enjoys being a gangster and all the perks that go with it, but doesn't celebrate it. The Chinese gangster would rather slice a person with a razor than bludgeon the person with a bat, better still, he would rather shoot the person from distance. Yet, there were times where he will need to get down and deal with things himself.

Such was the assignment that was given to Mark by his 'investors', as he prefer to call them. His 'investors' are very powerful people, and they are the ones that allowed him to continue on with his gangster life. In return for this non-involvement in his underworld life, Mark will help his 'investors' from time to time with their particular 'ventures'. This meeting is related to such a venture. The man looked at his watch, as if waiting for something to happen. This happened a few more times, once every few minutes. The door into the private banquet room opened up, revealing another Asian man in a business suit.

" _Tai Lo_ , your guest is waiting outside."

The man with the sunglasses signalled his henchman to bring the expected guest into the room. A few minutes later, two men in business suits escorted a young woman into the room. The woman sported her hair in several long thin braids running down her back, with the bottom half of her face is covered by the exaggerated collar of her intricately-embroidered black jacket. A zipper running along its entire length of the black jacket, covering over her long flowing bone-white cheongsam. The form-fitting dress emphasized her long slender legs and arms, with arms sleeves enveloping her arms like an evening glove that ended in feline-like extensions.

"Greeting Dragon Head of the Red Dragons." The woman greeted the man sitting at the banquet table.

"Greetings Mountain Master of the White Tigers. Come have a seat." The man greeted back. The woman sat at the opposite end of the banquet table from the man. With a clap of his hand, the two henchmen that escorted the woman in excused themselves out from the banquet room closing the door as they leave the two figures alone.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of being in the presence of the infamous Dragon Head, Mark Gor?" The woman spoke first, her voice soft-spoken and had heard of the formidable charisma of the Dragon Head of the Red Dragons Triad before, but to see it in person is something else entirely.

"I want to see the woman responsible for taking out the police department of a city single-handedly. You are as dangerous as you are beautiful _Au-Yong Yue Chi,_ or you preferred to be called Tigress?" The man replied, and the woman shot a glare with her aquamarine eyes.

Mark Gor saw the flash of rage in the woman's eyes and true to her _nom de guerre_ , her glare is fierce and primal as those of a tiger. To see her name being uttered in such a familiar tone.

"I have seen enough in my lifetime. I will not be intimidated by a glare." The gangster gave a thin smile.

"That is true, Dragon Head. " The woman managed to recomposed herself, but there is still a tint of of simmering hotheadedness in her otherwise soft voice.

"Action speak louder than words." The Red Dragons crime boss appears to be unfazed, only giving a minute acknowledgment to the point at hand. The Red Dragon crime boss seems easily amused, and unusually-easygoing and lighthearted, especially given the position he found himself in.

"I heard that you are looking for something." Tigress took the opportunity to pour herself a cup of tea, and her aquamarine eyes are watching Mark Gor's every move.

"Very nice, I see that you are a very well-informed lady. But if you knew _exactly_ what I was looking for, you would not be asking me that. " A smile crept up on the Red Dragon's face, a dark and jovial grin.

"Dragon Head, what is it you seek to achieve? I sense that we have the same objective in mind." The blonde Asian woman reasoned, but the Asian man ignored her as he took out a cigarette.

"Does the _Phantom's Blood_ ring a bell?" The Tigress' inquiry managed to elicit a change in the Dragon Head's expression, for the smile on his face darkened a little. The man light his cigarettes and took a puff before tapping the burnt ash from his cigarette into the ash tray.

"You should know better than to stir into the business of another person of the same...profession." Mark Got expressed his opinion.

"That's impossible. You know this line of business, Dragon Head...Once things get stirred up it stirs up like a typhoon."Tigress's message is conveyed clearly to the Dragon Head.

"Then...this means conflict is inevitable, Yue Chi." The Red Dragons boss expressed the consequence of such interventions. The two Triad leaders stared at each other, knowing well that they had inadvertently stirred the hornet's nest.

Is it something avoidable? Yes.

Is it something they can reason with each other? Of course.

Is it something that can be stopped if they reasoned with each other? Definitely.

Is it something that they will do? _Definitely not._

Mark Gor is silent as he puffed out the smoke from his cigarette in silence. The nature of 'Phantom' s Blood' is such that no one in their right mind will share with another, let alone cooperate to get. There will be an all-out war for those who knew the significance of the 'Phantom' s Blood'. Indeed, the presence of rival crime syndicates and foreign intelligence agencies are now convening in Townsville for precisely this purpose. It matters little if the 'Phantom's Blood' escaped his 'investor's' grasp to seek refuge in Townsville, for the scent is caught and the hounds are unleashed. Such is the thing that can alter the balance of the world.

"You must be blind if you want to fight with us." The woman warned as her skin turned bright red, and her aquamarine eyes are now glowing with an eldritch light.

"Indeed." The man took off his sunglasses, the woman's aquamarine eyes open wide with surprise.

"You're..." Tigress uttered as she saw two horizontal scars across each of the Red Dragon Triad boss' pearl-gray eyes.

"Almost blind. Yes." The man's pearl-gray eyes pierced into Tigress' heart, and she felt something that she never felt before.

Tigress' mind asked herself why is she concerned about a pair of blind eyes, as the vibration from her increasingly rapid heart beating is felt throughout her body. The Lunatic's felt the coldness of her sweat running down her forehead, and she is utterly speechless. The man poured himself a cup of tea as Tigress continued to stare at the man before her.

For a normal human to command such uneasiness to course through her body right now, it takes a special kind of ability to warrant such dangerous majesty. Tigress may be a monster, but at least she was made a monster. Mark Gor is something else entirely; a natural-born monster. Tigress watched as the man stood up and took the cane rested beside him. The blind gangster started walking towards the clothes hanger in the room, his lame movements at odds with the air of authority exuding from the man. Mark Gor reached the clothes hanger and took his trenchcoat before wearing it in an unhurried manner.

"It is nice to see what I will be facing." The man's pearl-gray eyes frowned with a hint of sadness as he exited the room, and the timbre of his voice expressed his regret.

* * *

[Chinatown, Downtown Townsville, 7.30pm]

Mark Gor is not smiling as he stared out the car window. The Red Dragons gangster did not really want to meet up with the White Tiger Triad head, but his 'investors' had forced him to make the first meeting with the 'kitten'. To be exact, his 'investors' knew who she is, but still underestimate her by thinking that she is harmless in the grand scheme of things. However, Mark Gor never underestimate anyone, and particularly monsters like the Tigress.

Intelligent, patient, and ruthless. These are traits that the woman has, and traits Mark always respect. It is just unfortunate that they are both standing at opposite sides. Like her animal namesake, the Tigress is ready to fight if it is worth fighting for. But Mark is also willing to fight for what is his. Indeed, it is part of his job description as the leader of his criminal outfit. Like a hidden dragon, Mark Gor will bide his time until he is ready to spring into action and slaughter his unsuspecting enemies.

" _Tai Lo_ , we are being pulled over." The man driving the vehicle informed the man.

"Don't do anything stupid." Mark remarked as he noticed two Humvees flanking their vehicle.

The car slowed down, and the two armored cars beside them slowed down as well. Mark is unfazed by the presence of what appeared to be armored vehicles bringing him to a stop. Mark Gor's eyes are still focused on the vehicles as the doors of the vehicle opened up to reveal several men in black body armor, helmet and assault rifles entered into the room, their helmet emblazoned with the letters 'TOCTSeF' on it. The identities of the men were obscured by the balaclava and goggles they were wearing, giving them a faceless and intimidating appearance. One of the men walked up to the Triad's car and knocked on the window, while the other men were resting their hands on the rifles slung across their chest. The chauffeur looked at Mark, who in turn gave the signal to wind down the car window.

"Yes officer?" The chauffeur asked the armed man in black.

"Good evening, please step out from the car." The masked man informed, and the chauffeur exited the vehicle.

Mark watched as his driver walked away from the vehicle with the man in black fatigues, but something appears to be off for the Red Dragons boss.

* * *

 _Mark Gor is seated in an impossible realm, where the skies above are showing scenes from various movies while the ground is a swirling, spiraling thick strips of black and white lines. Mark Gor is unperturbed by the situation, for his eyes sees nothing. However, he is amused that he found himself sitting on a brown couch where previously he was seated at the back passenger seat of the vehicle. This can only be the work of one being, and Mark is delighted that he had managed to gain an audience with the demonic overlord itself._

 _"You really know when to choose the most awkward times to speak to me." Mark Gor clapped his hand slowly._

 _"You are not surprised by this." A cacophonous voice of a high-pitched woman's voice and a baritone man's voice spoke and echoed at the same time._

 _"But of course." The man's took the cigarette out from a small case and placed it at the corner of his mouth._

 _"Been a while since I've last seen you, Mark. You're blind and lame." The voice spoke out, a little surprised by the man's disabilities._

 _"And you're weaker than I last saw you." There was a pause for a moment, and it appeared that Mark's observation had struck a particular strand in the disemboweled voice's mind._

 _"I was injured a while back, needed my time to heal."_

 _"Someone managed to hurt you? Impressive." Mark raised his eyebrow_

 _"Brick and Boomer managed to hurt me in real-life, and the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls hurt me in the dreamscape. Thought to be fair, I did intentionally made my injuries worse when I fought against Brick and Boomer and nearly lost my essence in the dreamscape." The disembodied voice chuckled._

 _"But not enough to vanquish you."_

 _"Of course not. I caused most of the damages myself anyway."_

 _A silence fell between the two entities, and Mark decided to light up his cigarette. As the Asian man puffed his cigarette, he knew that there is a deeper reason for his presence in this surreal and mind-boggling landscape. Fortunately for the Red Dragon's crime boss, he understood the situation very well. Indeed, it is very convenient for Mark to be in this landscape, as it saved him the time of trying to seek out the elusive demon. This is something that his 'Boss' wanted him to do if Mark got the chance. Mark decided to lead it with a simple question._

 _"Why the visit into my dreamscape?"_

 _"Because you visited Tigress." The demon revealed._

 _"Yue Chi? Is it wrong for me to do what I did?" Mark played along, knowing well that the demon knew what it means._

 _"No of course not. Still, for you to be searching for the 'Phantom's Blood'... that is interesting." The voice commented._

 _Mark is not as surprised as he should be by the demon's knowledge of what transpired between Tigress and Mark. But unnatural otherworldly beings often threw things out of the equation of logical senses. That is something Mark knew, and only a few things are as concerned about 'Phantom's Blood' as he does. Tigress' awareness of the issue only highlighted the links of the demon's influence in the crime elements in this town._

 _"It escaped and it chose this place as a refuge. Does not help that a demon of your caliber is spreading its influence here." Mark tapped his fingers to loosen the ashes at the end of his cigarette._

 _"This will piss Her off for sure." The voice expressed a mock concern, but one filled with a sense of glee as well._

 _"Not just Her, everyone."_

 _"Everyone?" The demon's voice loses its feminine tone, and the remaining male voice is dark and deep._

 _"It has send its best hound for the job, and I am here for Her. You know them better than anyone else, for they are your siblings." A laughter broke out and Mark jumped for a moment from the booming voice._

 _"They underestimated Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls are nothing to scoff at." The high-pitched voice returned to the disemboweled voice, echoing the dark deep baritone voice._

 _"I know the boys just as well as you do. But you seriously think that they will be able to fight against Her and It?" Mark pointed, and another chuckle came out from the voice._

 _"They will take them down." The entitlement in the voice is filled with an unrivaled pride._

 _"What if they fail?"  
_

 _"They won't. Besides, I have Hecate. Let Her know." The voice gave a message that sounded like a veiled threat in a guise of a boast._

* * *

" _Tai Lo?_ "

Mark Gor found himself back in the back passenger seat of the car he is in, and it appeared that they are once more on the move. The other armored cars are seen driving off at a distance, and the Asian gangster realized that only a few minutes had passed on in the real world. His chauffeur is looking at Mark with a baffled look, and Mark decided to not worry his chauffeur.

"Yes,Zheng?"

"Are you alright?" The chauffeur asked.

"I'm fine...just tired, that's all." The man took off his sunglasses before squeezing the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes.

"Is there anything I can do, _Tai Lo_?"

"Zheng, it's alright. I am surprised that we are not stopped longer."

"The diplomatic number plate helps, _Tai Lo_." The chauffeur winked before returning to the driver's seat.

Mark Gor is fatigued from the experience within the dreamscape, and he only wished that whatever he is about to do will be easier than what he had already done. Mark hoped that he moved the pieces needed for him to get his 'investors' and also his 'boss' a launching pad to get what they want. For that to happen, Mark will need to figure out what else he needs to do to get his 'people' in the places he needs. Mark suddenly heard a sound that best resembled an eery, otherworldly wind chime, and Mark knew that it is not over yet.

" _What's wrong my dear Dragon?_ " Two voices, that of an adult woman and a little girl spoke at the same time.

Mark faced towards the direction of the voice to see a faceless feminine figure entirely in white, from her skin to her business suit sitting next to him. The only contrast of color on the being's body is the being's half-rimmed sunglasses. The chauffeur appeared to be surprised by the presence of the being, but the crime don gestured for calm with a calmly raised palm.

"Always with the right timing to make yourself known, Her."

" _Mark Gor's problems is always Her's problems._ "

"Even if one of said problem is his boss?" Mark jested.

" _Yes, even if Her is part of his problem._ "

"Him met me just now, and he informed me to pass a message to you." Mark placed another cigarette into his mouth before lighting it up.

" _Oh, which is?_ "

"Him has _Hecate._ " Mark revealed before puffing the cigarette.

The silence from the white figure informed Mark that the words he uttered had meaning beyond his understanding, and it is best for him to not meddle into their sibling rivalry/competition. The figure dissipated like the smoke Mark had just exhaled from his mouth, and honestly Mark is really tired with these infernal beings playing their particularly convoluted games with each other. All he wanted to do now is to go back home and rest.

" _Tai Lo..._ " The chauffeur was about to speak before Mark interrupted him.

"Let's go back." Mark knew deep within himself that things are about to get even more complicated than before.

* * *

[District Attorney's Office, Downtown Townsville,8.00pm]

Lilith is reading through the reports on the present situation of Townsville and the actions taken to combat the encroaching criminal activities in the city. However, Lilith felt that the report is not so much a report on crime as it is more a battlefield report.

To say that they are ruthless is an understatement, for their sophisticated and systematic methods of hunting down informants and agents on the field is almost supernatural in its execution. Special Agent Collins and Special Agent Anastas are particularly hardpressed by the mounting pressure on their particular operations, for their intelligence networks are slowly being severed one by one. Lilith is glad that her subordinates are not subjected to such brutal conditions and she is lucky that her role is to present cases against individuals and groups who are suspected of breaking the law, initiating and directing further criminal investigations, guiding and recommending the sentencing of offenders. In this context, her task is made easier by the blatant manner in which the organized crime elements had broke the law and attacked all governmental agencies in the name if the took a sip of her black coffee as she pondered on the worsening situation.

 _Knock! Knock!_

Lilith is surprised for a moment by the knocking sound on her window. However, Lilith's uneasiness is soon abated when she looked towards her window. The bespectacled woman breathed a sigh of relief before making her way towards the window. The dark-haired woman opened the window and her silver-gray eyes are now staring at a particular figure floating before her.

"Brick,what are you doing here?" Lilith asked as she rested her hands on her hips.

"Can I come in?" The young man with a maroon red newsboy cap asked the woman.

Lilith looked at the crimson red eyes of the young man before giving them the hand signal to come into her office. Lilith stepped aside as the teenager entered through the window, landing gracefully with his feet. Lilith turned around and closed the window behind her, her attention now focused on the individual that had just entered her office.

"Man, the winds really messed up the ponytail..." The teenager with newsboy cap commented as he started to tie back the blood red cloth that held his whip-like waist-length carnelian ponytail.

The Rowdyruff Boy walked towards the sofar and took a seat.

"Coffee or tea for you Brick?" Lilith asked.

"Coffee." Brick answered.

"Alright hold on." Lilith made her way towards her phone and made an intercom.

"Yes Ms. Morningstar?"

"Can you get me one coffee... No, make that two coffees please?"

"Your boys came?" The lady asked.

"Yeah, one of them did."

"Alright, the coffees will be arriving shortly." The voice noted.

"Thanks Samantha." Lilith expressed her thanks.

One the call is completed, Lilith turned her attention to Brick. The usually quiet red-haired boy will not visit her when she is working unless there is something going on. Lilith decided to not say anything and allow the Rowdyruff Boy to speak up. A gentle knocking sound on the door informed Lilith that her secretary had just returned with some coffee.

"Come in." Lilith informed to the person outside the room.

The door to Lilith's office opened up with a middle-aged lady coming up to them with a tray of cups of coffee and a coffee pot. Lilith and the Rowdyruff Boy kept silent as the coffee cups and coffee pot are placed on the small coffee table. The lady soon excused herself and closed the door behind her, leaving only a lingering smell of coffee to permeate the room. Lilith waited for a moment longer before she continued where they last left off.

"Something's gonna happen to this city." Brick voice is almost a whisper, but the point was made across.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" Lilith shrugged.

"Only the shadow knows." Brick answered, surprising Lilith.

"You know your pulp fiction well, Brick."

"Boomer love those kind of old fiction stuff."

"Yes...and it appears that our deductive skills are on point." Lilith answered, causing Brick to look up with surprise. The dark-haired woman moved back to her table and took a file before lifting it up for the Rowdyruff Boy to see. She walked towards the coffee table and placed the document on the table, causing a pair of crimson-red eyes to focus on the document.

"What's this?" Brick asked.

"The evidence, or at least what amounts to an educated guess. However, we believe that the attack on the school will be a distraction. " Lilith pointed out before putting the folder down once more on her table.

"A distraction?" Brick asked at once with a raised eyebrow

"We got wind that they are also planning something else about the same time. What that is, I don't know." Lilith took the cup of coffee and takes a sip.

Still, if we go down the breadcrumb trail, the Lunatics had attacked every single area where it symbolizes normalcy or strength. Police department, army base, District Attorney's office, orphanage, Townsville Prison. Only places left that will have an impact is either Townsville Hall or the various schools. But one school stands out as particularly enticing for them to strike." Brick's observation is a poignant one for Lilith, and she understood Brick's line of thoughts.

"Townsville High." Lilith completed Brick's line of thoughts.

"If an attack on a place with the Rowdyruff Boys and Powerpuff Girls is considered a distraction, then I shudder to think what their true objective is." Brick picked up the coffee cup and take a sip.

"Something far worse." Lilith answered.


	102. Chapter 102: A Robin's Observation

Chapter 102: A Robin's Observation

 _The City of Townsville!_

 _The Townsville School Auditorium, the place where the students and faculty of Townsville use for various oratory debates, events or performances. At the center of the stage, a young sand-blonde boy appears to be sleeping on the grand piano placed within this auditorium. There appear to be no one else within the auditorium, and the peaceful expression on the young teenager's face showed that he had been resting in this state for quite a while now._

 _But his rest is not as peaceful as it seems, as the eye movement beneath his eyelids indicated that the teenage boy is having a dream in his slumber. What could the young man be dreaming about? It appears to not be a nightmare, as his expression is particularly blissful. Perhaps it is something pleasant? Let us see shall we?_

* * *

 _A brunette woman in combat fatigues is singing a rhythmic song as she rocked her arms, and this caught the attention of a young boy wearing a khaki brown fatigues with a hood, matching the color of his sand-blonde hair. If it were not for his particularly vibrant and yet deep blue eyes, his pale skin, hair and outfit would had blended well with the desert surrounding them. T_ _he_ _young boy with messy sand-blonde hair and dark blue eyes tapped on the shoulders, only for him to see that the woman is holding a baby bundled up in cloth in her arms, revealing a serene restive face._

 _"Heya Boomer, back from your patrol?" The woman asked as she turned her attention towards the little boy._

 _"Yeap. Whatcha doing Renee?" The young boy asked, not bothering to disguise his curious expression._ _"I am singing the baby a lullaby, to make it go to sleep." The woman turned around to face the young boy, her sky blue eyes gentle and nurturing._

 _"What's a lullaby? " The young boy asked, an innocent expression of confusion visible on the little boy's face._

 _"You don't know what a lullaby is?" The woman asked as she turned around, her braided hair fluidly following the movement of her head._

 _"Nope, no idea what that is." The boy answered._

 _"It's a song sung to children, to calm them when they feel uneasy." The woman explained, but the blank stare of the boy informed her that he is at a lost._

 _"Calm? What's that? Is it as tasty as clams?" The boy asked innocently, causing the woman to give a loud sigh._

 _"Looks like this will take a little more work than I thought."_

* * *

[Townsville High Auditorium, Townsville High, 4.30pm]

"Wow...it's been a while." Boomer opened his eyes, his voice having a hint of sadness.

Boomer realized that he must had taken a nap after trying his best to figure out what he will be performing for the Winter Ball. It has been a while since he dreamed of those days in the Syrian desert (being trapped in Butch's dream does not count), and he reflected sadly on the dream. For him to remember both Renee and a song that he had not heard for a long time made him particularly melancholic, for memories like these are the ones that always reminded him of the warmth of the person that showed him love.

However, he is not alone.

Behind one of the doors of the auditorium, a young teenage girl with a long, waist-length mahogany brown hair is watching the messy-haired sand-blonde teenager boy with dark blue eyes struggling with his own thoughts.

 _Seriously, how? ,_ Robin wondered how can such a troubled person be her savior. Despite the questionable methods he used to save her, the fact still remains that he had saved her. The sky-eyed brunette had been observing the teenager for a good few days now, and the more she observed him the more she is perplexed by him. The Rowdyruff Boy's body is more akin to that of a middle school kid than a highschooler and if one did not observed nor pay attention enough, one is prone to think of him as a very boyish girl or a very girlish boy. Not an ounce of muscle nor mature appearance, but a whole lot of boy.

Despite that, he is well-liked by the girls in Townsville High, though not as popular as Brick with his dark and edgy personality nor Butch with his well-sculpted body. Boomer's charm comes more from his rather approachable personality, pretty boy looks, and his apparent ability to sing. His looks warrant the girls to consider him being younger than he is, and he can potentially get away with a lot of things if he so chooses. In fact, such is his shining personality that Robin is unable to imagine him as the former villain that Bubbles had painted him to be.

"Seriously Robin, you really ought not to stalk someone with hypersensitivity. Your heartbeat and neurons are really noisy." Boomer is clearly quite annoyed by Robin's presence.

"WHATTHEHELL!" Robin immediately screamed as she heard the voice behind her and Robin realized that Boomer had disappeared from her sight, especially when she did not even look away, let alone blinked her own eyes. She turned around to see a sand-blonde boy with a pretty face looking back at her with his dark blue eyes.

"It hurts when you scream, but I'll bear with it." Boomer frowned, his arms crossed.

"B-but...you're just over there." Robin pointed towards the location where Boomer was a moment is unable to comprehend how Boomer had disappeared before her eyes and appearing beside her instantaneously.

"Yes, and I came here."

"How the hell did you do that Boomer?!" Robin's shock is visible on her face.

"Do what?"Boomer asked, not realizing what he had just done to the poor girl's mind.

"Disappear and just popping from behind people...Never mind." Robin decided to push the question further as she recognized the confused expression on Boomer's is the annoying part of having superhuman friends, and Robin had decided that if she noticed such a thing, she will not bother asking as she will be driven insane by it.

"Anyway, I finally gotten something good to perform for the Townsville High Annual Winter Ball." Boomer informed Robin.

"Well, what would that-WHATTHEHELL?!" Robin realized that Boomer had disappeared before her eyes once more and she turned around to see Boomer is now sitting before the piano once more.

"Anyway, I'm going turn off the lights and stuff." Boomer informed Robin as he got up from the chair.

Boomer hovered lazily towards the switches behind the stage, and Robin can't help but to feel a little jealous that he doesn't need expend energy to walk. The stage turned dark as soon as Boomer flipped the switches, and he hovered out once more while scratching his head. The Rowdyruff Boy grabbed his bag before he descended from the stage towards Robin.

"That's really convenient." Robin pointed out, but Boomer shook his head.

"I'm hovering only because I got enough energy left within me to do so. Hovering takes some effort and energy to maintain after all." Boomer explained.

"Well, in this case do you want to replenish your energy with some coffee?" Robin asked.

"Sure." Boomer do not see any reason for him to refuse Robin.

Both teenagers walked side by side towards the auditorium exit, and there is something about the Rowdyruff Boy that Robin can't put her finger on. There is something resembling anger within the Rowdyruff Boy, but far too mild to be considered as anger. Despite Boomer's smiling, something seems to to be growing within him but never revealing itself even to him. The repulsive feelings in the deepest part of his body that he can't do anything about is subtle, and it anchors itself like a hook into his soul. But what that is, is something lost to Robin.

Boomer gestured for Robin to exit the auditorium first, and the mahogany-haired girl obliged. Boomer followed shortly after, closing the doors behind him. Both teenagers continued on walking down the high school hallway, and the emptiness of the hallway only amplified the silence between the two individuals. Robin's ears picked up the sound of her own footsteps, and she took a glance down at Boomer's feet. Boomer's feet are firmly on the ground, but Boomer's steps are as silent as they are light.

 _Such quiet steps_ , Robin thought. Unlike those of the Powerpuff Girls, Boomer's silent steps are an integral part of his locomotion instead of a force of will. Robin is glad that Boomer is a much more docile person, or else she will not be aware of when he decided to do anything bad to her.

"You're staring at my feet for a while now." Boomer spoke, causing Robin to focus her attention back to Boomer's boyish face.

"Oh...sorry about that. I'm just wondering how silent your steps were."

"Born with soft steps, and got a whole lot of practice. It's second-nature now." Boomer shrugged.

"This is not the same as what you did to me just now right?" Robin asked about Boomer's instantaneous appearance behind her.

"Nope, not at all Robin. Though my steps helped." Boomer assured her.

"Did you...did you ran behind me?"

"No...I walked."

"Walked? Are you serious?"

"Nope. "

"What you did there...even Buttercup is not that fast." Robin pointed out before

"She is faster than me, I can give you that. In fact all the Powerpuff Girls are faster than me."

"No, no, no...you can see them move before they disappear from view. You just edited yourself out from reality." Robin highlighted to Boomer, not believing him one bit. Boomer pondered for a moment. she realized that Boomer had never really thought about how he even did what he did, just that he did.

"Hm...perhaps it is in the way we use our 'steps'." Boomer posited.

"Steps?"

"Hm... When you run, your feet spend less time touching the ground and more muscles are used right? Right now, your pace affects how you use your body. The faster you move, the more muscles are used. That's why sprinters look really buff and stuff. For me, I use my body differently when I move."

"I don't get it." Robin is clearly a little lost about what Boomer is trying to highlight to her.

"Well, let's demonstrate. I bet you know that the Powerpuff Girls can do this." Boomer walked casually, but there were several afterimages forming up behind Boomer as he continued on walking.

"Oh, that looked like the Copy Cat powers of the girls." Robin is clearly not surprised by the appearance of several Boomers walking in one line.

"But...do their images talk or move by themselves?" Two of Boomer's afterimages talked, while the rest remain silent. This surprised Robin, as this is new to her.

"Nah, I don't think so." Another Boomer afterimaged spoke, and soon several other images stepped away from the line and moved independently from one another.

"Who knows, they could-"

"Hey, if they did they would-"

"Alright, stop it." One of the Boomer commented, and the other images disappeared instantly.

"Okay...that's freaky. How did that happen?"

"It is just me, and me alone. I voiced all my other images." Boomer pointed to his chest.

"But..."

"I just added another step to the usual 'step' that they use, and _voila_. Multiple images, each appearing to be conversing with each other. The girls never use this before as far as I am concerned, and honestly neither do my brothers."

"But those are some convincing clones." Robin complimented, causing Boomer to chuckle.

"Thanks. But I am lazy, and I don't like using my 'steps' like this. Too much effort. Instead I like using it like this." Boomer said, and Robin is once again treated to Boomer's disappearing act. Robin looked around, only to see Boomer at the end of the hallway, holding open the door to the school's entrance. It took another three minutes for Robin to reach Boomer, and Boomer gestured for her to exit the building before him. As both of them exited the building, the cold breeze touched their warm skins and both individuals shivered.

"So...I would assume it is a secret then?" Robin asked, knowing well that whatever she was shown is unique only to Boomer.

"Nah, not a secret at all. Anyway, enough about this...Let's get some coffee instead!" Boomer raised his voice from the school gates, and Robin realized that he had moved a good two hundred feet away from them mid-conversation.

 _I really need to get used to this_ , Robin said to herself as she wondered how many more times will she be startled by Boomer's 'teleportation' trick.

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 4.30pm]

Robin and Boomer entered into Cafe Latte to see something new in the cafe. A white grand piano sat at the corner of the cafe, and the duo soon moved towards the direction of the piano. Upon closer inspection, the piano appear to have intricate patterns of leaves and vines carved on the frames and the legs of the piano. The other patrons appear to not be bothered by the two teenagers checking out the piano and went about their own business.

"Whatcha guys think?" Robin turned around to see a middle-aged man with a beanie hat and a thick beard looking at them with his brown eyes.

"Looks good, Roy. A little too large, but pretty sweet." Robin answered, causing the man to chuckle.

"Yeah, but I figured that this place needed to be a little more classier." The man known as Roy admitted.

The only one not bothered with the man's presence is Boomer, his dark blue eyes utterly focused on the piano. Boomer slowly reached out towards the piano keys and stopped his hand inches from the piano. A hand soon rested on Boomer's shoulders and Boomer looked over his shoulders to see the bearded man giving him a thumbs up, giving him the permission to play the piano.

"Alright, let's see what I can do."

"This I have to watch." Robin said to herself, as she had always heard about the musical prowess of the Rowdyruff Boy but never once seen it in person.

Robin found herself a table and she continue to watch Boomer sitting on the stool as she sat down. Boomer watched the keys for a moment, and he wondered what he should be playing on the grand piano. After a few moments, Boomer decided to play the song that he had heard in his dreams, and his fingers soon pressed upon the piano keys. To both Robin's surprise, Boomer started off with a brittle, somber and yet bright melody like the first drops of snow on a winter's day, the sound echoing through the cafe like a warm and hauntingly beautiful winter morning. That in itself caught the attention of the other patrons in the cafe, and their attention are now focused on Boomer playing the piano.

It soon followed with a particularly romantic phrasing that have a clipped, rhythmic feel and fit snugly into the melody. The brittle melody is both beautiful and sad, and Robin felt her heartstrings tightening. The syncopation and yet melodic virtuosity of Boomer's piano playing dazzled Robin, and she watched as Boomer immersed himself into the song he is playing.

Robin's body felt particular warm as the near-magical energy of the music coursed through her body. Her heart pounded as she listened on, and there is a certain sadness that she can feel in Boomer's piano-playing. Robin detached herself from watching Boomer for a moment and the mahogany-haired girl realized that Cafe Latte's other patrons and staff are not averting their eyes away from Boomer's performance.

Boomer ended his brief performance and for some inexplicable reason, Robin is particularly flustered and bothered by Boomer's performance, and she clenched her chest tightly. Boomer closed his eyes once more, taking in a deep breath as he lift lifted his fingers from the piano keys. A sound of a person clapping is heard and soon enough, the patrons and staff started clapping at Boomer's performance. Boomer felt a little uneasy, but he bowed nonetheless. After his bow, Boomer made his way towards the table where Robin had placed herself.

"That song you played just now...it's really beautiful." Robin sniffed as Boomer took his seat.

"That thing? Could be better." Boomer is clearly not satisfied by his performance.

"What do you mean by it could be better? That is utterly beautiful!" Robin stood up and protested, and she realized that she teared up a little.

"Honestly, felt like I am missing something to make it real good." Boomer shrugged.

"Seriously, where did you learn to play like that?" Robin asked.

"From a very old friend. " Boomer informed, and there is even more hints of sadness in his voice. Robin's uneasiness of causing Boomer to remember something sad showed itself on her face. She is not that oblivious to know Boomer's sadness stemmed from a much more painful memory. Boomer noticed Robin's expression and he decided to ease her mind about it.

"Nah no worries. Anyway..."Boomer suddenly went silent and Robin wondered why.

The mahogany-haired girl turned towards the direction of Boomer's stare and she saw a person had just entered into the cafe. It is a young woman with dark, raven hair with an undercut and bright neon green highlights that matched her lime-green eyes. The young woman took off her dark grey leather jacket to reveal her toned, athletic figure, which is further emphasized by her form-fitting black shirt.

"Buttercup!" Robin called out to the young woman, drawing her attention towards her.

"Rob? Boomer?" The young woman walked up to them while folding her jacket. Soon enough, the fit woman took her seat before Robin.

"Heya Butters." Boomer greeted her, and Robin sensed a slight nervousness in his tone.

"Yo." Buttercup replied, and Robin noticed that her friend had a similar and subtle nervousness in her voice.

"So... Ur... What brings you here?" Boomer asked as he scratches his head.

"Just came here to get a drink after busting another crime attempt..yeah...another crime." Buttercup curtly replied.

Robin felt that the nervous atmosphere is slowly thickening up, and Robin reasoned to herself that something had developed between the Rowdyruff Boy and the Powerpuff Girl. What that is must be one interesting event given that these two characters are having the same reservations with each other. Before Robin could help alleviate the situation, another voice interrupted the particularly nervous atmosphere.

"Heya Buttercup. You just missed the young man over here playing some really good tunes just now on our piano." The bearded cafe owner known as Roy pointed out.

"Oh really?" Buttercup turned around to face the bearded cafe owner, appearing almost relieved that the man came in the conversation.

"Not just any ordinary tune at that too. It's rare to see kids like you know about 'Lullaby of Birdland'."

"You knew the tune?" Boomer is surprised that someone knew what he played.

"Your play got body and soul. Good to hear that you ain't playing that smooth jazz nonsense. Hey kid, want to be our piano player during the weekends? I'll pay ya to play y'know." The bearded man offered to Boomer, but Boomer shook his head.

"Nah, I don't wanna turn something I like into a job." Boomer answered with a sad smile.

"That's sad. Missed something good I guess." Buttercup turned her attention towards Boomer, and Boomer gulped for a moment. There is something sweet and almost kind in the way she is looking at him, and Buttercup is usually a little coarse and unrefined.

"Hm...on second thought. Maybe I can do one or two gigs." Boomer answered, surprising Robin and Roy.

"That's good! Let's talk terms!" The man guffawed and slapped the Rowdyruff Boy on the shoulder before taking a seat beside the Rowdyruff Boy.

Robin wondered what just caused the one-eighty turn and she turned towards Buttercup to see what she had to say. Instead she is met with a pair of soft, gentle lime-green eyes looking at Boomer as he conversed with the cafe owner. Robin doubted herself as she knew that Buttercup had never look at anyone that way before.

"What's wrong Rob?" Buttercup asked the blue-eyed brunette.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." Robin concealed her thoughts in a veneer of harmless chatter.

* * *

From the shadows of the darkest corner of the cafe, a lightly build figure cloaked in darkness watched the table where Boomer and Buttercup are situated with a wide, empty eye socket. The figure adjusted its large hat with one side folded over its top, and it appear to be particularly interested in the interactions between the two superhumans. A sound resembling a wind chime ringed in the air, causing the figure to turn around towards the source of the sound.

" _Interesting things aren't they, It?_ " The dark figure saw a entirely white figure speaking to it with a discordant voice with both the voice of an adult woman and a small little girl made itself known.

The contrast between the two figure are as distinct as day and figure made out of pure darkness appeared to have a rather flamboyant outfit that best resembled a stylized musketeer with its coat over sporting large rings serving as shoulder pads, a stylized belt, and a trouser decorated with braces around the ankles. In contrast, the other figure is made out of pure white, but the outlines of what appear to be a form-fitting female business suit and feminine-like features are visible. The only color contrast from the entirely white figure came from the half-frame sunglasses the figure wore.

" _Yes Her, to see the things that troubled our dear sibling is interesting._ " The dark, cloaked figure answered as it turned its sole eye socket to watch over the teenagers.

" _Him's just toying with them It, as Him always does."_ The white being turned its view away from the teenagers and towards the figure made of solid black.

" _Him has too much toys. The things Him made, the things Him took, and the things Him nurtured. Him plays too much with its schemes."_ The dark figure said with a displeased tone.

" _Him has always been the most playful among us, It._ "

" _The Phantom's Blood is here."_ The dark figure spoke out.

 _"_ Hecate's _here too_ " The white women-like figure revealed, causing the one-eyed being to pause.

"Hecate... _here?_ "

" _Him has_ Hecate. _Him will find Phantom's Blood for_ Hecate."

The two figured stared at each other, each knowing that it is being tested by the other. Despite the lack of anything resemble an eye in the socket of the being named It, the gaping darkness is much more intense than any stare. In contrast, the sunglasses concealed the intentions and emotions of the white being known as Her. Nonetheless, both beings knew that Him is ahead of them in whatever grand game they are playing in and both will not stand for it.

 _"You will stand in my way Her?"_

 _"_ _Yes, I will stand in It's way. We are Infernals after all. I would assume that It will stand in my way as well?"_ The white mannequin-like figure reasoned.

 _"Of course I will. Infernals are loyal to no one."_ The dark figure chided at the white being's question, feeling insulted that it is required to answer such an obvious question with such an obvious answer.

" _Of course, of course. Can I count upon It to stand in Him's way?_ " The feminine figure queried, and it appear to say so in a particularly condescending manner.

 _"No, you are asking the wrong question dear sibling. The question that should be asked is this simple one; Will we allow Him to be lord over us?"_ It asked in a manner that challenged the other being's esteem.

 _"Definitely not."_ The white feminine doll-like being answered with a tone of displeasure, causing the shadow-like being to nod in agreement.

 _"Well then, may the best Infernal win."_ The black infernal tilted its hat as its body dissipated into the night.

 _"May the best Infernal Win."_ The white figure adjusted its sunglasses as it disappeared in a flash of light.


	103. Chapter 103: Chiming Murmurs

Chapter 103: Chiming Murmurs

 _The City of Townsville._

 _Our attention is drawn upon a rather plain motel in Little Moscow, in particular to a particular person frantically packing his bags. A scrawny middle-aged Asian man is frantically packing his bag, his hair messy and filled with sweat. The Asian-looking man is mumbling to himself, distraught and fearful for something. If it were any other situation, the man's white suit and purple shirt would mark him out as a rather dapper man. However, the crumpled coat and unbuttoned shirt only reflect his chaotic state of mind. The light bulb in the hotel flickered as the man tried to lock his luggage shut._

 _However, the man froze immediately when the knocking sound on his motel door, and we all knew that if a sleazy man like this guy stopped in his track, he is in a lot of trouble._

* * *

[Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 10.00am]

The scrawny man watched in horror as the door creaked slowly to reveal the presence of three men looking into the room. Each of these men are clad in body armor and faceless balaclavas, the only part of their body revealed are the eye of the men betraying their Asian origin. One of the men entered into the room, causing the colour to run from the sleazy Asian man.

"Well, well, well...moving out so suddenly Mr. Nah? We could help you with that." The man in body armor that entered the room offered, but the Asian man started backing away.

" Oh, no, no, no. There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. I don't know what kind of pathetic rumor is floating around town but if we can talk it over lunch there is a perfectly good explanation..." The man tried to reason with the guests entering into his room but to no avail.

Each one of the men in body armor slowly entered into the room, with the last one closing the door gently behind him. The men took their positions as they moved closer towards the Asian man, blocking every avenue of escape for the poor unfortunate soul. One of them immediately grabbed the man's head and smashed it to the wall, the sound of bone snapping echoing in the room. The Asian man whimpered as his bloodied face turned towards his attacker, but he noticed that his attacker had moved aside. The man is pushed down to his knees and he wondered why the man stepped aside, until another figure entered into his sight.

A mannequin-like figure without any facial features clad in a pure white suit and alabaster skin appeared from behind the man in body armor, and the scrawny man wondered when did the figure entered into the room. The Asian man only saw three figures entered into the room and the presence of the fourth person shook him to his core. The utterly pristine white figure slowly brought itself to the man's eye level, and instead of a pair of eyes the Asian man only saw a pair of half-rimmed sunglasses looking back at him.

" _Listen here, you pathetic piece of horsehit. We didn't come here for you to tell us a story. We already know what we want to know_." The figure with sunglasses spoke and the man felt as if his spine is splashed with a bucket of ice-cold water. The voice emanating from the figure is otherworldly and unlike anything he had heard before coming out from any living being. The being grabbed the bloodied man's collar and brought the man closer to its featureless face.

" _Pray._ _That is the only thing you can still do while you are still alive_." The person said said in a cold, hushed voice filled with every intention to carry out its threat.

The man heard an otherworldly chiming sound ringing in his ears and reverberating throughout his body before his mind and body decided to excused itself out.

* * *

[Townsville High, 10.00am]

Ever since their misadventure in the sewers below, Blossom's thoughts had been particularly occupied by the fog of uneasiness. The presence, no, resurrection of one of their most macabre foes is on her mind. How did Abracadaver managed to resurrect itself and why did it choose to do so now? Blossom did not tell Buttercup exactly what happened in the sewers, for she omitted the details of the undead sorcerer from her account to Buttercup. That in turn gave Blossom a particularly bitter aftertaste in her mouth, for she had lied to her sister while she herself often preached that her sisters should tell her of anything odd or of importance.

However, the situation is getting odder by the moment. The sudden quietness of Lunatic activities and also by extension Candymen had coincided with the presence of this particular faction of straw-hatted men in dark blue denims and sunglasses is something that boggled Blossom's mind. Without understanding how Abracadaver fit into this picture, informing her sisters of Abracadaver will not be conducive in any way to their efforts to keep Townsville safe.

"Somehow...I need to get to the bottom of this." Blossom said to herself.

"Get to the bottom of what exactly?" Blossom turned around to see a girl with dark, long mahogany hair and blue eyes looking back at her.

"Oh, it's just you Robin. Just muttering some stuff to myself, that's all."

"You know that it is bad to mutter your thoughts out loud, especially when you are thinking about something you want to hide from your sisters."

"That obvious huh?"

"Yeah."

Seriously, Robin is perhaps one of her most perceptive friends, if not the most perceptive one. Somehow, Robin always knew when to enter into her bubble whenever she is down and once again this is happening. However, there is something off about Robin as well and it has been so since the Little Tokyo incident. Blossom felt that there is a seed of some sort being implanted inside Robin, and it had been gnawing at her little by little.

"Well, you're not really looking good yourself."

"Agreed. It's real tough these days when everyone's looking at you as if you're a magnet for trouble." Robin sighed.

"Welcome to our world Robin, where everyone thinks you are gonna drag them to a superpowered fight." Blossom smiled, trying her best to cheer up her friend.

A sound that resembled a wind chime suddenly ringed in Blossom's ear causing her to instinctively covered one side of her ear, in an attempt to shut it out. Blossom had never heard of such a soul-ringing sound before and the chiming sound is strong enough that it momentarily shut down all her senses. Such was the surprise sensory overload coursing through Blossom's body that Blossom believed that she blacked out for a moment. The shock of having all her senses silenced for a moment is enough for her to realize that the sound is something beyond the logic and rationale of this world.

"Bloss, you alright?" Robin asked, and Blossom deduced immediately that it is a sound that only those with particularly sensitive hearing will pick on it.

"I'm alright." Blossom lied.

* * *

[Townsville High, 10.00am]

Boomer leaned on the side of the wall as he tries to regain his balance. The chiming sound that suddenly assaulted his senses almost paralysed him, and it is only by the virtue of the sound chimed only once that he is not knocked out. Boomer's senses are overwhelmed by the conflicting sensory input and the lingering effects of the sudden attack is causing the blonde Rowdyruff Boy to panic. The sense of vertigo and sudden confusion overwhelmed the Rowdyruff Boy and he wondered if he even knew the way to the infirmary.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh. Hal... Hey..." Boomer said weakly as he noticed the olive-skinned teacher.

"Come, let me help you up." Mr. Reisz helped the teenager up, with one arm under the Rowdyruff Boy's armpit.

"Thanks..." Boomer thanked the teacher.

"Glad to help. Now to get you to the infirmary." The man informed and soon both individuals are making their way towards the infirmary.

After a short walk, Boomer and Mr. Reisz entered into the infirmary and the older man duly helped the Rowdyruff Boy to lie down on one of the beds. As Boomer rubbed his head, his dark-blue eyes caught on the teacher's surprisingly paler complexion. Boomer wondered if the teacher is also not feeling well, and Boomer felt a little guilty that he had forced someone that is not feeling well to help him.

"You alright, teach?" Boomer asked politely.

"I'm alright, just to have some time to sit down." Mr. Reisz said as he pulled one of the chairs to place himself on.

"Sorry." Boomer apologized, but raised his hand to stop the Rowdyruff Boy.

"What am I if I don't help my students?"

Boomer tried to pick up on the mood of his Levantine teacher, but his senses are a little out of sync and he is unable to figure out his teacher. This is the man that Brick disliked, and honestly Boomer is unable to see any reason why anyone would dislike this man before him. However, being out in a rather dark and cruel world for almost his whole life, looks can be deceiving.

"So...is it a rough day Hal?" Boomer asked.

"Very. I am just lucky that I don't have any classes for the rest of the day." The man chuckled as he brought his arm on his head to scratch it.

"Dude...what happened to your hand?" Boomer noticed that Mr. Reisz's hand is bandaged, and the man nervously hid his hand as soon as Boomer pointed it out.

"Oh, this thing? I accidentally cut myself. Nothing to be worried about." The man answered with a smile on his face, which Boomer found rather superficial for some reason.

"Right."

"Anyway, get a good rest. I'm going off." The teacher advised the Rowdyruff Boy.

The Levantine teacher got off the chair and walked out towards the exit, waving Boomer farewell. Boomer lifted his arm and waved as the man exited the infirmary, and Boomer wondered why Mr. Reisz gave such a superficial smile. However, Boomer will need to take it easy as the headache he is experiencing right now is really sapping his attention away.

* * *

[Townsville High, 10.00am]

"Holy shit, Beatrice just scored a hit on Buttercup!" One of the girls cried out.

Buttercup was distracted enough by the particular chiming sound that she missed the chance to spot a dodgeball hitting her right in the face. That dodgeball hit alone stopped the entire class into silence, as everyone knew that Buttercup is quick enough to never been hit by a dodgeball, and everyone knew that only supervillains would have the chance to hit her in the face. The eyes of the students are now upon a girl with two ponytails, and her dark brown eyes are filled with both surprise and fear as everyone else is looking at her as if she is a supervillain.

"Relax guys, I just lost my attention that's all!" Buttercup barked, causing her classmates to snap out from their suspicions and at the same time saving the girl from her peers.

"But...you never lose your attention in sports." One of the other students voiced out her concern.

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Buttercup brushed off the girl's comment.

But there is a point there for Buttercup. What can be so disruptive that it blacked her vision and senses out in a split second? Buttercup wondered if this is related to the situation that she found Brick and Blossom in the other day in the pier. Brick is knocked out and appear to be attacked by something unknown, and Blossom had explained that they should be at their guard. However, Buttercup knew that Blossom is hiding something from her, but rather than to press the issue the dark-haired girl decided to not press on. The warning is enough for Buttercup to be on her guard, and perhaps this sudden blackout is related to that incident.

Buttercup decided that she will need to find out what's going on by herself.

* * *

[Townsville High. Townsville, 10.00am]

Brick noticed that Butch was momentarily stunned before the dark-haired teenager managed to snap out from his daze. Brick was also affected by the sudden chiming sound, but instead of blacking him out it had just disoriented him. Fortunately for them, no one else noticed their peculiar experience as presently they are sharing the same class and everyone else is busy paying attention to the teacher or just focused on something else. Brick decided to speak low enough that only Butch can hear their infrasound conversation.

 _You felt that too huh?_ , Brick checked with his brother.

 _Yeah, that is something else. Seriously, what the hell is that?_ _Is this some kind of attack?_ ,, Butch voiced his concern despite keeping a rather cool expression.

 _No, if it is an attack the sound would not be this brief. Whatever it is, it felt like they are testing something,_ Brick posited, and Butch sensed the tenseness in his brother's response.

 _So, what do we do Brick?_ , Butch turned back slightly, the corner of his jade green eyes seeking for a cause of action. Brick shook his head, surprising the dark-haired Rowdyruff Boy.

 _We will talk about this back home with Boomer,_ Brick advised.

If it is a sensory attack, Brick will need to speak with his brother as Boomer is the most sensitive among the brothers and would be able to advise on what to do. Also, if the sound managed to stun Butch for a moment, this would mean that Boomer is getting the worst of it. Brick hoped that Boomer will be alright, but if this turned out to be the beginning of something else, Brick will have to trust that Boomer knows what to do.

* * *

[Townsville High, Townsville, 10.00am]

Bubbles breathed heavily and her head felt almost as if it was about to burst open by the sudden chiming sound she heard. The platinum blonde Powerpuff Girl was relieved that it stopped, as the aftereffects are still lingering in her head. One second, she was just putting on her makeup and another second later, she is down on the floor of the restroom. The sound had knocked her out, and the massive headache and shortness of breath is burdensome on the Powerpuff Girl. If anything, she believe that she should be going to the infirmary to rest a little. Bubbles forced herself to move and her feet dragged itself out from the restroom, each step taking a lot of effort from her.

Bubbles grumbled as she gave her best in moving towards the infirmary, wondering what had taken over her. Bubbles felt fortunate that the infirmary is a short distance away and as soon as she opened the door, her relief turned into surprise as she saw her Rowdyruff Boy counterpart lying down on one of the beds. Boomer appeared to be much paler and weaker than the last time Bubbles saw him, and his dark blue eyes watched Bubbles as she closed the door behind her.

"Huh... feeling sick?" Bubbles asked.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Boomer decided to ask a rhetorical question.

"Hold on.. Let me find one of the beds to lie on first." Bubbles informed politely before she walked toward the unoccupied bed next to Boomer's bed.

"You looked really pale." Boomer noticed as the Powerpuff Girl lied down on the bed.

"You're just as pale too, you know." Bubbles did not appreciate that Boomer is pointing out her weakness to her.

"Whatever it is, this really sucks balls." Boomer voiced his displeasure, and Bubbles took a deep breath. Bubbles felt that whoever it is that did this, they will do so again very soon, and it will be worse than what they had experienced before.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.00pm]

Blossom watched her sisters as they slept from her own bed, wondering if there is something greater than the sum of its parts happening to all of them. Her sisters returned home today looking a little more fatigued than usual, and she had wanted to speak to them about the weird chiming sound she had heard earlier during the day. However, Blossom is unable to find the opportunity to ask them as they immediately went to bed after their meal. That left Blossom to simmer the thoughts within her mind, letting it cook with her own conceptions and perceptions.

Blossom wondered what exactly is the chiming noise for something in the sound felt unnatural.

Unearthly.

Unknown.

Blossom felt that their troubles had grown a little more than she would like, and there is only one person in which she can find out from on why things are going as downhill as it is. Blossom decided that thinking more about it will only make her less focused on the next day and she turned off the lights beside her bed and lie down. As Blossom closed her eyes, she hoped that she will be able to find out the reasons the day after.

* * *

" What the? "

A field of blood-red grasslands and crimson skies, with the pitch-black clouds breaking the red monotony of this surreal world. Yet, Blossom felt a certain familiarity with this world. To be exact, a rather antagonistic familiarity. Blossom pinched herself on the face, and noticed that she felt no pain. Blossom sighed, knowing the signs of being in a normal dream world. But this is not her dreamworld so to speak, and that is a big concern. It takes an extraordinary circumstance for a person to enter into another person's dreamworld, and even Blossom had to use her 'dreamwalking' abilities alongside her sisters if she were to enter into someone else's dream.

"Right...who's dream am I in right now?" Blossom wondered as she looked around.

 _That's a surprise. A visitor._

 _"Who's that?"_ Blossom called out, her body preparing to face whatever hostile forces that will come her way. Blossom felt an arm resting on her shoulders, and the arm is cold as ice. Blossom immediately jumped away, only to see a dark apparition standing before her with pure red eyes. The apparition is shaped like her red-haired counterpart in the Rowdyruff Boys.

"Brick?" Blossom is surprised to see the Rowdyruff Boy in her dream.

 _Break actually, but close enough._

"Why am I here, Break?" Blossom asked as she watches the shadowy figure with suspicion.

Blossom recalled the shadowy apparition's name, as it is the entity that fought alongside Blossom and her sisters while they are trapped in Butch's Syrian War dream. A sentient entity made out of Brick's subconscious (or at least as Blossom figured out so far) and has a role in giving Brick his particular mind-pressuring powers and also his particular appearance these days, Break is something of a mystery for the Powerpuff Girl. For one, Blossom had no idea how does one have a sentient subconscious.

 _You're called here I guess. Brick must be thinking about you or something. Fortunately for you, it is not a dirty thought. More like a thought about something. But I think he didn't expect you to answer the call._

"I didn't." Blossom answered firmly.

 _Oh but you did. You did it subconsciously, knowing well that whatever he's planning is of concern to you. Or to be exact, your sisters. Too bad you went in the wrong room. You'll have to ask him about what he wants to talk to you when you wake up._

"That's not reassuring."

 _Of course not. Besides, something else will be catching your attention soon, Blossom._

"Wait...what do you mean by that?"

 _Well, if you want to know...let me help you up._

Break walked towards her and for some inexplicable reason, Blossom took a step back. Something in her is telling her to stay away from the subconscious entity, and Blossom failed to understand why it is so. But the Powerpuff Girl realized that she could not take any step further, and that froze her in fear. Break is soon standing right before her, and her eyes are now honed in on the slightly dim pulse of crimson light in his chest. Her heart beat at almost the same pace as the beating heart of the being despite her uneasiness.

"Stay back..." Blossom weakly resisted as it gently tilted her chin upwards and Blossom looked up to see a pair of pure red eyes looking down upon her.

 _Or else what?_

"I-I..I..." Blossom tongue was caught by the uncertainty of what she could do in this dream. Blossom is overwhelmed by the utter predatory dominance of the dark entity

 _Then sit back and relax._

The figure's dark face soon touched her in the lips with the part of his face where his lips would be.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 2.30am]

Blossom jumped up from her bed and her heart started pounding heavily as she breathed. Blossom felt an uneasy feeling as she adjusted herself and sat on the side of her bed. The copper-haired girl is not pleased that she was being pulled into Brick's dream only to be woken up rudely. Something is happening in Townsville and Brick appears to know exactly what is going on. Blossom took her phone and immediately dialled for her Rowdyruff Boy counterpart. Blossom curled her hair nervously as she waited for the phone to connect.

"H-hello?" Blossom heard the drowsy voice at the other end of the line.

"Brick, Blossom here."

"Blossom?! You do know what time it is right?" The voice at the other end of the line is not pleased that he was woken up at this particular time of the night.

"What is the big idea of your little subconscious buddy kissing me after telling me that you dragged me into his place?!" Blossom raised her displeasure with Brick, and the sound of someone choking on something followed by a hacking cough is heard in the other line.

"What? Wait hold on...Break?" Brick is clearly surprised by Blossom's accusation, and Blossom is not pleased that Brick is trying to feign ignorance.

"Don't you be cute with me Brick, he is yours to begin with-"

"Shit, Blossom, how did you end up in his place-"

"How should I know! You really need to tell me what is going on! Your little-"

A loud ringing noise echoed through the dark night, and Blossom is forced to pause in mid-sentence as the sound is nothing like what she had heard before. The toiling sound of the bell-like sound shook her to the core, causing her heart to skip a beat. The shock of having all her senses silenced for a moment is enough for her to realize that the sound is something beyond the logic and rationale of this world.

"What was that?" Blossom blurted out.

"You heard that too?" Brick asked and Blossom knew then that it is not just something that she felt by herself.

"Yeah, and looks like there's trouble ahead." Blossom saw with the corner of her eye that her sisters are jolted awake by the sound.

"Wait Blossom-" Blossom hung up the call, knowing well that she will need to speak to her sisters about the sensation that they had just felt.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 2.36am]

Brick took the phone away from his ear as Blossom cut the call. Somehow, something had definitely happened, and the Powerpuff Girls are going to be dragged into this particular incident. Brick clicked his tongue, knowing well that this will also drag the Rowdyruff Boys down with the girls as well. Soon enough, the door to his room opened up and the sight of Brick's brothers is all it took for Brick to get up from his bed.

"You heard that Brick?" Butch spoke up.

"Yeah, the sound is back again." Brick informed his brothers.

"What do we do?" Boomer asked his brother, seeking for a decision from his brother.

"We do nothing." Brick informed his brothers.

"Nothing?" Butch said in a derisive manner as he is not fond of his brother's answer, and his dissatisfaction is plain for all to see.

"That is because right now it means nothing. Go back and sleep." Brick answered.

"But-" Butch and Boomer protested, but were stopped by their brother's crimson glare.

"Go." Brick commanded his brothers, and Butch and Boomer decided to not challenge their brother on the matter. The two Rowdyruff Boys exited the room and closed the door, leaving the leader of the Rowdyruff Boy alone in his room.

Deep down in Brick's heart, he knew that the chiming sounds are nothing more than the procession bells announcing a new challenger in Townsville. Mark Gor's presence in the town, the presence of all the major powers of the world in the city, and the otherworldly chiming sounds. It only served to inform Brick that the battle, no, _war_ for Townsville will have massive repercussion on the world. Everything that have an interest in Him's scheme is now making itself known.

"Honestly Him, what are you doing in this damn city?" Brick lamented.


	104. Chapter 104: Red, White and Black

Chapter 104: Red, White and Black

[Unknown]

Several groups of individuals are busy at work setting up and installing the hardware for a particular piece of equipment within an underground chamber. An object resembling a Grecian urn is being plugged with wires and cables that ran across the ground towards several box-like objects and generators, with each box-like objects in turn were connected to several laptops and displays. An Asian woman with aquamarine eyes and blonde hair with five small braids running down her back watched as the activities within this particular chamber picked up in intensity. The woman turned around to see an Asian man, no older than twenty, and clad in a white shirt and black pants stood behind her.

"Speak." The woman beckoned the young man.

" _Tai Je_ , someone is attacking several Medved Bratva bases at once. Should we help?" The man informed a woman, but if the man is expecting a response he received non. The woman's expression is hidden behind a fully zipped collar covering half her face.

"Hm...someone's really trying to start this off with a bang _Tigre_ _."_ An accented voice commented and the Asian woman's eyes spotted the presence of another individual.

The owner of the voice belonged to a woman in a dark blue beret over her dark mahogany hair, tied up in a braid that runs down her back to her waist. The cross-shaped scar on her cheek and her sky-blue eyes gave her a somewhat cold and callous appearance, and her almost militaristic sleeveless sweater and dark khaki pants only served to enforce the image.

"Sometimes Fennec, I wondered if Him took his 'vacation' knowing that it is taking a break to not get into this pile of steaming nonsense." The Asian woman sighed.

"That or Him knew that its absence will reveal the intentions of its enemies." Fennec crossed her arms, turning her attention towards the brunette.

"I think Medved is a big boy, and the Bratva should be able to handle their own turf. It is their fault for claiming so much territory in such a short time." Tigress mocked.

"But that chiming sound...it is ominous." Fennec voiced her concern.

"We are ready, and even if they were wiped out, they will buy us enough time to complete Phase Hades." Tigress suggested in a cold manner. Fennec however shook her head, disagreeing with the Asian crime boss.

"It will not come to that. Those six children will be pulled into this matter."

"Well Fennec, we better hope so."

* * *

[Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 2.30am]

 _Khorosho,_ A burly well-muscled man with silver hair thought to himself as he watched the screens before him. The silver-haired man with burnt scars running down half his face smiled with glee as the rest of the individuals around him are frantically communicating and coordination the actions of what appear to be a command center.

" _Polkovnik Medved_! Bases Fifty-Four and Seven are wiped out! Heavy fighting in Base Forty-Eight! Team Volkov is currently en route to Base Forty-Eight! Operations will commence at zero three hundred hours!" One of the men reported.

"What of TOCTSeF?" The burly man answered as he draped his military uniform upon his shoulders like a cape.

"Significant TOCTSeF mobilizing to all hotspots Polkovnik!" The man answered.

"Retreat and let TOCTSeF fight with intruders to thin enemy numbers out. If intruders eliminated, ambush TOCTSeF forces."

Medved clearly cherished the challenge of having someone blatantly invading his territories and having the capability to take his forces on. His command center is filled with frantic reports coming in from all territories under his control, and as he smoked on his cigar he knew he is in for a wild night. Whoever it is that is trying to wipe his forces out, Medved will take it all. It only made his blood boil when he heard the chiming sound preceding the attack.

"Polkovnik, Team Khabaev is wiped out."Team Khruschev is also wiped out. Team Trotsky, Team Sokolov and Team Petrov are suffering heavy casualties."

"How about Team Imonov?" The burly silver-haired Russian inquired the man sitting down in front of him.

"Polkovnik, we have comlink with Team Imonov."

"Put me through." Medved informed his subordinate and the subordinate passed him the walkie-talkie.

"This is Corporal Imonov, everything had gone according to plan. We will be withdrawing from the present operation scene."

"Any positive ID on intruders Corporal?"

" _Da, Leishen._ " The soldier replied.

Medved raised his eyebrow, as he is familiar with the name. Known as the Thunder Gods, the _Leishen_ are the premier air special forces units of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, and their presence in Townsville is a particularly odd one. That would also be a good reason why some of the Bratva's bases are being eliminated as his forces consist of former paratroopers and former special forces operatives as well and it will take some considerable expertise on the attacker's side to eliminate some of his bases.

"Very well, proceed towards Base thirty-three." Medved commanded.

"Noted, Polkovnik." The soldier acknowledged before the communication ended. The silver-haired man looked at the display and noticed something peculiar and he decided to act upon his suspicion.

"Connect me to Team Petrov." Medved commanded and he waited for a few moments before the walkie-talkie came to life.

"Polkovnik?"

"Sitrep Petrov."

"Pinned down. The invaders got something with them. Looks like a weird woman mannequin dressed in white with sunglasses. She's pinning down Team Sokolov."

The silver-haired man paused for a moment as he digested the information that he is receiving from the battlefield. The pause was brief though, for Medved immediately barked out his orders for his subordinates to adhere to.

"Inform all teams that we are fighting against Her! All team facing the white-colored being to make a tactical withdrawal! Meanwhile all teams are to press on and smoke the rats that dared entered out territories!"

The command center came to life as the message is related across the battlefield. Medved looked on the screen to see that his instructions are having an effect on the battlefield. However, the presence of the mysterious figure is unsettling for him, and he figured that two can play the game of superhuman battles.

"Prepare the 'team'. I am going down where Sokolov is."

* * *

[Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 2.40am]

Her is annoyed.

Her did not expect that her _Leishen_ minions are being evenly matched by these ruffians, especially when these Chinese soldiers are the among the best the Chinese government can offer to her. For Her to make itself present on the battlefield is enough to earn its ire. Several of the mobsters appear to become large hulking red brutes and are exactly a toll on the Chinese soldiers. Her recognized the sickly sweet smell, for the smell is an unique form of corruption peculiar to Infernals, and to see it being applied in such numbers irked Her so.

"RRRAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!" One of the towering brutes charged towards Her, but Her is unfazed by the charging figure. If anything, Her find the large hulking being a bother.

" _Begone."_ The discordant voice of the being comprising of both a little girl's voice and an adult women's voice commanded. A sound resembling a wind chime echoed throughout the battlefield, and the chest of the charging brute caved in and blasting the brute towards one of the buildings explosively.

"Impressive." Her looked up towards the source of the voice, seeing a red-skinned man with burnt marks on his face in a military uniform draped over a blue-striped telnyashka. The man wrapped his large, thick muscled arms around a muscular, bear-like body looking down on Her from one of the buildings. The gunfight stopped immediately at the presence of the man. The man jumped down from the building, landing right before Her on his feet without any difficulty, and for that matter injuries. Any normal man would had their legs broken or lose their lives jumping down from such a height, but Her understood the nature of the being before her.

" _You're no longer human._ " Her pointed out as the man erected himself to his full height, towering over Her.

"Says the demon." The man spoke with a heavily accented voice.

" _I smelled Him's scent on all the brutes and_ ," the demon took a sniff, " _even yourself._ "

"You came to take Him's area, Medved came to stop you." The man took a cigar and placed it in his mouth before lighting it up with a match.

The man's back starts to stretch and several short bone-like structures grows out of his back and arns and his body grew exponentially larger. The man's face started to stretch and peel away, revealing a bestial ursine-like appearance.

Without warning, the spikes violently ejected itself from the monster's body and honed in on the white-clad mannequin-like figure. The spikes soon made contact and a chain of explosions erupted, covering the entire street in a blast of dust and bear-like monster jumped back a considerable distance, moments before the ground where the Lunatic once stood caved in. The deep chiming sound echoed through the air as the crater made its mark on the ground.

Several more bony spikes discharged itself from Medved's back and the missiles headed towards the veil of dust and debris. Several of the projectiles were intercepted and exploded in mid-air, however a considerable amount went ahead and detonated. Before long, the whole block is covered with dust and smoke, and the sound of explosions and ringing chimes filled the air.

* * *

[Skies above Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 2.50am]

The Powerpuff Girls descended slowly towards the dust-veiled part of town, knowing well that a villain unlike any other is engaged in mortal combat with one of Him's lackeys. Only something as powerful as Him's Lunatics will be able to cause so much mayhem, and something felt particularly odd about chiming sound that is accompanying the explosions.

Bubbles cringed as she was bombarded by the continuous chimes that hurt her ears. The chiming sound is utterly beyond description, and her willpower is the only thing keeping her conscious. The sentiment is shared by Blossom and Buttercup, and each one of them agreed that they will need to descend down less they are knocked out in the air. However, a significant portion of Little Moscow is clouded in dust and smoke and that gave the Powerpuff Girls a sense of tense relief for whatever that will shoot them down is now focused on the commotion below.

"What the hell is going on down there?" Buttercup's uneasiness crept through her voice.

"Something bad." Blossom sympathized with Buttercup for she felt a very similar emotion before running in her when she faced off against Tigress.

"I feel sick." Bubbles covered her mouth as she touched down on one of the rooftops. Bubbles felt like her head is turning itself inside out while her world is spinning around. The chiming sound is ringing in her ear, whispering its sublime corruption into her head. Her light-blue eyes looked around to see a familiar scene of a city covered with dust and debris.

"We all are, Bubbles." Blossom watched as even more explosions and gust of winds blew the dust and debris in all directions.

"WATCH OUT!" Buttercup pushed her red-haired sister down with only seconds to spare.

Blossom felt something flying past her hair, and the sound of something resembling something flying past her rang in her ears. Blossom and Buttercup dropped on the ground, but they were soon joined by their blonde sister as she jumped on them. Bubbles yelled moments before something detonated in mid-air behind them. The shockwave from the explosion blasted through the air and hitting the bodies of the Powerpuff Girls with such force that they are forced off the building. The three girls felt a sense of brief weightlessness before feeling the impact on something hard. The Powerpuff Girls tumbled for a distance before they stopped. Disoriented, the Powerpuff Girls released their embrace of one another and slowly erected themselves up.

"Ow,ow,ow,ow!" Bubbles rubbed her head.

"God damn...that explosion is-" Buttercup did not even finish her sentence when Blossom pulled her down once more. Buttercup's attempt to chide her sister was soon answered with a toiling bell sound resonating where her head was suppose to be.

"LIE DOWN!" Blossom yelled out and Bubbles soon followed suit just as several more bell chime rang in the air, followed by several rounds of something speeding by and detonating.

However, something else caught Bubbles' attention.

Bubbles felt a pull towards a particular direction, as if she was being sucked into it. The air flow felt bizarre and the blue-eyed Powerpuff Girl felt her breath being pulled out from her lungs. Something is very wrong, and the sound of people screaming and gunfire reached the ears of the Powerpuff Girl. Bubbles recognized the languages being yelled in this chaos. Despite the different languages, they are all yelling more or less the same thing. As Bubbles struggled on, she is forced to yell to her sisters the same thing that the other people are yelling.

"HANG ON!"

* * *

[Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 3.00am]

Medved is impressed that he is able to fight toe-to-toe with the demonic entity, but even he knew that all demons are liars. The bear-like monster did not think too positively of the situation now, as there is a possibility that their present battle will become a much more convoluted one. For one, the Powerpuff Girls will complicate the situation for him if they joined in the 'fun'. The Powerpuff Girls are a wild card in their encounter, and they are just as likely to take one of the following actions in this situation;

A) Fight both Medved and the demon

B) Side with the demon against Medved

C) Side with Medved against the demon

Medved prefer option C the best, but Medved knew that it is a very long shot.

"This situation bad." Medved said to himself.

"HANG ON!" Medved heard a yell, and Medved Medved felt a large gust of win and he immediately knew that the situation had just gotten worse.

Even with his significant size, he felt himself being pulled into the vortex. The bestial monster sunk its claws into the ground below, but the pull is just too strong. Medved's claws made a long trailing mark as he was pulled towards the vortex, before his body was lifted up in the air. Holding on for dear life, Medved felt more and more debris flying past him, and the howling winds drowned out every other sound around him. Medved gritted his teeth, knowing well that if he did not hold on, he will be blown away.

No, being blown away is not the right way to describe the sensation.

The right way to describe the sensation is being _sucked_ in.

What could be the thing that is sucking them all in, Medved wondered for a moment before realizing that there is only one thing that can do something like that. A roaring bell pierced through the maelstrom, and Medved felt another opposing swirling storm making itself known. Medved had no recollection of what happened next other than being finally ripped from the ground that he clawed himself on. The swirling mess blacked out his vision and the next thing he knew is that he had crashed into a building. The rubble buried him in a heap of rubble and the swirling, twisting sensation stopped.

* * *

 _Bubbles opened her eyes to find herself staring at a pair of half-rimmed sunglasses looking down on her. Bubbles instinctively rose, causing an unwanted collision with the being looking down on her. The person moved away from the platinum-haired Powerpuff Girl, allowing Bubbles to rise up and groaned in pain as she rubbed her head. Bubbles turned around and it appeared that the person she bumped into is also groaning in pain. However, it took Bubbles a second to notice something that disturbed her._

 _The person is having two voices at the same time._

 _Upon further observation, Bubbles picked up on the utterly unnatural pristine alabaster being and how it has no discernable human features. No, Bubbles corrected in her mind, the being has no features at all. Like a shopping mall mannequin, the being has nothing to call its own other than the similarly white clothing and half-rimmed sunglasses._

 _"What the-." Bubbles expressed her prejudice towards the being before her._

 _"Her." The being turned its attention towards Blossom, its voice having both the properties of a grown woman and a little girl._

 _"Her?" Bubbles raised her eyebrow as her ears recognized the two feminine tones in the being's voice._

 _"Yes, Her." The being asserted._

 _"You're not Him..." Bubbles realized that this being is not the dual-voiced being that she had grown to despise. The being's voice is entirely feminine, and that caught her by surprise._

 _Bubbles had never known that there are others like Him in the world, and the presence of this particular being is an unwanted truth in her mind. The fact that there are other demons running around the world causing harm is something she will not accept. However, Bubbles knew that it is a naive view to think that evil has only one acolyte._

 _"Of course not. I am not my sibling."_

 _Another shock. Bubbles clearly did not expect Him to have a sibling. This is getting worse by the moment, Bubbles thought. She looked around to see that the world around her as dark as the shades the demon wears on its face. Bubbles wondered why is she in this realm to begin with, and what did the demon want with her._

 _"So you're Bubbles. Skin as fair as snow, azure eyes, and hair as light as white gold. Not to mention having that killer body." The being known as Her observed, causing Bubbles to instinctively cover her chest with her arms._

 _Bubbles watched as the demon scanned her up and down, and she felt violated by the manner in which the demon is looking at her. The being spoke once more, causing Bubbles to raise her eyebrow. It is a language she had never heard of, and that concerns her. With a tinkling sound, Bubbles blacked out once more._

* * *

[Little Moscow, Downtown Townsville, 3.05am ]

"Bubbles!" Bubbles opened her eyes to the sound of her sisters, and she saw the worried faces of her sisters looking down on her. Bubbles slowly but surely got herself up, and her head started pounding violently.

"Wh-What happened?" Bubbles asked before she smelled a sickeningly dry and sweet metallic scent. Bubbles realized what she had just smelled, and she covered her mouth.

"Everyone was sucked into something before... Actually I don't really know what happened next. We found ourselves lying down on the ground." Blossom shook her head.

"Demon." Bubbles uttered.

"Come again?" Buttercup asked her sister.

"There's a demon here."

"A demon?" Buttercup expressed her annoyance and rolled her lime-green eyes, not believing her sister.

"Yes." Bubbles nodded.

"Are you serious?" Buttercup frowned in disbelief, not expecting her sarcasm to be the truth.

"In fact," Bubbles' s eyes widened as she pointed her finger, "That's _Her._ "

The other Powerpuff Girls turned their attention towards the direction Bubbles is pointing at and they saw an uncanny white doll-like figure standing in the middle of the road. The Powerpuff Girls immediately assumed battle positions, and the figure clapped its hands. Several other figures rose up from the rubble as well, among them several hulking red brutish humans and a bear-like monster. The Powerpuff Girls realized that they are surrounded by the Medved Bratva, and their leader is present.

"Crap, that's Medved." Blossom said as she saw the Lunatic. The spiky bestial being in turn saw the Powerpuff Girls and had a similar expression of surprise.

"We better get out of here." Buttercup advised.

"But how? The demon is right in front of us." Bubbles whispered back as she took a glance at the alabaster being before them.

"Looks like we are all thinking about the same thing." Blossom pointed out, and the other two Powerpuff Girls noticed that everyone is looking at each other with great unease.

" _I see that you are in the middle of something Her._ " A voice broke the tense situation, and everyone looked up to see a person consisting of the darkest black clad in a similarly black baroque-esque musketeer outfit standing still in the skies above them, looking down upon them with its single skull-like eye socket.

" _It does not have any business here._ " The being known as Her spat venomously at the new arrival.

" _On the contrary, Her...your business is of my concern if you plan on razing this city to the ground."_ The black-clad figure answered its white counterpart.

"Ah shit, what the hell is that?! " Buttercup cursed.

"A problem." Blossom answered, her rose-pink eyes now focused on the two beings.

"The only thing that will make it worse is if Him decided to make an appearance."Bubbles voiced her fears.

" _What are you doing on my turf?"_ A dark and deep baritone voice expressed its displeasure.

The night skies above turned a ominous crimson red, and the dark clouds accented the foreboding atmosphere that all the beings below the curdling blood skies. The center of the sky above Little Moscow pulsed like a raw beating heart, flashing brightly with every beat. To everyone's surprise and horror the sky appeared to stretch downwards towards them. The sky soon broke, and and the ground is alight with a bright red, and everyone watched as a regal and foreboding figure descended upon them.

The tissue of the being is crimson red and translucent, and one can even see the beating heart of the being. The being is clad in a lustrous drape wrapped around the waist and baring the being's midriff. One can not tell the flesh and clothing apart for they are one and the same, and its movements are languid and preternaturally graceful. A mind-dulling musk filled the air, and the allure of the being before them is only contrasted by the razor sharp claws that the being had for arms. Its emerald gaze was ice-cold, lacking any passion as it chilled the hearts of the mortals that is unfortunate to gaze upon the dark being before them.

"Shit...Him really outdid itself this time." Buttercup joked nervously, but even she knew that this is the most terrifying that she had ever seen Him.

"Yeah... And Him's pissed." Blossom added.

However, Bubbles is the only one among her sisters that noticed that something is wrong with Him. Instead of the terrifying aura that the others may see, Bubbles saw a weakened demon compensating for its grievous injuries. What others saw as irritation, Bubbles saw as pain. Bubbles also felt a lack of energy coming out from Him's voice, and that made her worry even more. The two beings that had made themselves known may turn upon Him like wolves, and Bubbles hoped that will not come to pass.

The darkest black being soon descended down towards where Him and Her are and there is a moment of tense apprehension as the three beings stared at each other. Bubbles watched as these eldritch beings communicated with each other, and the Powerpuff Girl felt an uneasy fascination by their interaction. The mannerism and the language the demons are conversing in are utterly unlike anything she had seen before. The language used is extremely poetic, perhaps even flowery as the prose used appeared to rhyme and has a lyrical timbre to it but at the same time it is harsh, cold and sharp like a cold blade running around one's neck without slitting one's throat. Perhaps even more disturbing for Bubbles is that whenever they spoke, their voices loses their discordant dual voices and became more 'human'.

Bubbles' sky-blue eyes opened wide as she realized that something is terribly is back in her room along with her sisters, and the sudden change of scenery came without warning. To make it worse, this is not experienced by Bubbles alone. There is a look of horror on her sisters' faces as well as they realized what happened. Bubbles pinched her face to see if it is an illusion, but Bubbles felt the pain from the pinch. Bubbles realized to her horror that this is real and they were sent back home.

"WHAT THE?!" Buttercup screamed.

"We're home...how?" The color escaped Blossom's face, and Bubbles had never seen her sister in such a ghostly pale.

 _"_ We were willed away. _"_ Bubbles reasoned and something in her felt that the world is about to become a worse place to be.

* * *

 _No one truly knew what happened that day when the three demonic beings met with each other. Indeed, for that night, the people that lived in Little Moscow were found away from their homes and scattered._

 _Why did it happen?_

 _Which one among the three did it?_

 _What does it all mean?_

 _That question bellies an unwanted truth, and no one wanted to know said truth. However, the truth that the skirmish ending with the teleportation of almost all the combatants is undeniable. Indeed, there were nothing else other than ruined buildings, cracked streets and broken lights that marked the presence of a great incursion into Little Moscow. The eyewitness accounts of two other mysterious beings had fueled the rumors of why Townsville is attracting far too much attention for its own good._


	105. Chapter 105: Angst

**Author's Note: Heya all, it's been a while since I posted a chapter for the Powerpuff Girls A!**

 **Been busy with my hectic work that involves travelling around the globe with little time to write, let alone post a new chapter.**

 **But I managed to find some time here and there, and I hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 105: Angst

Brick's brooding is making his brothers uneasy, and they watched him as he sat on the sofa without uttering a single word. Butch and Boomer are unable to watch the show without looking back at their carnelian-haired brother, concerned that he will blow up at any time. Brick is always the Rowdyruff Boy with the most control over his own emotions, but there are times where he blows up and all hell breaks loose. Butch's outbursts are nothing compared to Brick's outburst, for Butch's outburst are at the spur of the moment and they do not usually last very long. In contrast, Brick's outbursts are long and sustained and anyone foolish enough to stand in Brick's way will be incinerated.

"Psst." Boomer hissed to his dark-haired brother.

"What?" Butch whispered back.

"Any idea?" Boomer asked.

"Nope." Butch answered.

 _I'm here you know_ , Brick thought to himself as he heard his brothers attempting to be discreet but failing to remember that he is also born with superhearing.

Brick decided that it is not in his best interest to do anything about his brothers and he decided to go to his room. The dull and uneventful walk towards his room only served to sharpen his mind to his problematic thoughts. Brick soon found himself staring at his door, and he opened his door to his room only to immediately walked towards the window of his room while at the same time grabbing the black coat draped on his chair. The teenager opened the window of his room while wearing his black coat and matching black newsboy cap before leaving the comforts and warmth of his home. It is a perk that only a superhuman like Brick can enjoy, and he closed his window from the outside before landing down on the ground.

Brick's mind is clearly burning itself with anxiety, each pulse of his heartbeat lighting up the dark and heavy sensation throughout his body. The pair of blood red eyes looked around the quiet suburban neighborhood for a trace of something that will justify his anxiety, but his wishful negative thoughts taunted him so. Before long he found himself at a park, the exact same park where he met Mark Gor a few days ago. Brick looked up to see the cloudy gray skies congregating effortlessly in the night skies, and he took a deep breath before entering into the park. No one is outside at this given time, and he decided to let the silence of the night ease his anxieties.

However the silence ended with a voice calling out Brick's name.

"Brick?" Brick turned around to see his mirror image in the form of the opposite sex looking at him with her amaranthine pink is dressed in a simple dark green coat that made her fiery copper red hair stood out, and Brick found it unusual that she did not tie up her hair. Brick wanted to tease her that she looked like a Christmas tree but he decided that she looked pretty enough in the coat to warrant a respite.

"Hey babe." Brick greeted her, only to remember that Blossom hated the nickname.

"Do not call me babe, you prick." Blossom replied instinctively, and Brick is always still amazed and amused that Blossom of the Powerpuff Girls can still be goaded by such a simple word.

"Wanna take a seat?"Brick gestured towards the swing.

" Um... Sure... I guess. "Blossom found no reason to refuse the Rowdyruff Boy.

Both redheads took their seat on the swing and they sat in silence. They are never the best conversationalist with each other due to their rivalry, and they never truly explore the opportunity despite their particular intellect and potential to converse about a multitude of topics. Unlike their siblings, their pride is particularly high and none of them are willing to step down from the high ground. Brick decided however that they can always speak onon a much more transactional manner.

"Heard about the incident. Three demons huh?" Brick decided to start the conversation to something more relevant to their present state of unease.

"Him's siblings to be exact. Never knew it had family. A pure white feminine being dressed in a white business suit with black sunglasses and a pure black musketeer-like being." Blossom revealed.

"Well, we never really knew Him to be honest even after all these years." Brick looked up to the skies.

Blossom is taken aback by Brick's observation, for it is very true. For most of her life, Him had always been the beguiling demon that had troubled Blossom and her sisters, warping reality to trouble them. At times, it is surprisingly fickle. At times, it is surprisingly malicious. However, Blossom had noticed for a time that Him's action are never filled with true intent. Blossom understood that if it wanted to wipe them out of existence, it would have done so. Why this is the case is not clear to Blossom.

"Got you thinking, didn't I?" Brick's voice interrupted Blossom's thoughts.

"...Yes." Blossom grudgingly admitted.

"Can't blame ya. Him's just that way. I will be honest and say that's how I know my 'mom'." Brick chuckled.

"...How are you?"

"Come again?"

"You...I mean...I...since..." Blossom got lost in her words, and she wondered what she wanted to say to him exactly.

"I'm not that feeble to fear death after one incident. Got my fair share of those." Blossom went silent at Brick's words, for she had never seen someone talked about death in such a manner before.

"What about your brothers? They-"

"They all had their own experiences." Brick shrugged, only to see Blossom becoming really quiet.

"You never experienced death before...I forgot." Brick realized and he foolishly thought that people can experience death only to wake from it.

"No, you didn't forget. You just don't realize that people only live once. You should not think of your life as if it is nothing to you."

Brick had forgotten that if there is anything that can figure out what he had in his mind, it will be Blossom. Blossom had foiled a number of his schemes before just because she knew how he would react given a certain situation. But for it to be used in such a manner tonight is not what he expected, and to hear such concern from Blossom is a surprise he did not expect.

"Y'know...That is perhaps the nicest thing you've said to me ever." Brick admitted.

"Really Brick?"

"Seriously Blossom. Odd that it came from the person that killed me." Brick pointed out and Blossom's mood darkened a little.

"Easy there. I don't blame you for killing me. Well, you did, but...I don't really care to be honest." Brick reiterated to ease the red-haired girl but his words only served to make her particularly uncomfortable.

"Sorry." Brick apologized, only realizing seconds afterwards that this is perhaps the first time he had apologized to his rival.

"Wow, that's new. Brick apologizing to me?" Unfortunately for Brick, Blossom had noticed that he had apologized to her.

"...Shut up." Brick grumbled.

Blossom chuckled and he is reminded that Blossom is related to Bubbles, for her chuckle is similar to Bubbles' chuckle. Bubble's chuckle had a particular air around it that is rather calming to the heart and Blossom's chuckle shared that particular characteristic. However, Blossom's chuckle has her own characteristics and it is a little more upright than Bubbles' more warm chuckle.

Brick and Blossom soon started to talk about other things that they shared in common, like how they both have their green-eyed siblings being a little too brash for their own good and how their blue-eyed siblings

"You know Brick, it is odd how we are talking to each other like this. Never thought that I would ever talk to you about anything."

"Yeah Blossom, it is actually rather odd."

"And it is odd that you like Bubbles at that too." Blossom's words caught Brick a little offguard, but he kept his composure.

"And Butch got the hots for you." Brick's riposte caught Blossom off her guard, and she froze.

"Wh-What are you-No, I'm-"

"Nothing wrong with that Blossom. Though to be fair, a lot of people were expecting us to be an item since you kissed me once." Now it is Brick's turn to chuckle, and Blossom rarely seen Brick having such positive behaviors.

Blossom had always associated Brick with everything crass and rude, and everything that is diametrically opposed to her own being. Where she is a cautious strategist, Brick has been a reckless tactician. Where Blossom is poise and elegant, Brick had been crass and uncivilized. The list goes on and on, and somehow Blossom had never seen him as another living being with his own positive points. Only in these past few months did Blossom witnessed his good points, and that had humbled her in a way.

And yet, there is something clouding his mind.

"Hey Brick?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you do, just ease up will ya?" Blossom advised, and Brick gave Blossom a particularly pleasant smile.

"Yeah, I will."

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 12.00am]

The window to Brick's room opened up and the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy entered into the room with a surprisingly gentle smile on his face. Brick closed the window behind him, and he felt a little more relaxed than when he left home.

Brick honestly did not expect himself to chat with his rival for another thirty minutes more about random things. Shallow perhaps, but engaging. For a moment, he had forgotten about his own emotional rollercoaster in his mind.

" _Looks_ _like you had a good time_ ", A voice hardened Brick's expression and his eyes immediately glowed at the presence of a lanky crimson being sitting on Brick's bed.

Dressed in a black kimono with large reddish-pink cherry blossom patterns, the unexpected guest watched Brick barely holding back the beams from his eyes, and the teenager's eyes are now a bright ominous crimson.

However the teenager noticed he never thought he would see.

The infernal demon is pale and gaunt, and for it to appear weak is something new to the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy. Is this a ruse to take his guard down? Or is this something much more dire? But something in those emerald eyes informed Brick that the being is not here to make his life a living hell for tonight.

" _Hello Brick, it's been a while."_ The demon greeted the Rowdyruff Boy.

"You don't look so good." Brick expressed his observation.

" _I know, I know."_ The effeminate being undressed part of its kimono to reveal a horrible-looking scar around its ribs that Brick immediately recalled how it got it in the first place.

"You did that one on yourself." Brick did not even bother to show any semblance of compassion to the demon.

" _Agreed_." The red demon shrugged.

"You are not here out of the kindness of your heart." Brick said in a skeptical manner, knowing well how the demon worked. However, the demon ignored Brick's pessimism and started talking.

" _One day, a long long time ago in a place forgotten by time...A man happened to catch sight of a leaf being blown by a gust of wind in the air._ " The emerald eyes of the demon recalled a time where things are better, and Brick pulled his chair and sat.

 _This will be long_ , Brick said to himself as he paid attention to the demon's tale.

Brick is now imagining a golden field of grassland as far as the eye can see, in stark contrast with the briright blue skies. It is a beautiful and pristine landscape and Brick had never seen anything like it.

Standing in the middle of the field is a tall and lanky man with Levantine features, with dark green eyes. To Brick's surprise, the man looked like a splitting image of Mr. Reisz. The man looked up to see a leaf gently being spirited away by a gentle breeze.

" _The man decided at that moment to follow the leaf. Something came over the man, for there is nothing special about the leaf, and yet there is something beckoning him to track the flying leaf._ " The demon's voice appeared to be a little more focused and feminine as compared to its usual cacophonous tones as it recalled its memory.

Brick watched as the man started to wade across the plains and soon broke into a chase as the leaf picked up speed.

" _From the wide open plains, he continued on without thinking too much about it. Suddenly the man realized that he couldn't stop and his eyes are honed in on the leaf..._ "

Brick watched as the man continued on running across the vast fields and before long the fields soon gave way to rocky terrain, and from the rocky terrain the scenery moved on to a vast dune.

All the while, Brick watched as the man marvelled at the sights he found himself witnessing, and yet he never lose sight of the flying leaf.

All this while, Brick watched as the man slowly aged and turned gaunt from his chase.

The Rowdyruff Boy found himself experiencing the sensation of the rough grains of the desert sand blowing gently on his skin, the dull pain of a a parched throat, and the empathy of the man's simple but immense drive to see where the leaf ended up. Brick's initial disinterest soon turned into an immense immersion as he wondered how this tale will end.

" _And then..._ " The images stopped abruptly and Brick was soon found wanting for more.

"And then what?" Brick asked, wondering how did the tale end.

" _Nothing very interesting. The leaf dropped on the ground and stopped_."

"That is one boring ending to a story." Brick

" _And yet you are immersed in it_. _Far must we walk to find out the answers, but fair are the things we find on the way_. " The demon's sagely wisdom is surprisingly salient in Brick's mind and Brick's silence is an admission that the demon is right.

"Sure, by telling me lies." Brick tried to brush the demon, but the demon shook its head.

" _No, not lies. A memory from a long time ago, and you're the first._ " Brick's eyes opened wide as he realized the significance of what the demon had just disclosed to him. Brick's mouth opened up, wanting to speak up but his intended audience is no longer in the room. Once again, the demon had mysteriously disappeared as mysteriously as it came.

"What the hell do you want, Him?" Brick cursed as he clenched his fists.

* * *

[MMA Club, Townsville High, 4.00pm]

Butch's arm are raised in a guarding position and the cracking sound of air reverberate in the hall. The other members watched as the sound kept on cracking and Butch punching with his full body weight behind every punch.

"What is he doing?" One of the club members asked a green-eyed girl with neon green highlights in her undercut hair.

"He's punching. Just that you can't see his punches." Buttercup knew the power of those full-bodied punches. Each one of Butch's punches are being swung with enough force to demolish a skyscraper. Fortunately Buttercup had the foresight to not allow Butch to use any of the punching bags.

The sounds stopped and Butch is taking a very deep breath. Buttercup walked up to him before she struck a conversation with the charcoal-haired teenager.

"Pretty fast and sharp."

"Not as fast as your punches, Butters." Butch commented as he took the towel from around his shoulders to wipe his forehead.

"But your punches hits harder." Buttercup crossed her arms as she continued on her conversation with Butch, and Butch's jade forest eyes are now drawn to Buttercup.

"At least you admit that you hit like a girl." Butch joked before Buttercup gave a Butch a playful punch on his arm.

"Not if I strike your balls several times." Buttercup retorted.

"If you wanna hit someone, why not me." A voice caused both green-eyed teenagers to turn around to see a red-haired person with a low, waist-length braided ponytail walking up towards them.

Buttercup is surprised to see the leader of the Rowdyruff Boy in the MMA club. Several of the girl members of the MMA club squealed as they saw Brick peeled off the outer layers of his clothing, but their excited faces turned into uneasy expressions as Brick revealed his scarred lean body with a dark red tank-top covering his torso. The MMA club members are now murmuring as they saw the countless scars on Brick's body, and even Buttercup took notice of the horrid scarring on Brick's body

"Brick, I don't think-" Buttercup wanted to reason with Brick but Brick prevented her from completing her sentence.

"You're just afraid that I'm gonna beat your ass, Butterbutt." Brick insulted the Powerpuff Girl, and the Powerpuff Girl is annoyed that he had just insulted her. Buttercup beckoned the red-haired teenager to enter into the octagon cagecage with a tilt of her head.

Brick smirked before hovering into the cage, followed shortly by Buttercup. The other members of the MMA club excitedly crowded around the MMA cage, watching the two slowly walked towards the center of the octagon. However, Butch is not one bit entertained by this situation. Butch had rarely seen his brother took off his turtleneck willingly in public, and Brick rarely picks a physical fight without any provocation.

 _What the hell is going on_ , Butch wondered as he watched the two superhumans sized each other up.

This is Buttercup's first time watching Brick in motion with his shirt off. Brick is fit and well-build, but his muscles are not as well-defined as Butch nor is he that lightly build as Boomer. The green-eyed girl observed that Brick moved with a predatory grace befitting a large feline.

Brick had always practiced a more devious form of combat, and Buttercup remembered how he had time and time again caused her undue grief. Her caution is not lost on the red-haired Rowdyruff Boy, and both of them observed the other for a time. Buttercup brought her fists up and her legs narrowed while Brick stood without any form of defense whatsoever.

Brick walked up towards Buttercup and Buttercup immediately flickered a punch. To Buttercup's and the other MMA club members' surprise, her punch seemingly went through Brick. Buttercup immediately backed away with a few hops but Brick did not pursue her. Instead, Brick continued on with his strolling advance.

"What the hell is that?" Steve, the MMA member with the most forgettable facial features voiced out his amazement at Brick's almost ethereal defence.

"Butch?" A short-haired brunette with dark-green eyes is looking at Butch, and Butch turned towards the particularly pleasing female member. Butch decided that he will become a commentator for this time round, just for this cute club member.

"Take a closer look at his knees." Butch pointed just as Buttercup swings a kick towards Brick.

"His knees?" The girl looked at Brick and as the kick went through Brick once more, she saw Brick's minute leg movement.

"Shifting his knees with such speed means that his body center doesn't move, in turn making it look like he isn't moving at all." Butch observed as Brick put on the pressure on Buttercup. Despite his lack of any attacks, the level of intimidation that the red-haired teenager had put on Buttercup must be tremendous.

Buttercup is clearly unnerved by the means in which Brick is able to put her on the defensive despite not launching any offenses of his own. Buttercup's sense of distance is blurred as Brick calmly strolled towards her. Brick's ominous rhythm is particularly intense had kept her guessing. Buttercup knew that she will need to keep Brick at a distance if she were to stand a chance.

Buttercup launched a flurry of jabs against Brick as she made a step before hopping twice and landing once more and continued on jabbing and moving in a circular motion. However, Buttercup's punches are not bothering him at all and instead it bothered her even more. Buttercup suddenly felt her shoulder hitting the boundaries of the octagon ring and her eyes widened with shock as she wondered how she went into the corner.

"Come on Butters. I expected you to be tougher than this." Brick said as he took a few steps back to give Buttercup some space to move.

 _You little red prick_ , Buttercup's pride is hurt by his remark and she felt the blood rushing to her head. But that is exactly why she will not fall for his trick.

"You're harder to goad than Butch." Brick gave his due respects to the Powerpuff Girl.

"Well, I'm not as dumb as Butch." Buttercup answered, causing Butch to call Buttercup out.

"Hey!" Butch clearly did not appreciate that he was just called an idiot by both Brick and Buttercup.

"In a dance, the man leads." Buttercup challenged the red-haired teenager.

"Very well." Brick smirked before Buttercup felt the intimidating air around Brick growing with every second and Buttercup sensed that he is about to give her a real ass whooping.

Brick sprang into action and launched himself towards her. Buttercup instinctively swung her left fist towards Brick before Brick grabbed Buttercup's left bicep with his right hand and pulled her towards him. Buttercup saw Brick's speeding left elbow heading towards her temple and she instinctively threw her right kick towards his abdomen, but soon realized that he had stepped on her right foot and had positioned his left shin to touch her other leg. Buttercup tilted her head sideways and Brick's elbow grazed her head, but she was soon brought down to the ground as Brick leaned forward. Buttercup fell on her back and she felt Brick's elbow touching her larynx.

Instead of pummelling her on the ground, the Rowdyruff Boy backed off to allow Buttercup to get herself up once more. Buttercup always find fighting tends to reveal the state of mind of the particular fighter, and right now Brick is simmering with an frustrated anger. Buttercup decided that she will have to get a little more serious.

"Is it me or is it windy in here?"The brunette girl asked Butch, but Butch chose to focus his attention on Buttercup.

The gentle blowing winds soon became more turbulent and soon some of the towels hanging on the shoulders of the other MMA members started to get blown away by the winds. Butch picked out the subtle lime-green glow of two swirling vortices behind Buttercup's back. Butch is immediately caught offguard by Buttercup's acceleration as she sped towards his brother. Within seconds, his brother was blown out from the ring and part of the MMA panel collapsed as Brick tumbled on the ground.

Butch's eyes widened as his brother got up, and Butch reasoned that Brick must have somehow absorbed her blow. Brick stretched his neck from left to right, and Butch knew that Brick is about to get serious as well. The murmurs from the other students only confirmed what Butch felt, for the students felt the same thing.

 _What have you got for her?,_ Butch wondered as Brick walked towards Buttercup, knowing well that Buttercup now has an advantage in speed. However, Brick has a lot of pride in his abilities, and Buttercup had just trampled on his ability.

Brick gently put his finger into his eye and took out his unique contact lense, revealing his black sclera. The tips of Brick's hair soon glowed with a bright blood-red crimson and immediately the murmurs went silent. A dark ominous energy started to appear behind Brick's right shoulder, forming into a black feathered wing-like object with glowing red edges. The temperature started to drop drastically as the surroundings become darkened, bleak and gloomy, and everyone felt a sense of melancholy and despair growing rapidly within their hearts.

Butch immediately sensed that something is wrong with his brother. For the politically astute ombre-haired teenager, doing such a terrifying thing that would cause serious repercussions is reckless at best, and heartless at worst. To make it worse, his brother's eyes is now glowing brighter as a formless darkness started to form around his head like a helm. Butch's eyes widened as he realized what his brother is about to do.

"BRICK!" Butch roared loud enough for Brick to stop in his tracks. The wings dissipated, and along with it the room soon regained its color and the oppressive atmosphere was lifted. Butch immediately ran up to his brother, and immediately saw that his brother is absolutely livid. Brick's red eyes are now staring at Butch with killing intent, and Butch immediately knew what he had to do.

"What." Brick's voice is surprisingly calm, but Butch knew that the calm hides a turbulent heart.

"Get out." Butch said firmly. Brick's eyes glowed brighter as his body started to emanate barely visible dark tendrils on his body.

"Now." Butch stared at his brother as his jade green eyes started to glow as well.

The two brother stared at each other as the other students watched, and they are unsure of what will happen next. However, the standoff subsided as Brick walked past Butch and towards his clothing on the ground. The red-haired teenager picked it up and made his way out from the clubroom. Butch took a deep breath, and soon turned towards Buttercup.

"Sorry about that." Butch apologized.

Buttercup is silent at Butch's apology and she watched as the hunky teenager turned away from her and rushing towards his belongings, taking them all up with one arm before bolting towards the exit.

"Buttercup, are you alright?" One of the club member entered into the ring and held on Buttercup's shoulder.

"I'm not sure." Buttercup knew what Brick could do, and she shuddered as she imagined what will happen to all of them if Butch did not stop Brick at the moment.

* * *

"What the hell is that about Brick?"

Butch grabbed his brother by the shoulder before slamming him to the wall. Brick glared at his brother with his simmering crimson eyes, and Butch knew that his brother is reaching his boiling point. Brick slapped away his brother's arm before bolting off in a flash of red lightning. Butch took a deep breath before deciding that he should chase after his brother.

 _The hunt for the red Rowdyruff Boy begins_ , Butch thought before bolting off in a flash of green.


	106. Chapter 106: Brawl Brothers

Chapter 106: Brawl Brothers

 _The City of Towns-wait a minute._

 _This isn't Townsville._

 _Where on earth are we?_

 _Let's see...darkening skies everywhere and man it is cold...Is there a reason why I am out here narrating in the first place...And honestly this is definitely not America for sure, but it is sure on the North American continent. And it is really snowy here...Hm...must be Canada. But why on earth am I here to narrate about something in Canada..._

 _*A bolt of forest-green lightning streaked across the cloudy dark skies*_

 _OH!_

 _I see it! And what do we have here?_

 _Huh...Butch. Wait...Butch?_

 _What is Butch doing here? And...Ah. I see it now. A streak of blood red lightning zig-zagging through the clouds._

 _Just remembered what happened the last time. He's chasing Brick after our dear red-haired boy caused a scene in the MMA club._

 _Alright then, let's continue on with our story._

* * *

[Canadian Skies, 4.30pm]

Butch had been chasing after his brother for a while now, and the sable - haired Rowdyruff Boy wondered why is his brother being so immature for no reason. Indeed, Butch is usually the least mature between them and for him to chase after his brother gave him an appreciation of Brick's level-headedness over his own petty landscape soon turned into vast fields of white, and Butch wondered when did it snow in Townsville. However, Butch soon heard the roar of combusting jet engines coming in from a distance and realized that they had just entered into another country's airspace.

 _And what do we have here_ , Butch watched as a pair of twin-engined fighter aircrafts with enlarged leading edge extension, sawtooth outer wing, and circular intakes appeared from Butch's flank. Butch's jade eyes picked out the markings of a maple leaf within a circle from the aircrafts and Butch recognised them as Canadian F/A-18 fighters.

The pilots looked at the Rowdyruff Boy with what Butch assume is a bewildered face beneath their flight helmets. The charcoal-haired teenager slowed down towards one of the fighter aircraft, and he tried to take out his phone to communicate with the pilot inside the Hornet. Butch almost dropped his phone as it got out from his pocket, but his lightning reflexes is the only thing preventing his phone from free falling several thousand feet to the ground. Butch held his phone tightly as he used his other hand to type the message via text before displaying what he wrote on his phone.

 _Sorry about this guys but I'm chasing after my brother_ , Butch pointed towards the streak of red lightning lighting up the darkened skies ahead.

The pilot noticed the streak of lightning coloring the clouds in a blood-red hue and in turn gave Butch a thumbs up. The pilot turned his attention towards the other fighter aircraft and Butch figured that they are communicating with each other. To Butch's surprise, the pilot turned back towards him and took out a phone and started typing on his phone. Before long, the pilot showed the message and Butch squinted his eye for a moment before his eyes widened in a pleasant surprise.

 **It is lonely to fly up here in this weather, and we got some time to burn too. We'll accompany you till your brother lands down somewhere here in Canada.**

 **Seriously?** , Butch seriously was not expecting the pilot to be so accommodating and polite, but any friendly company is much appreciated in this harsh winter skies.

 **Sure** **am** , The pilot replied and Butch took a look at the other aircraft, only to see the other pilot giving him the thumbs up as well.

 **Hope you guys can keep up with us** , Butch replied with a thumbs up of his own.

 **It will be fun trying to fly alongside supers** , The pilot replied and added a smiley face at the end of his message and Butch in turn gave the pilot a grin before bolting off in a flash of green light.

* * *

[Outskirt of Iqaluit,Arctic Circle, 5.00pm]

Butch waved farewell to the two fighter escorts before he started his descend down towards a vast tundra, knowing that his fun little time with the Canadian Hornet pilots to be a brief respite. Now Butch will have to go back to business.

 _Alright...here we go,_ Butch prepared himself mentally and he felt the firmness of the ground beneath his feet once more.

Butch shivered at the gust of cold wind and he honestly felt quite miserable. Butch looked around the darkness of the Arctic, and his vision is complimented by the mountains, fields and with oceans sporadically showing itself among the broken ice. It will be a majestically beautiful display of nature if it were not for the single thing staining the majestic beauty of his surroundings. Butch's eyes soon gave its attention towards the large ominous blood-red glow surrounding a particular red-haired Rowdyruff Boy named Brick.

"You really followed me here." Brick glanced back, a vapor of red smoke emanating from his felt the immense pressure emanating from Brick.

"You're not yourself and honestly you're making me worried." Butch is composed only because of his lifelong experience with Brick's ability, but he swore that the temperature is much more colder than it is thanks to how Brick is staring at him.

"Worried? You? That's new." Brick remarked sarcastically.

"Especially with that stunt you pulled off. That's supposed to be my thing." Butch folded his arm to keep himself warm. Brick never left Butch's sight, for Butch is expecting his brother to answer him.

"Guess there's a first time for everything." Brick chuckled as his head is wrapped in a formless darkness.

The dark flames solidified into a rounded gladiatorial helmet, the brim flare and the hinged visor gave a menacing appearance to an already sinister helmet. Butch watched as his brother's bright crimson eyes glowed from the the grill-like eye gratings, lighting it up like a lantern. Butch immediately felt an unrealistic fear coursing through his body, and that split second is all it took for Butch to realize that he had taken his attention away from his brother.

"Crap." Butch realized before he felt a blow on his solar plexus, and an electrifyingly sharp pain coursed through his body. However, if there is one thing that Butch can rely on, it will be the fact that Butch is the toughest Rowdyruff Boy, and he will not take such a blow without his own response.

Butch gave his reply for the attack on his solar plexus by punching his brother in the liver, and the loud thud informed Butch that his punch met its mark. Brick immediately collapsed on his knees in the snow, losing control of his body from the precise liver blow. Butch did not even give his brother a chance as he grabbed on the helm and kneed his brother in the chest. A bone-cracking sound reverberate through the air and Brick is brought down to the ground with Butch mounting behind his back and immobilizing his right arm in a joint-lock.

"You seriously thought I would break down and go crashing from your party trick? Come on Brick, you're better than that." Butch derided his brother.

"What about this party trick?" Butch is immediately engulfed by a crimson flare of flame and Butch immediately jumped off his brother.

Butch watched as Brick is surrounded by a dark, flickering flame-like otherworldly substance that is black in core and reddish on its edges surrounding his red-eyed brother. A few of the flame-like substance detached itself from Brick and the flames hovered around the Rowdyruff Boy before each hovering flame forming itself into several large wolf-like beings with shaggy fur, multiple red eyes and large, fang-filled mouths.

"Oh." Butch sensed that he is not truly prepared to become an attack dog pack's chew toy.

Brick pointed towards Butch, and the apparitions sped towards Butch like vengeful spirits. Butch immediately formed several force fields in front of him before punching each one towards the apparitions. Some of them managed to avoid the flying force field slabs, but others managed to maneuvered around and sprinted towards Butch. Butch immediately slammed his fist together on the ground, causing the snow beneath to be launched up with explosive force. Brick shielded his head from the descending snow, and the combination of his forearm and the snow clouded Brick's vision. Brick fell another excruciating pain as his body experienced a liver blow and a chest blow impacting with quick succession before collapsing on the ground.

Butch panted as he looked down on his brother, before looking at his clothes. Butch's bloodied parka is torn from the various bite marks around his body. Butch watched nervously as he witnessed luminescent red vapor coming out from almost fish-like helmet. To Butch's surprise, he noticed the dark flames enveloping itself around one of Brick's arm, forming itself into a broad, long and black flaming sword in Brick's palm.

"That's new." Butch said to himself before barely dodging an upward slash from the weapon.

Butch in turn materializes two large conch-like gauntlets with studded spikes just moments before the downward slash made contact with the Rowdyruff Boy's gauntlets. Butch parried the blade away only to notice that the flames still caught on his gauntlets are melting the spikes on his gauntlets. Butch knew that he will need to end the battle quickly before they hurt each other way more than they should. Butch will have to wait for the exact moment for him to land his blow, and that moment will come at a flash of a moment.

That moment came with a forward lunging motion by the flame-clad Rowdyruff Boy and the flaming blade is now heading towards Butch's face. Butch waited for the blade to come closer to his face, and the brief moment felt like forever as the blade moved in an excruciatingly slow pace in his mind. Butch dropped down on the ground back first before lifting both his legs up and swinging them with all his might directly at Brick's chin in a single fluid backflip motion. Butch felt the sensation on his feet, and his jade green eyes caught the sight of the helmeted Rowdyruff Boy spinned upwards in the air in a violent motion before crashing to the snow-covered ground with a muffled thud.

Butch landed on both his feet and he watched as the dark, flame-like substance around Brick's body slowly subsided. Butch's move had managed to stop the other Rowdyruff Boy in his rampage, and all Butch need to do is to wait and watch. If there is a need to truly neutralize his brother, he will make a seismic slam on the ground and bury his brother as needed. Fortunately for Butch, he is not forced to do so as he heard a chuckle from his brother. Butch slowly made his way towards his brother only to see that his brother's helm disintegrated, revealing a pained but satisfied reaction.

"You are an idiot." Butch commented as he squatted down beside his brother.

"Hurts like shit, but it brought me back." Brick answered.

"Can't you just talk it out like a normal person?" Butch shook his head.

"When the hell are we normal people?" Brick asked, and Butch sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. We ain't normal. But I'm willing to listen this time." Butch shook his head before he tried to scratch his head with one of his hands. The thud on his head reminded Butch that he still had his gauntlets on and he decided to let the gauntlets dematerialize into the pocket dimension where the weapon is stored.

"That's new, a Butch that's willing to listen." Brick swayed a little as he leaned up to face his brother.

"This time." Butch emphasized.

"Alright, if you really want hear me rant, then get ready." Brick smirked.

"Sounds really long Brick." Butch jokingly groaned, causing his red-haired brother to express a well-meaning smile.

"Live with it Butch."

"So Brick...now that we are here...what gives? Did Bubbles hurt your feelings?" Butch bluntly asked his brother, causing a surprised look on his brother's face.

"What the-." Brick's reddened cheeks betrayed his emotions, though the Powerpuff Girl is not the reason for his temper.

"Come on Brick, we may not be as smart as you, but we're not stupid. Both Boomer and I knew about your little kiss with Lil' Miss Joy and Laughter. We're both there to witness it. Her sisters witnessed it too. Only thing is that the rest assume that I don't know about it." Butch snickered, causing Brick to shoot a glare at Butch. Butch however is not intimidated by his brother's stare and instead winked at his brother.

"I thought that things will be..." Brick trailed off as he realized that the more he wanted to justify himself, the more he is unable to defend himself. That is something he dislike.

"Things are never gonna go your way all the time." Butch commented as he sat on the snow-covered permafrost ground.

"You don't even have a plan Butch."

"No, I don't but there are things I dislike."

"You hate lots of things Butch."

"Yes, but some hold a special place in my heart. For one, I hate this city. Don't you Brick?"

"Getting used to it."

"See, that's the next thing I really hate; you and Boomer are adapting to this place faster than me. You're getting friends that you can mix with. Boomer's getting a better social life, and you're slowly getting one. For me? I got no one but you guys. Girls confess to me from time to time, but that is not friendship." Butch narrowed his eyes as he slumped on the chair.

"You can always speak to Bubbles. She's always friendly to everyone." Brick suggested, knowing well that the blonde Powerpuff Girl is the closest thing that this world had to a friend to all living things.

"Hate her to the bone." Butch answered with enough venom that Brick was taken by surprise.

"You got beef with Bubbles. You're joking, right?" Brick asked his brother, surprised that there is a person that can hate Bubbles.

"Nope. I don't like her because I think she's a bitch in sheep's clothing and that's final." Butch made his opinion very clear, and Brick decided to not press further.

"I'd expect you to have beef with Buttercup." Brick suggested, but Butch shook his head.

"Buttercup's a rival, but she has street creds in my books. No beef at all." Butch beats his fist on his chest in a sign of respect, causing Buttercup to feel a sense of pride in herself even as she eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Alright, so you hate Bubbles and you think of Buttercup as a rival. What about Blossom? You're always bickering with her." Brick asked his brother, and Butch chuckled.

"Blossom...heh. Where do I start? She's weird. We are always at each other's throats, but somehow thanks to that I talked with her the most. Someone I hate to love, but love to hate. Or something. I don't know. If anything, she's akin to a frenemy for now." Butch shrugged, not admitting that he felt a certain sense of attachment to the copper-haired Powerpuff Girl.

"Messed up." Brick said before he sipped on his coffee.

"What about you?" Butch asked a piercing question as he leaned forward while resting his elbows on the table, waiting for an answer from Brick.

"I'm pissed." Brick admitted as he took out his hat and put it on the table.

"You're always pissed Brick."

"Real funny jackass."

"I'm no first-rate comedian like Boomer, but I can hold my own." Butch waited for Brick to respond.

"I'm pissed because we are being treated like pawns. Him's been messing with us since day one. Him brought us here for a task but instead that demon planted that stupid gene in me and took something else out of me. Not to mention that Him messed us up so bad that I feel that the asshole had taken control of every damn thing. And I swear to god, he took something out from your dreams Butch. Something important. Something he had hidden within all of us."

"And?" Butch prodded his brother to continue on.

"To make it worse, we're emotionally compromised. We're all connecting with the girls and Lilith and somehow...I think that is part of Him's plan." Brick finally admitted.

"Oh...this is about Him. In this case, I'll need some coffee to stay awake." Butch sighed before he got up from the ground.

"I'll buy you one."

"For the trouble that you've done Brick?"

"For the trouble I've pulled you into, Butch."

"Cool, let's get our ass back to Townsville." Butch offered an arm to Brick, which Brick took in turn before Butch pulled his brother up.

* * *

[Cafe Latte, Downtown Townsville, 6.30pm]

 _Where the hell are those two idiots?_ , Buttercup wondered as she landed in front of the coffee establishment.

Buttercup honestly did not expect Brick to unleash his dread powers, and it is only by the the camaraderie of the MMA club members that she managed to ask them to keep the whole incident under wraps. Still, she is worried enough that she decided to try and find the Rowdyruff Boys. The last time she saw them is when they exited the MMA club, and she had wanted to give chase. However, no one saw Brick and Butch within Townsville despite sightings of their distinctively streaks of lightning in the skies. After flying around for an hour or so, Buttercup decided to take a break and have a cup of cappuccino.

Buttercup took off her coat and hang it on the chair before leaning on the chair. However before she can even get the chance to relax, she saw two figures in the far corner of the cafe; a tall, dark and handsome young man with dark jade green eyes wearing a torn parka and a shorter young man wearing a maroon newsboy cap with ombre braided ponytail fading from carnelian to deep crimson red.

 _Well, I found them,_ Buttercup though to herself as she found herself a spot to sit down. Both individuals appear to be talking with each other and Buttercup decided to try and hear what they are talking about.

"Buttercup, it isn't very nice to eavesdrop on people." Brick called out, and Brick and turned his head around towards Buttercup's direction.

Butch's jade eyes made contact with Buttercup's own peridot eyes, and Buttercup knew that she is caught red-handed. Seeing that there is no point of trying to hide the fact of her eavesdropping, she got up and walked towards the two Rowdyruff Boys. The dark and handsome woman looked at them while scratching her head, knowing that she will have to explain herself. Buttercup pulled a chair and sat with her arms resting on the backrest.

"So, sharing lots of brotherly stuff with each other huh?" Buttercup's boyish rasp betrayed her awkwardness as she tried to be friendly. It is a given that she is not supposed to listen in on their conversation in the first place. Sensing that she had just made it more awkward, Buttercup gave them a rather crooked smile.

"Yeah, Brick and I have our heart to heart talks from time to time." Butch said in a very sweet voice, giving Buttercup the shivers down her spine.

"That sounds real gay Butch." Buttercup jested, and Butch laughed.

"Brotherly love."Butch corrected his green counterpart.

"Still..." Both Butch and Buttercup turned their attention towards Brick as the red-haired teenager spoke.

"Still?" Butch asked his brother, wondering what he will say next.

"Still what?" Buttercup asked as well.

"What he said is true. It is a heart to heart." Brick admitted, and both Butch and Buttercup looked at each other once more. Suddenly Brick's back was slapped hard by the Powerpuff Girl, causing Brick to almost slam his face on the table. Brick immediately got up and glared at the Powerpuff Girl, but to his surprise she gave him a rather cheeky smile.

"Don't think too much, and just let it be." Buttercup pointed out, surprised at how the two redheads are more similar to each other despite their disdain for each other.

"I-"

"Anyway, I'm off. Knowing that you two idiots haven't done anything stupid in Townsville is good enough for me." Buttercup gets up from her chair and walked towards the chair with her black parka.

"Right, see you soon." Buttercup finds surprisingly pleasant at Brick's farewell.

"You have a nice side after all. See ya idiots tomorrow." Buttercup winks at Brick before making her exit. Both Rowdyruff Boys watched her exiting the cafe before flying off in a streak of lime green light.

"Heh, just like her to say that. Anyway, wanna head back home?" Butch pointed out with a grin on his face.

"Yeah...let's go home." Brick agreed with his brother.

Both Rowdyruff Boys got up and slowly made their way towards the exit of the cafe as they chatted with each other. The two Rowdyruff Boys walked out from the cafe, never noticing that they are being watched by a person on the rooftop opposite the cafe.

* * *

A golden platinum blonde girl clad in a white hooded coat with hair fashioned into two pigtails watched the two individuals continued on walking down the walkway. She wondered why is she even watching them in the first place and it is not like her to stalk people and watch them from rooftops.

The young maiden's observation was cut short when she felt something watching her. The sky-eyed girl instinctively went on a high alert, the blue eyes of the Powerpuff Girl darted around to pinpoint the source only to see nothing. Several orbs of plasma immediately formed around her in the form of a barrier. However her suspicions soon faded away in the blow of the winter winds, leaving her even more uneasy than before.

 _This_ again?, Bubbles said to herself.

Things had not been the same ever since the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys had escaped from the nightmarish dream prison created by the demon. Somehow, things had turned for the worse, and there is a certain uneasy pulse beating beneath the surface. Bubbles is more sensitive to the supernatural due to Him's countless attempts to corrupt or madden her, and she felt that the already vile atmosphere created by the red demon is now further polluted by the presence of the other two demon that had revealed themselves.

Something of significance between the demons had happened in Little Moscow, but Bubbles had no idea what transpired between the three demons when most of the combatants in the Little Moscow incident are teleported away. Ever since that incident, Bubbles had felt that something is watching her from the shadows from time to time.

Whatever it is, it is really making her particularly uneasy.

It doesn't help that Brick is taking far too much upon himself, and based on what Boomer had told her before, Brick is now trying to do something particularly reckless without telling her or his brothers. But how long will she be able to keep this to herself? How long will it be before Bubbles had to confront Brick about what is going on?

At least for now, he is telling his brother about some part of his problems.


	107. Chapter 107: Without Warning

Chapter 107: Without Warning

 _The City of Townsville._

 _The Tonton Macoute, whom existence is now revealed to all, are now embarked on a campaign of terror unlike anyone had seen in Townsville(and that is utterly terrifying in itself). Such is the campaign that the citizenry of Townsville are slowly sealing themselves in their homes, though they knew in their hearts that it is a futile gesture._

 _This is because the city is engulfed in a quagmire of crime and violence between_ _the governmental forces and the underworld. Every citizen can be a victim at any given moment, and at the most inopportune and unexpected time. The ever increasing dangers of the city had seeped into the psyche of the citizens and all cower in fear. From the rich to the poor, from the young to the old, everyone knew fear._

 _However, not all the citizens are cowering in fear from such an oppressive environment. One such citizen is Blossom, the commander of the Powerpuff Girls._

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

Blossom munched down on a piece of toast as she observed the white board with various drawn arrows mapping out the web of relationships between all the actors involved in the quagmire that they found themselves in. The Powerpuff Girl first gave her attention towards the center of the entire diagram where an aged picture of the demon is out from the picture are the other main players in the situation like the rays of the sun. Her rose-pink eyes soon trailed towards a branch leading towards the Lunatics, and from the name several more branches appear to show several known associates of Him.

Blossom quickly ignored one of the persons, nicknamed the Hornet had a 'X' marked on his picture, for the person had been deemed neutralized. However his present whereabouts are unknown, and it is still an issue. Blossom decided to look at the other members who are still at large.

Murcielargo, the leader of the Hispanic super-street gang Los Noches.

Medved, the burly leader of the Medved Bratva, the Russian organized crime outfit consisting of various former Russian armed forces personnels.

Lou Fu, or otherwise known as Tigress, the leader of the White Tigers Triad organization.

Ananse, the mysterious spider-like member of the group, whose purpose in their outfit eludes all that wish to know.

Last but not least, Blossom saw the trail of Fennec, the French woman who appear to be Him's second in command. Her role other than that is unknown, but among the others she is perhaps the one that Blossom knew the best. Blossom's eyes slowly traced the lines linking towards the Rowdyruff Boys with the bottom of the line marked as 'Former Allies' though Blossom knew that it is not the best description of their particularly complex relationship.

From the pictures of the Rowdyruff Boys, Blossom soon moved her attention towards the picture of Lilith Morningstar.

Despite Lilith Morningstar's apparent position of being the District Attorney would normally suggest that she will be an ally to the Powerpuff Girls and everyone against Him and his cronies, Blossom is not convinced that she is as innocent as she appear. Blossom is particularly concerned about how she came to be the adoptive parent of the Rowdyruff Boys, and Blossom had drawn a particular line between Him and Lilith with a question mark on the line. Blossom may be wrong about what she believed to be the relationship between the demon and the district attorney, but she preferred to be proven wrong than to be caught offguard.

There are also several lines drawn between Him and the two new entities that made themselves known and Blossom labelled them as 'Of the Same Kind'. The being known as Her and It are something new to Blossom, but not too significant in terms of what trouble Him like to bring upon the city of Townsville. And then there are some elements that Blossom had labeled as 'Disruptive Parties' and Blossom had inserted a name; Red Dragons Triad.

For this particular one, Blossom's sources in Chinatown had assisted in providing her with the particular intelligence needed to place the triad into this convoluted web. There appear to be a relationship between the Red Dragons and the White Tigers, and somehow there were some clues that the triad had made contact with Brick. The lines linking the two disparate actors to the Red Dragons is particularly odd, and Blossom had decided to label the relationship between the two triad groups as 'Competing groups' while the Red Dragon's relationship with Brick is labelled as a question mark.

To make matters more confusing, Red Dragons appear to have a relationship with what appear to be the 'Chinese Men in Black' (as Blossom would call them), the men that had assaulted and caused the turf war in Little Moscow. The TOCTSeF reports that was compiled for the incident showed that there were signs that the 'Chinese Men In Black' were linked to the Chinese government, and that would imply some sort of foreign intervention in the country. How does a criminal outfit like the Red Dragons be 'allies' to the Chinese government is beyond Blossom's understanding.

"Something is missing from this picture." Blossom commented, as there is nothing being highlighted in particular about why would a foreign government will be interested in the affairs in Townsville. Blossom took one of the marker pens and uncapped the pen before writing down another name in the white board.

 _Russians_ , Blossom recalled of where the Lunatics had smuggled some of Mojo Jojo's beam weaponry. Blossom wondered if the Russians had sent their own operatives to investigate the matter. Blossom drew a line between Russia and Medved and just wrote ' Trying to get back weapons' for their particular relationship. But Blossom sensed that perhaps something else is involved, but it is not something she can see right now.

This is because Blossom felt that there are some things in Him's plan that are slowly drawing more and more people into the mess.

Blossom reasoned that there are phases in Him's particular plans, and Blossom is right, she would reason that the first phase is already completed. The way the Declaration Attacks are made and also the disappearance of the Townsville Prison population is anything to judge at, Him must had achieved something or else the other elements will not come in suddenly into the city and reveal themselves.

"What could the thing be?" Blossom asked herself, knowing that the key to everything lies in that particular question. That in itself will allow her to know where the villains will strike next.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 10.30am]

"Urgh... This again." Lilith Morningstar woke up to feel her heart pounding like a jackhammer pounding on asphalt.

Lilith had been surprisingly busy for the past few months, and thanks to the mess of Townsville she had not been resting very well. As she got up, she looked around her room with her silver-gray eyes, and wondered why it is particularly quiet in the house. She decided to get up from her bed and make her way towards the living room to see if the boys are at home. As Lilith recalled, the boys tend to laze around the living room more than their own rooms as they do not stay in their own rooms during the day unless the others are not at home as well. Brick had once told her that they felt more comfortable in each other's company whenever possible.

The silver-eyed woman walked towards the kitchen and as she entered into the kitchen, she started looking around for something particular. Her eyes soon caught on the object that she is looking for; the refrigerator ator. Without hesitation, Lilith head towards the fridge.

Lilith opened her fridge to see that it is almost empty and she was reminded once more that she is no longer living alone in this home. The three boys that she had adopted are particularly voracious eaters and it is only thanks to Professor's Utonium advice that she is able to sustain their feeding habits. However, boys being boys, Professor Utonium had warned her before that their dietary requirement will be more than the girls.

Fortunately for her, Lilith saw a few eggs and a pack of bacon and figured that will be sufficient enough. She took them out from the fridge and with a brief moment of searching, found a plate to put the items on. Lilith took out her phone and opened up her Spotify app and decided to surprise herself with the music selection for the day. She pressed on the button and a rather old song played itself in the jukebox, and Lilith went about to prepare her breakfast.

"That is a very depressing song." Lilith turned around to see a teenage boy wearing a black tank top and red track pants entering into the kitchen, with his long and braided bottom burnt orange ponytail moved with every slight movement of his head. Lilith is familiar with various scars showing itself on the Rowdyruff Boy's body, and she had made it a point to not ask about them. Indeed, the boys all had their own scars from within and without from their particularly violent life.

"Morning Brick. Want to have some breakfast?" Lilith offered as she heated up the pan.

"Nah, had some cereal earlier." Brick politely declined Lilith's offer.

"You looked particularly depressed." Lilith pointed out as she placed the slices of bacon into the pan, the sizzling sound of the searing bacon slowly becoming louder.

"Been a rough few weeks I guess." Brick sighed as he pulled a chair and took a seat at the dining table.

"Sounds real tough there Brick." Lilith pushed the bacon aside with her spatula and cracked a few eggs into the open space in the pan.

"... Yeah." Brick answered, and a purring sound echoed his response. Brick looked down to see an orange tabby cat looking up at him before hopping on his lap.

"You're not alone Brick." Lilith winked at the young man, as she finally took the pan from the stove and placed it aside to let the cooked items cool down.

The smell of the cooked meat and eggs permeated throughout the kitchen, causing Brick to instinctively salivate. This is not lost on Lilith and she soon prepared another pan and head once more towards the fridge and took out a small stick of butter. The dark-haired lady placed the butter at the center of the pan and soon moved back towards the stove before placing the new pan on the stove. She waved it for a while in a circular motion, and as the smell of molten butter slowly introduced itself into the kitchen. As the butter melted, she took a few slice of bread and placed it into the pan, allowing it to toast.

"Hey Brick, two slices of bread good enough for you?"

"... Yeah." Brick conceded, and he felt embarrassed seeing that earlier he mentioned that he will not need breakfast.

"Not even a demon can resist the smell of toasted bread, bacon and eggs in the morning." Lilith smiled as she turned the slices of bread around.

Brick's expression paled for a moment, and that is all it needs for Lilith to know the source of Brick's problems. The two individuals stopped conversing for a while as Lilith continued on preparing breakfast. Deciding that it is best to not press on with the inquiry for the time being, Lilith brought the pans with bacon, eggs and toast to the dining table and placed it between herself and Brick.

"Dig in while I get some of the orange juice." Lilith once more heads towards the fridge.

Lilith watched Brick from the corner of her eyes as she took out the orange juice from the fridge. The Rowdyruff Boy hesitantly took a pair of eggs and bacon before placing it on his plate. The boy with the burnt orange hair stared at his plate for a moment before digging in to his meal as if he will never see another serving of bacon and eggs ever again.

"If only you would ravish Bubbles as if you ravished this breakfast." Lilith's remark caused Brick to choke on his meal. Brick wanted to say something witty and sharper as a response, but what came out from his mouth resembled a mewing kitten's purr. Lilith in turn gave Brick a smile, and it is such fun to tease the usually taciturn boy.

"Hey Lilith, your phone rang." Another voice appeared in the kitchen and Lilith turned her attention towards a sand-blonde teenage boy holding up her cellphone. Lilith walked towards the teenage boy with the orange juice carton in her arm and stopped just half a feet before her eyes caught the caller's name on the screen.

"Boomer, can you help me call back that number?" Lilith's eyes narrowed, and she knew that something bad had just happened.

* * *

[Utonium Residence, Suburban Townsville, 11.00am]

 _What a sad song_ , Bubbles thought to herself as she looked outside her window.

The snow had started to blanket the rooftops of the other houses with a pristine white coat, and the skies are surprisingly gray for the day. But that is to be expected when the announcement came that school is canceled for the day due to the heavy snowfall. . It is a surprisingly dull day, and Bubbles turned around to see Blossom looking at a chart linking everyone of importance in Townsville.

It is just like her sister to try and investigate the links between anything and everything, and yet at the same time Bubbles felt that nothing much can be gleamed from the chart. It is simple enough for Bubbles to know that Him is involved in everything and it has plans, and that trying to know what the demon is thinking about is a cosmic horror all on its own.

Bubbles turned her attention towards her other sister and saw her texting on her phone. It is surprising to see her sister not working out today, given that she is trapped in the house for today. Bubbles was expecting Buttercup to use the Danger Room to let off some steam, but for the entire day she is glued to her bed texting on her phone.

Seeing that her sisters are engaged with their own activities, Bubbles decided to get up from her bed and get herself a cup of hot chocolate. The blonde Powerpuff Girl duly got up from her bed and made her way towards the door, stretching her hands as she did so. However, Bubbles felt a particularly odd sensation as she closes in on the door and she found herself stopping just short of the door.

"What's wrong Bubbles?" Bubbles turned around to see Blossom's attention is now turned on her.

"Oh, nothing. Maybe I'm cooped up in the room for a little too long." Bubbles gave her best smile and tried to waved off the situation.

"Okay, just take a walk around and it should be fine." The fiery copper-haired girl appear to had taken Bubbles' reply at face value and turned her attention once more to the chart. Bubbles continued to smile as she turned the doorknob and only dropped the smile once she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

 _Better an easy lie than to explain the uneasy_ truth, Bubbles comforted herself. There is something wrong, and it is something supernatural. Bubbles is particularly sensitive to such matters, and it had been burdening her for quite some time. It comes and goes, and often at the most unexpected of times. Bubbles placed both her hands on her chest, holding it tightly to placate the uneasiness within...

* * *

[Downtown Townsville, 12.00pm]

A body slumped in the snow-covered alley, stained with blood and deep scars that made it hard to recognize the poor unfortunate victim. The perpetrator looked down upon the hapless victim with cruel green eyes, with the droplets of snow falling down on the person's face. The perpetrator's hands is now dripping with blood, the droplets of blood turning into frozen droplets as soon as it touched the snow-covered ground.

The perpetrator had managed to lure the victim into the alley with a simple cry of help, and when the victim tried to assist the perpetrator caught the victim by surprise and violently assaulted the victim. The perpetrator had observed the behaviour patterns of the victim for a few weeks, and had plotted the scheme by planting the trap along the usual route that the victim used to travel between the parking lot and the hypermarket.

The mediated crime had worked like clockwork, and now it is time to move on to the next phase of the plan.

The perpetrator blew a loud whistle to catch the attention of a passerby, and the perpetrator stood by and waited for someone to come by. The sight of a curious passerby entering into the lane is all it took for the perpetrator to walk calmly away. As the perpetrator walked out from the alley, the cry of shock is heard echoing through the alley. A cry for help soon reached the ears of the perpetrator, and a dark smile etched itself on the perpetrator's face.

"The deed is done." The perpetrator voiced out.

The perpetrator lingered for a while at the scene of the crime, and soon enough more people entered the alley after hearing the call of distress.

"Good." The perpetrator nodded, as the people in the alley broke out in a crescendo of worried cries and calls.

"OH GOD!"

"SOMEONE CALL 911!"

"HE'S ALIVE!"

 _Yes, that is what I_ _want_ , the perpetrator thought before walking away.

* * *

[Morningstar Residence, Suburban Townsville, 4.30pm]

Brick sat by the window in his room, looking out at the carpet of snow blanketing the suburban neighborhood while he patted the orange tabby cat resting on his lap. The pristine whiteness of it all reminded Brick of the time he had spent in the harsh Afghan winters, and he wondered what happened to the people he had once fought with in that harsh environment. Brick felt that he had experienced a lifetime of being in the shadows of he world, seeing things that no man should ever see. People die far too often in Brick's world, but Brick is fortunate that his 'fear factor' had given him an option to not kill anyone. Whether making a person insane for life is worse than death is not something Brick wanted to think about.

 _Knock-knock._

Brick is little annoyed that his brooding was interrupted, but he soon realized that the knocking sound is coming from his window and not his door.

"It's me." The sweet and gentle voice surprised Brick and he gently carried the cat and placed it on his bed before reaching his hand out to the window. Brick immediately opened the window to see the presence of a young platinum blonde woman with shoulder-length hair with sky-blue eyes looking at him with red, teary eyes.

Brick is a little confused by the presence of the Powerpuff Girl and also the way she is looking at him. Brick is soon greeted by a hug and Brick felt her entire presence pressing on his body. Brick felt a tightening around his torso, and he felt her warmth seeping through his very fiber, and something about it felt...nice. Something that helped alleviate the broodingness within him, and gave him something more pure to focus on. It would be nice if it were not for the fact that he felt that something had gone terribly wrong. The wetness on his chest made him realize that Bubbles is crying in his chest.

"I just needed this. _Now_." Bubbles said softly, her trembling voice touching Brick's ear like the gentle snowdrop outside and her mind slip into the memories from moments before...

* * *

 _Bubbles continued running, unaware of where she is running to. All she know is what she is running away from. Her mind is a mess, and bits and pieces of information came to her in chunks. Her breathing is shallow and her chest grew tighter with every step, and the cold air entering into her lungs only constrict her lungs even more. Bubbles lose her balance and she fell down on the snow-covered ground, causing her face to fall face first into the soft and cold snow. Bubbles took a while to get up, not so much because of the shock of the fall but more to the realization that this is a reality that she must face._

 _Why did I run?_

 _Why didn't I stay?_

 _Why did it happen?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?  
_

 _The eyes of the sky-blue Powerpuff Girl stared emptily towards the gray skies above, and her mind replayed the scene that she had ran away from._

* * *

 _Buttercup's mind is gripped by things she never knew, and it is overwhelming for Buttercup. She turned towards Blossom to see that Blossom is utterly cold and emotionless, and that angered her. However, before she could burst out in anger, she saw the shoulders of the red-haired girl trembling. The sable-haired Powerpuff Girl recognized the look on her sister, and she knew what her sister is thinking._

 _Blossom's eyes are cold and indeed appear to be lifeless despite the warm color of her rose-pink eyes. Blossom will not falter and need to keep herself in check. The situation required her to be strong for everyone, but her mind is not as strong as her body. Her eyes watered and her body trembled with fear and anxiety of what happening before her eyes. It is by the rigidity of her mind that her body remained upright in any capacity. In many ways, she is more in shock than her sisters, and she is helpless to escape from her shock._

 _Buttercup turned towards her other sister, and she realized that Bubbles' lips are quivering and the whimpering sound escaping her lips is evidence of her distress. The platinum blonde Powerpuff Girl bolted away in away from the source of their distress. Buttercup tried to reach out to the sister but she was frozen in place. Buttercup wanted to call out to her sister, but she felt a lump in her throat.  
_

* * *

 _Bubbles remembered once more, and that brought a tear down her eyes which slowly freezes as it ran down her cheeks._

 _Bubbles sobbed as her mind raced on to understand what she had just saw, but every pulse of memory led down to a single answer and it is not an answer she wants to listen to. Her heart felt heavy, and her heart felt a slow constricting pain. It is not a heart attack, Bubbles thought. This is nothing physical, but psychological instead. The cold slowly numbs her face as much as it is numbing her emotional response to her distress, and she decided to levitate and fly away, hoping that it will speed her flight away from the inconvenient truth._

 _Yet, that inconvenient truth was informed to her prior to the witnessing of the truth, and her mind recalled the truth once more despite the heartfelt desire to ignore the flashback of the revelation...  
_

* * *

Better an easy lie than to explain the uneasy truth _, Bubbles comforted herself. There is something wrong, and it is something supernatural. Bubbles is particularly sensitive to such matters, and it had been burdening her for quite some time. It comes and goes, and often at the most unexpected of times. Bubbles placed both her hands on her chest, holding it tightly to placate the uneasiness within._ "Bubbles."

 _The voice immediately elicit a response of danger in Bubbles' mind, and she readied herself in a defensive stance. There is no mistaking the voice, for it is a voice that had plagued Bubbles and her sisters ever since they are children. No, Bubbles corrected herself, it is a voice that_ still _plagues them today. The voice spoke with a sultry, sweet and feminine voice reminiscent of velvet but at the same time caustic, strong and deep like that of a man. The two timbres of the voice combined together to provide a disturbingly discordant voice that chill the spines of mortals._

 _"What are you doing in my house?" Bubbles hissed, looking around to spot the unwanted intruder in her home._

"I am not in your house Bubbles. I am in your mind."

 _"Get. Out. Of. My. Mind. " Bubbles demanded, but she knew within her that it will not do so._

"I am here to warn you about-", _The voice paused mid-sentence before revealing a shocked tone in its voice_ ,"No...I am too late."

 _That itself triggered a sense of disbelief and shock on so many levels in Bubbles, for the demon is never altruistic. The demon lies and scheme, and there is no reason for it to help its enemies. However, a more dire and immediate response is that something happened that even the demon voiced its shock. The demon known as Him can be surprised by its plans being thwarted, but this time there is something in the tone of its voice that alarmed Bubbles and she feared that for once, Him is taken by surprise._

 _And that involved Him helping Bubbles._ _A sense of dread soon descended upon Bubbles and she was about to ask what happened before the demon's voice slowly dissipated in her mind. But not before it told her what will happen next._

"I am sorry that your sisters will be the one that will break the news to you. Be strong Bubbles."

 _The door behind Bubbles opened up, and the fair-haired young woman turned around to see the expression of dread and fear in their eyes, and she knew that the demon is telling the truth. Bubbles is not ready to hear what will be coming out from their lips, but somehow the earlier toiling maelstrom within had finally found meaning and pieced the information together for her mind to comprehend. Bubbles covered her mouth as her mind understood what happened._

* * *

[Townsville General Hospital, Downtown Townsville, 3.00pm]

Seeing that one sister is frozen in place and hyperventilating and the other one just ran out from the room, Buttercup turned her attention back to the source of all their distress.

A man in bloodied bandages hooked onto the life support system is lying in the ward before them, the sound of the beeping from the life-support unit showing the readings of the man's heartbeat. Buttercup soon managed to make herself move and she walked towards the critically injured man and she gently gripped the hand of the man. A tear soon escaped Buttercup's lime-green eyes, a sense of dark relief coming to her for she is able to express herself like her more emotionally fragile sister. However, a sense of dread and anxiety soon overcame her and she tightened her grip.

"Professor... Please don't leave us." Buttercup begged with her quivering voice.


End file.
